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Hymnals are Dead! Long Live
Praise Choruses! There is dissatisfaction in the land. One generation begrudgingly watches as its songs (with lyrics most often found in a songbook) are replaced by another generation’s songs (with lyrics most often found on a screen). The new songs, so the one grouses, don’t portray a commitment, dedication, or depth that is essential in walking with and worshiping God. The old songs, so the other proclaims, are dreary, dated, and horizontal. Often this disagreement is symbolic of a more precarious situation within the entire church body, holding deeper roots than just music. In every country, in most denominations, churches are eagerly chasing the spiritually hungry Generations X and Y, which often (inadvertently or purposefully) marginalizes the Baby Boomers and especially the Greatest Generation. It’s easy for the change agents—no matter what their age, but certainly the core audience of ninetyandnine.com—to see these foundational tithes-payers as frowning anchors, dragging progress to a halt, when actually they’ve paid a great price to make sure we have a place to worship. For us to be unthankful (I Timothy 4) and condescending would be unacceptable. Besides, “There are two kinds of fool. One says, ‘This is old, and therefore good.’ And one says, ‘This is new, and therefore better.’” Or so said John Brunner. So where is the wise middle ground of progress with respect? First of all, it’s important to realize that everything (a person, a building, a book, a religious organization, a country) has a set (but unknowable) lifespan. Even though that item might technically exist past that lifespan (RE: our bones in a casket), it is coasting, no longer alive. When you realize that truth, it’s obvious that most hymns in our song books today are quite dead—but maybe not for the reasons you think. Defying Time If you love to read, then you instinctively realize there is a canon of classic titles worth reading, no matter how old they are. Whether it is Dante or Sophocles, Ralph Ellison or George Eliot, these writings have somehow defied time to remain relevant to our human experience. That’s why we were all stuck reading The Adventures in Huckleberry Finn and Great Expectations in high school. It’s important that each generation visit common cultural touchstones. What we often forget is that most authors spend their entire writing lives hoping that just one of their works makes it into that canon. For every virtuoso that contributes multiple titles—Shakespeare (Hamlet, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet), Tolstoy (War and Peace, Anna Karenina), and Austen (Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility)—there are dozens of exquisite talents (Flaubert, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Woolf) with only one, and hundreds who are only “great” for a time before dissipating into academic footnotes (forever). Notice also how old all of these canonical authors/titles are. Faulkner, who died in 1962, might be the last uncontested member admitted to the club. Everyone else who qualifies died roughly a century ago. In other words, when Pentecost was first sweeping out from Azuza Street and the song book was being created. Singing the Canon The last 100 years were an aberration in history—an unchanging period of relative stability—because the modern Christian community was forming itself. For years, especially in Pentecostal circles, there were only the classic hymns. That’s all we had and that was sufficient; there were other, higher priorities to deal with than writing new songs worthy of the hymnal. (Not that this wasn’t done.) That’s no longer the case. We are now saturated with new songs, new sermons, and new ideas for ministry. This isn’t some nefarious movement to supercede the Greatest Generation, but the vagaries of time and creativity. Every generation pushes to replace the previous. The circle is completing itself again. It’s foolishness to believe “The Great Speckled Bird,” “Bringing in the Sheaves,” or “Camping in Canaan Land” minister to anyone below 60 today. The language, the metaphors, and the rhythm all speak to a long-distant time that no longer exists. Pop Goes the Praise Chorus! The genius of praise choruses is their accessibility. No, they can’t possibly be compared to the best mainline hymns, whose depth and complexity properly reflect life, but the catchy simplicity hooks visitors and youth. And that’s the problem with this vertical praise craze. Perhaps you have no issue with an endless supply of songs retaining the lifespan of milk, but I do. This is best highlighted by innumerable vertical CDs all using the same songs (“Open the Eyes of My Heart,” “Lord I Lift Your Name on High,” “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever”) in an endless rotation of dull echoes. Most of the lyrics are so simple that their very accessibility hollows out any spiritual depth. Yes, we can worship through our problems, but how come so few of these songs even distantly relate to my real life of disappointment and fears, happiness and doubts? In our rush to only praise, we seem to have dropped any hint of real life via song. Only the most deluded teenager would consider this glut an overall improvement Praisnals? However, many new songs are worth celebrating, but aren’t yet recognized as exceptional. (Faulkner’s neighbors considered him a drunken failure who couldn’t hold a job—then he won the Nobel Prize for Literature.) So it is with various praise choruses; some will slip through the gauntlet of time and competition, that Scylla and Charybdis of immortality, to be sung in future decades. Yet, just as no living author is definitely fingered for immortality, only a fool would guarantee which songs will persevere. None of these new entries will taint the all-time classics. Just as there will always be a place for Hamlet and Anna Karenina, no praise chorus will ever top “Amazing Grace” and “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” Grace is the ultimate paean to where each of us started our spiritual walk, while Faithfulness is the preeminent exaltation of how to walk with God—in faith, not sight. Likewise, we needn’t tremble in the night over the status of “At the Cross,” “O How I Love Jesus,” and “Blessed Assurance,” as these hymns will still be sung when Jesus comes. Others ancient gems, like the spontaneous literary crazes that combust within our culture, will resurrect and remain. In the mid-1990s, Jane Austen was the rage throughout Western society, with all sorts of related movies and books and CDs. This is little different than Andrae Crouch, in the mid-1970’s, single-handedly making “I Surrender All” a standard again. There will always be periodic bursts of interest generated by gospel music from our common roots. This reflects what W.H. Auden said, “Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.” Still, none of this means praise choruses shouldn’t be given their chance in the spotlight. At some point, every generation must accept that their day of dominance is passing. They needn’t accept lesser standards from the rising vanguard, but they must understand that there will always be different methods and varied means in expressing praise and worship to the Lord. Likewise, the new stars must fathom that they stand on an unshakable foundation worthy of respect and gratitude, clutching the timeless essentials as they move forward. The beauty is when both generations do this with a humble heart toward God.
ninetyandnine.com © 2003, Kent d Curry --------- Kent d Curry is an executive editor of ninetyandnine.com. |
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