October 17, 2006

• Hymns

  I prefer hymns over "praise songs."  Hymns are generally more substantial in doctrine and denser in thought, whereas praise songs tend to be more "fluffy."  A pet peeve I have is repeating the same words and music over and over again ad nauseum (e.g. "I could sing of Your love forever...").  (Taken to an extreme, it can become a mantra used to enter an altered state of consciousness, where nonsense can be gullibly accepted as profound insight.)  If you're going to sing the same words over and over, you could at least have some musical variation.  Most hymns can be sung in 4-part harmony; most praise songs cannot.

  On the other hand, if you're going to sing the same music over and over, you need variation in the words.  The Cyber Hymnal lists the stanzas that won't fit in your regular hymnal.  Fortunately, you can have as many stanzas as you want on a projection screen, as long as people know the melody.

  The unfortunate trend in many of today's churches is we are forgetting and losing great old hymns.  They're being replaced by songs that have become the "new hymns," of which sometimes only the chorus is sung.  With the passage of time, the new hymns become "old hymns," which are then replaced by newer, shallower sentimental songs that are popular at the time.  Taken to the logical conclusion, we could eventually chant a mantra that's devoid of meaning over and over, but feel really spiritual about it.

  I'm not saying praise songs are necessarily bad or hymns are perfect.  Unlike the Psalms in the Bible, hymns aren't guaranteed to be free from doctrinal error.  Whatever we sing should be examined under the light of Scripture.

  "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." -Colossians 3:16

  • 2:25 am
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