Heart, Style & Cultural Relevance in Worship

God's opinion is the only one that matters.

If God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), then what exactly does that mean for how he responds to our worship? Should we attempt to make our worship music culturally relevant? Does God care about what’s fashionable today?

With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

2 Peter 3:8

At the risk of going all Christopher Nolan on you, for God, King David jumping around worshipping in his linen pants (2 Samuel 6:14) might as well have happened yesterday.

Churches blaring Shine Jesus Shine from car Klaxons during the Make Way marches of the 80s/90s basically happened a few minutes ago.

Conversely, perhaps the song Oceans by Hillsong feels to God like it lasts about 300 years… which sounds about right to me. Of course, I jest…

But why would God care about fashion or style? Our fickle attitudes change like the wind, but he’s constant, a solid rock. I gather flares are making a come back. Do you think God cares? He cares so much more about our hearts.

‘Cool’ Worship Music¹

It’s interesting to me that we’ve appropriated the word ‘cool’ to represent fashionable, as though not caring is the mark we should all aspire to. (Admittedly, ‘cool’ probably isn’t a cool word to use anymore).

But if I’m being honest, I often have to check myself when I witness someone truly, wholeheartedly, embarrassingly worshipping along to a cheesy song. It’s not a far stretch from my initial gut reaction to this:

Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.

2 Samuel 6:16

Here’s one of the greatest examples of heartfelt worship in the whole bible, and David is being despised by his own wife. When she confronts him afterwards, scorning him for debasing himself, he responds with these words:

“It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will celebrate before the Lord. I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes.”

2 Samuel 6:21-22

The only opinion that mattered to David was the Lord’s. He didn’t care that she thought less of him for it. It’s not for us to know (or judge) what’s going on in the hearts of other worshippers and Christian songwriters.

Who do we write worship songs for?

Jesus is the object of our worship, that much should be evident.

However, whenever I’ve written a song (particularly with church use in mind) I find myself considering the tastes of the congregation regarding the tune, the rhythm, the lyrics.

I’m not necessarily thinking, ‘Woah Jesus would love this chord progression’. Instead, I often find myself picturing particular people in my church and considering what might appeal to them, which inevitably colours the writing. I have to brush off the horrifying thought; am I writing worship songs for my fellow church-goers, rather than for God?

As someone who both loves to make contemporary music and to worship, the tension of writing/playing songs for God and for a church/congregation to get behind can be a little troubling. One step further is considering making worship music that is accessible by those outside of the weird church-music bubble. The congregation’s ‘taste’ for want of a better word, is likely to change over the seasons, somewhat influenced by what’s playing on Radio 1 (perhaps Radio 4 if you’re in C of E). On the one hand, Tozer said:

Worship is no longer worship when it reflects the culture around us more than the Christ within us.

A.W. Tozer

And let’s be honest, some of the more popular worship songs today are trying to ‘fit in’ with the contemporary culture, to reach the unsaved perhaps. But on the flip side, we’re told:

Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

Psalm 33:3

New songs. Playing skillfully. It seems clear that God loves creativity, and loves it when we explore the gifts that he’s given us (whether that’s playing ten-stringed instruments or just bellowing really loudly). And much of the time, new, fashionable, trendy music is being creative with what’s been done over the centuries before.

In modern Western music, we have 12 notes available to us, from which all our music is made (apart from the out of tune stuff perhaps). So you’d think that we’d have run out of ideas by now.

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

Imagine if God heard a worship song and thought, ‘Not another song using the chords of G, C and E minor! It’s been done already, guys! Nope, a capo won’t fix it either!’

I don’t believe that God cares much what our worship looks or sounds like. I reckon we could smack two rocks together and it would be pleasing worship to him if our hearts were in the right place when we did it.

Conclusion

All of this is to say: in everything you do, strive to please God, not people. Be yourself (as much as anyone can be) in your expression of your worship. Even if you’re a banner waver. Don’t judge the hearts of other worshippers.

And if you’re a songwriter, my encouragement is to write songs to God first and foremost; don’t water it down. God might anoint it to reach the wider culture whether you intended it or not.

Let’s all be courageous worshippers because it’s not about us.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

1. I might trademark this.