Theology Matters

Matt Redman tells CT that worship artists need scholars to help create songs praising God for his holiness, not just his helpfulness. 1
These are the headlines for a Christianity Today article that suggests worship music has evolved in many aspects but concludes thus: "Worship music has evolved and progressed creatively, showing up across more musical genres than ever before. The production aspects of our expressions have moved forward too. But can we say the same about the lyrical, theological content?"
When I taught a music appreciation class to senior high school students at a Christian academy, one of their assignments was to choose ten songs, five contemporary and five traditional hymns. They were required to evaluate the lyrics for theological accuracy, support their conclusions with biblical references, and decide if the song was appropriate to congregational worship, or better used in a different context like personal devotions, Christian entertainment, easy listening, or road trip music. It was a fun, but rigorous assignment and the students embraced it with enthusiasm.
The Christianity Today article, refers to Paul’s reference to the “unknown god” in Acts 17. Today, in too many churches, worship is to an unknown god due largely, I believe, to the biblical illiteracy of those who are writing but also those who are worshipping. Thus Matt Redman’s call for the help of scholars. Here is the core of the problem. Writing solid biblically-based lyrics should not be exclusive to scholars. Alas, it is not just worship music that is lacking biblical integrity but that’s another story.
It’s interesting to me, but quite possibly will move beyond mere interest, that on the heels last evening of mentioning to my sister that I had an idea for my next book, “Sing to Me: the art of lyrical interpretation,” I should today, read the CT article. Call it a sign, or call it a confirmation, I have always felt a deep passion for singing lyrics which are theologically accurate, because I have always believed that what we sing today, we believe tomorrow. And after all, Christians are all theologians. The question is, what kind of theologians are we?
1 https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2024/august-web-only/matt-redman-worship-leader-songwriter-theology-music-worth.html?utm_source=CT Daily Briefing Newsletter&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=935387&utm_content=17460&utm_campaign=email (accessed August 5, 2024).
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