Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Here I Am to Worship

It's been far too long since I've posted. I apologize. I'm making a new (school) year's resolution to get on this more.

Anyway, I was talking with my homeboy Richdawg the other day. He and I were talking about worship at our Nav Nites and what it's gonna look like. I won't go into too much detail about what we talked about because if I told you, I'd have to kill you (and you don't wanna get killed, do you?), but we did talk about some songs that we like and some songs that we don't. Actually, moreso the latter than the former. We wanted to make a list of worship songs that we weren't going to be doing this year, whether we dislike the simplicity of the song, the incoherency, the cheesiness, or the theological implications. For example...

Come, Now is the Time to Worship
This is my all time least favorite worship song ever. I've heard someone remark that it sounds Universalist ("One day every tongue will confess You are God, one day every knee will bow"). That's definitely true if you're not familiar with Philippians 2, but I'm willing to overlook that since it's based on Scripture. My beef is the implications of what I'm singing. Essentially, I'm saying, "Yes, Jesus, every person living and dead will one day acknowledge your deity, but for those who recognize it this side of the grave are gonna have partay while those who wait too long are gonna suffer in hell. Sucks to be y'all!" At least that's how I feel when I sing it. I feel like "Still the greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose You now" is the lyrical equivalent of spitting in the face of the lost.

Mighty to Save
I don't really dislike this song all that much, but there are a few things that are nigh unforgivable about it. For one, the verses don't rhyme. That's not the biggest deal, I know, but I feel like writing something that doesn't rhyme is kinda lazy. And it wouldn't bother me nearly as much if the song was coherent. You would think that "Mighty to Save" is about how God saves us throughout the song. But you don't really get that. The first part of the first verse talks about our need for compassion, love, and mercy. The second part does talk about our need for forgiveness, but "the hope of nations" doesn't really fit in right there. The second verse isn't much better. It talks about Him taking us as we are and then how we will surrender everything to follow Him. Even looking at the chorus, I feel like we're talking about how God is mighty, not mighty to save. Don't get me wrong. I like all the stuff that the song talks about. But it's not one coherent thought. It's all over the place. And if you're gonna be all over the place, at least rhyme.

Revelation Song
Richdawg and I actually agree that this is a really good song. We both like it a lot, except one line: "Clothed in rainbows of living color." What? Someone in a forum wrote that they imagine a unicorn prancing across the stage when we sing that line. There's a chance that we'll do this one at Nav Nite, but that line will be modified, like with what Crowder did with the "sloppy wet kiss" part of an otherwise good song.

Do you have a song I should add to the list? Or do you maybe have a reason for why one of these songs shouldn't be on the list? Let's discuss. What are your thoughts?

7 comments:

Chris Charming said...

Revelation 4:3 "And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald"

Ok, so he's not exactly clothed in it, but still...
Revelation Song is one of my favorite new worship songs because of the way it uses the descriptions of God's throne and the songs sung by the angels.

To add to your list:
Any song that talks about lifting hands or dancing. "Wait, I'm not dancing. Should I dance? If I don't dance I'm lying to God! But how do I dance when I'm in the middle of the row, sandwiched between two Buss brothers?"

Love songs to God. Wanna know why there aren't more men in church or Christian groups? This is probably a big part of it. Don't get me wrong. I think we should talk (and sing) about God's love all the time, but if it sounds like the guy from a bad chick-flick is bringing me flowers, it's just awkward.

In my opinion we need more songs about lightning and thunder from God's throne and fewer songs about Jesus asking me to prom.

Unknown said...

Haha, Chris! Like I said, I really like the song except that one line. And I'm sure that if Jesus were gonna ask you to prom, he'd be clothed in rainbows of living color.

Gabe Hagstrom said...

I think you remember my strong feelings about this song:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frYfNGC4ObU

Unknown said...

I sang that one for Rich since he wasn't at Summit. I think it's safe to say that won't be sung at our Nav Nites.

krystal said...

how about...
"creator of the heavens and earth" instead of that ghastly phrase about rainbows?

krystal said...

and what's wrong with the Awesome song? :)

Unknown said...

ok, so i know i'm late to this party, but I'd just like to defend "mighty to save" because I feel it does indeed talk about how God saves us.

rhyming: personal preference. i personally don't like it if songs DO rhyme, or at least if they feel forced.

hope of nations: what IS the hope of nations? I would argue that SALVATION is the hope of nations, i.e. Jesus' sacrifice for us. The Good News is that there is hope for all of us! :)

in the chorus, it says that God is the "Author of Salvation" and "conquered the grave." Exactly how would you like the songwriter to talk more about God saving us?

the second verse talks about what happens as a result of God saving us-the effect that this incomparable and mighty act of salvation should elicit in us.

I definitely feel like Hillsong gets a lot of flack for songs like this and "From the Inside Out" (their most popular ones) because people don't take the time to sit down and think about what they lyrics mean and how they work together. I mean this song is mapped out pretty well-verse 1: All fall short and need salvation Chorus: God offers that salvation Verse 3: our response Bridge: cry for God to continue in His saving work for the world.

Seems pretty coherent to me :)

(apologies for the length of this response, but I like hillsong haha)