For some time I have wondered about pop music being the predominate style of music that we see in worship music these days. In fact, last year a good friend of mine challenged me by acknowledging that pop music by nature can be very limited lyrically because of the musical form.
In looking at some of the classic hymns, we find some of the best theology put to music. Much of the early church theology was communicated and adopted through these now classic hymns. In looking at those hymns and considering many of the songs we gravitate towards these days it really caused me to look further into this.
Pop music at its core is “popular”, and meant to be accessible to the masses. Pop music is great at conveying one message and simple truths, while being surrounded by musical interest and hooks, using emotion as a key tool. It is a very effective and wide reaching style of music, but is it fair to say that it can be limited in content?
I decided several months ago that I wanted to try and write a hymn. I wanted to write a song that communicated the gospel story from the beginning: creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. I wrote the lyrics first and then tried to add music and in doing so, found that through many attempts I could not effectively communicate all that I wanted to in a pop music format.
Folk music was very popular in the 60’s and has had a resurgence in the last 5-10 years and made its way into some pop circles. Folk music has always been about the lyrics, and often even made bold political and religious statements through the years. However, folk music can be wordy and may not always feel congregational, so it has been limited in modern worship.
What I am learning is that there is strength in both styles of music. Pop music allows us to intimately connect with the words and emotion of the song, while folk allows us to declare deep theological truths about God. I hope we can learn to appreciate both, and further expand the ways that we worship God through music.
