How the Christian Music Industry is RUINING corporate worship

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[JeffHendricks]

Some really good points. I led worship solo with just an acoustic guitar for a decade. Now I play electric in a big worship band. The amount of preparation, technology, and stress that comes with the full band setup has not (in my mind) improved the congregation's ability to worship in any way.

[paulstoakes]

Hi Spencer, about that 65 year old man playing acoustic guitar, I didn't realize that I had become that famous. Seriously though I am now a touch older than 65 but believe that It's the passion and authenticity that you present that is the most important thing. I read a book just post covid by Jeremy Riddle called "The Reset: Returning to the Heart of Worship and a Life of Undivided Devotion", and the part I most remember most was the statement that You can take a person leading on just and acoustic guitar, add a full band, have a great sound system with lights and mist and a mountain projected on a back screen and whilst it becomes more entertaining it is no more powerful.
On another issue the word "Music Industry" to me just rings "Industry" it's a machine which although provides the consumer with material it's there to make money and can be quick to drop artists that have fallen out of favor by expressing the wrong opinion that may upset the buying masses, or would there be a CCM Industry if it was for non profit? I may be wrong, what say you!

[JStucki]

The way this music is marketed, IMHO, isn’t centered on the worship of God at all, but rather on the preferences of a very specific segment of the congregation.

Kudos for mentioning how easy everyone wants worship to be. I’m not sure where we picked up the idea that worship has to be easy, but here we are. Great point.

[TheRealTimConboy]

Loved the part on what worship really is. I just finished a book called "The Air I Breathe" by Louie Giglio. I think every leader needs to read this to understand what worship really is, and how we can lead others to do the same outside of a Sunday.

[marciabrygider]

Some really good points. I've found myself having to explain personal vs. corporate more than a few times so it was good to hear that. Thank you.

[emilywhite]

This puts into words something I have been trying to express/understand for a while (personal vs corporate worship). Thanks for this.

[TheFtm]

I have said this to congregants who ask me why they can't sing along with the "worship songs" (I'm not an official worship leader - I am someone who can sing) Many of these songs are not intuitive and when all you have are screens with the words, you have NO IDEA where the song is going musically. Back in the day, the choir would sing an anthem or there would be someone providing "special music" when the congregation would be seated and listen - to me that's a wonderful use of these "personal worship" songs. I LOVE that song by Matthew West - trying to learn on piano for my own personal worship (my skills are not a good fit for our worship team).I also like the song "Fifteen" by Greg Long - it's a conviction for evangelism of words and deeds. Anyway, I appreciate your channel so much - thank you.

[kimbersongm]

I watched this video yesterday. But today I was going about my business, listening to some Christian music, and remembered some of the stuff you mentioned. It wasn’t “corporate” or about conviction.. anyway a thought popped in my head. Have you heard of Rick Beato? He does these videos “what makes this song great?” And he dissects it from a musical standpoint. It’s really great. But i think it would be cool if you did something similar, but from a Christian or worship leader standpoint. It would be great for us to maybe find some new songs that would, in your opinion, be great to take a look at. But also help leaders get an in depth look at how you may analyze a song (in a worship leader mindset)

[Levi_Couzens]

I owned the wow hits disc you were holding in the thumbnail😂🤣

[mariejasinski]

Just a small point to give credit where it is due, Give Me Your Eyes is by Brandon Heath, not Matthew West. Thank u for your ministry, I do enjoy and learn from it every time I listen.

[ecs]

I am a conservative Catholic and a former Evangelical/Protestant, and I wish to commiserate.

Several years ago, an Evangelical neighbor of ours invited my wife and I to join him and his wife for Sunday worship, knowing that we were Catholics. His first and only reassurance to us was, “Don’t worry, we don’t have one of those worship bands. We sing a ‘Capella”. For several years, I had been hearing bits and pieces from Evangelical sources that worship bands were becoming a detriment to worship, rather than supplement. Judging by the Babylon Bee (yes, even Catholics read and enjoy this mostly Protestant satire), torture by worship band has reached a tipping point in the Protestant world.

Sadly, Catholics are suffering the very same problem. Not to sound like “Topper” from the Dilbert comic strip, but we Catholics may have been suffering from this problem longer than our Evangelical Protestant brethren. In 1992, Thomas Day, published a book, “Why Catholics Can't Sing: The Culture of Catholicism and the Triumph of Bad Taste”. Among the many problems that Day aptly describes, is that many of the newer “hymns” have the congregation singing to each other, rather than to God the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit, or – worst of all – have the congregation role-playing the part of God singing to themselves. Perhaps two familiar examples of the latter are, “I am the resurrection…” and “Seek Ye First”. Both worship songs are direct quotes from scripture, which is great, but strangely has each member of the congregation essentially role-playing Jesus and then singing to themselves. We Catholics, unfortunately, have other such role-playing “hymns” that do the same, sans any scriptural reference or sound theology. In fact, contemporary worship music on both sides seems to be increasingly devoid of sound theology. We Catholics are tortured with homeopathic “hymns” where theology and scripture has been diluted to the point of merely being water. And then sugar and or lemons are added to fit the desired mood swing.

The old Protestant and old Catholic hymns are meat and milk, and not merely water. When I was a Protestant, and the sermon did not particularly “speak to me”, I could always count on the old hymns to be a “sermon in a song.” Three solid hymns sung during worship more than made up for a hastily written or poorly delivered sermon, and truly oriented my thoughts toward our Lord and Savior, Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit. Worship bands that use theologically sound and God-focused material, sometimes do the same thing, but there is another matter to consider: style and fittingness.

As a former Protestant and current Catholic, there is one worship instrument I love above all, and that’s the pipe organ. Not one of those electronic keyboards or synthesizers, but the real deal. I only care to hear a pipe organ in worship, and nowhere else. It seems the perfect instrument to accompany and enhance the human voice (our own “pipes”), without contrasting too much. The pipe organ also seems to support a wide variety of music from reverential to joyous. Other fitting instruments would be stringed or reed, such as violins, oboes, pianos, and the like, which also seem to compliment the congregations’ human voices without overwhelming them. Then there are the instruments that stylistically don’t seem to fit well within worship. To me a drum set does not quite fit. Neither do – for example – electric guitars, banjos, or bag pipes. Electric guitars, basses, and drum sets make me want to tap my feet or dance, banjos make me want to paddle faster, and bag pipes make me want to drink whisky and start a fist fight with the guy sitting next to me. Okay, I have never experienced banjos or bag pipes during worship, but never say never. Regardless of what instruments are used, the musical style can often function to undermine “mood” of the worship service. A sense of awe and reverence can be quickly undone by too upbeat of a song or one that is self-focused. Conversely, a worship song in the style of a modern achy breaky angsty heart piece, would be ill fitting for an Easter service. In my experience much of the modern worship band music destroys the cohesion of worship with respect to focus and mood.

On a bright note, there are many worship leaders (and bands) both Evangelical and Catholic, whose members do “get it”. Thank God for them. Perhaps the corruption of our worship music is simply an outgrowth of the ubiquitous corruption that is infecting all our institutions and has become glaringly apparent in the last seven or more years.

Praise be to Jesus Christ (in music and in every other way)!

[jammingdan]

So important to let the Holy Spirit lead us in choosing songs for our church. I think we are also being led as a world church and so worship music can be a uniting part . For instance The Blessing is sung in so many churches countries, cultures and in different languages. We are family and I think it can be like coming home to sing same songs in a church across the earth.

[imwoody]

Haha when you got to “That 65 year old man with an acoustic guitar” you were talking about me😆

[Elizabeth-]

I can’t stand the 20 minute musical “worship “time in our church with the long, repetitive songs that visitors have no idea what to do with.

[peaceinjesus]

Hi Spencer, So many thanks for your ministry to you us! It is truly a blessing! Please can I ask your advice on something? I'm an experienced guitarist in a church worship band, but when I'm playing the guitar at the front, although I can hear it using my own amp as an additional monitor, people in the hall see me but hear nothing! I've tried asking the person on the sound desk about this, but nothing changes. The services are recorded, but the guitar isn't heard there either apart from the occasional squeek. This morning was apparently the same, so now I'm thinking there is no point in playing in church anymore on that basis. Do you have any thoughts please? In case I'm giving the wrong idea here, I would probably be described as an advanced player, playing sensitively to the band and the Spirit.

[imwoody]

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