Singing the Lord's Song No More

News is out that two singers in Christian bands have recently renounced their Christian faith, one even adding that he felt no loss in his life from the turning away from Jesus.

Another Christian singer calls for a return to Biblical truth as a high priority in the "Christian music world" and for the church itself to reach its commitment to God's Word spoken in the Bible.

Many evangelical churches have forsaken the organ and the great traditions of Christian hymnody that has helped congregations sing out their faith together.  Christian hymnody itself is founded on Biblical texts and encourages Christians to lift up their voices in song directly out of the Psalms and words of Jesus.

The popular thing has been to form a praise band, to be up front in church and sing, not so much hymns as "praise songs," written by these song leaders and expressing their feelings of faith.  Many churches and congregations have come to understand music and praise songs as constituting the "Worship" part of the service, and understanding scripture reading and sermon as "Teaching."  A division in Christian services that has subtly undermined historical understanding of the whole service - prayers, scripture, preaching, and singing as all being essentially worship.

The motive has been to support church growth, to appeal to people young and old.  One colleague of mine, founder of a fast-growing church in Arizona, came to realize that what his church was offering was really entertainment, whereas the church's business was to call people to become disciples.  A subtle but profound difference. 

These changes have tended to lend to feelings as the source of inspiration in the modern church rather than faith.  "Spiritual songs" have come out of personal feelings of the young singers, and often not so much from grounded faith in Jesus, built on Biblical faith and understanding.

These changes have come with our hardly noticing the shift in emphasis.  Without realizing it, we have let sentimental feeling form our expressions of faith, leaving our Biblical foundation behind.

Our own sentimentality has created the Christian singer source of inspiration, allowing a drift away from "the sure foundation" the scripture gave us.  A shallowness has created a personal sentimental base for "Christian  music" that has made slipping away from faith much easier, and so these public departures from faith and betrayal of the faith they had once professed.

Surely a call for all of us to look to our foundations, and to find our way back to "standing in the presence " of God - given us so deeply in Biblical faith.