Here I Am To Worship: Changes in Church Music
(This is a short article on how the music in our churches is changing. If you are looking for information on the song Here I Am to Worship it was written and first sung by Tim Hughes on the album of the same name in 2001. Since then, it’s been covered by more Christian singers than almost any other recent songs including singers such as Michael W Smith, Chris Tomlin, Sonic Flood, and Jeremy Camp.)
Anyone who has been to a church even for one Sunday knows how important singing is as an act of Christian worship. Recently though there has been both a subtle and deep shift in the music found in churches. The old hymns that have served 4 centuries of Christians are being replaced by contemporary praise choruses such as “Here I Am to Worship” and “Shout to the Lord”. This article is not to help anyone choose between them. It is instead meant to open our eyes to what we have gained in the choruses, and what we risk losing if we throw out the hymns.
What Choruses Brought
As 400-year-old music diverged from our cultural styles, the music in our churches failed to capture and connect our hearts to God as it probably did for the first singers. Churches taught that the greatest commandment was to love God with all your heart, but do so in an unemotional way so you are reverent in this place. This emphasized God’s transcendence and made him less practical to everyday life. Praise choruses, by speaking out of our contemporary culture, have once again made worship a connection with God and restored the emotional side of that relationship. They make us realize that God cares about me in a personal way and not just us in some vague religious way. They are able to reach the person in jail or in the rehab center in a way that hymns have lost the power to do.
Why We Still Need Hymns
There are several criticisms that can be leveled at praise choruses too. Many are emotionally strong, but theologically shallow. We love them because they make us feel good without reminding us of our duty. Hymns contain our history in two ways. First, they are the songs that written by generations of Christians, many of whom we owe our very freedom to worship to. They are our history. Secondly, hymns tell stories. They repeat for us in great detail the story of Christ’s activity on our behalf, of the good times we have enjoyed because of God, of the dark times when he came through. They are the testimony and the history of the community of faith through the ages. Without these hymns we reduce all the greatness of the Christian faith to a modern, feel good fad. So check out some old hymns. Start with the ones that have been re-written into praise chorus style like The Wonderful Cross, Jesus Paid It All, and Chris Tomlin’s Amazing Grace that has the “my chains are gone” chorus.