Fifteen years ago, ten years ago, perhaps even five years
ago I would have preferred modern worship music over traditional. That has
changed for various reasons though. Being a musician, music is obviously an
important part of my life, and I firmly believe that the church has allowed
music to fall by the wayside. Unfortunately the music commonly played in our
churches is crap. I do not hold, as many do, to the idea that modern music is
crap. In fact, I enjoy it very much. However, through musical maturity and
intellect, I have come to appreciate the great music that can be made in a
traditional setting. In either a modern or a traditional setting, the fact is
that most church music is crap. Either one can and should be done well, but the
problem in our churches is not necessarily the style (as many believe) but rather
the quality. We have given in to employing mediocre musicians in our churches,
and it shows. It is why the stigma of crappy church music exists, and as much
as it pains me to say it, it is more common in churches that use modern music
more than it exists in churches with traditional music. I cannot count the
number of times a minister of music / worship leader (whatever the preferred
term) has been referred to (even by pastors) as a music guy. “Let’s just get
someone who can play guitar and sing slightly in tune and employ them as our
church musician.” This is sadly the attitude of many churches.
Having said that, I do not believe that a church should
sacrifice spirituality for musicianship, but is it really necessary for the
most spiritually mature person in the entire church body to be the musician
when they can barely read music to begin with? We are all growing in our faith
so we must realize that even church musicians will not be perfect in their walk
with God. However, near perfection in their music is achievable. We must strive
for this. I, for one, am sick of walking into churches only to be literally
disgusted by the music, not because of style but because of the lack of
quality. Certainly no one will be perfect, but excellent is what we cannot
lose. Far too often, however, we are indeed losing just that. Let the music in
our churches be a crowned jewel, not crap.
