It's Not About Me and More

The legs of the stool for faithful singing in worship are: 1) the content of the words, 2) the muscial score of the tunes and 3) the manner in which worshipers offer the praise, thanksgiving, contrition and edification. Beauty is discovered when these three matters line up in a worship offering from the voices of God's people. Psalms 148 and 33, as examples, point us in the direction of keeping proportion about text, tune and a comely, fitting manner of expression.

The point of matching text, tune and manner of expression has not been an issue in the contemporary worship music movement. The issue rather has been the breadth of selections of text, tune and manner of expression. Contemporary worship music has settled for a reduced repertoire; her focus has been God's forgiveness through the cross of Christ. “It's not about me,” and that's so very true. CWM has rightly led the way in this one: God is holy and God alone has provided salvation through faith in His Son. So far, so very, very good. But CWM has neglected a theology of text, tune and manner of expression regarding the subjects of wisdom and warfare. Read the Psalms. God's Song Book calls us to greater faithfulness, a greater breadth, guiding us to round out what we sing and how we sing it.

Contemporary worship music has three legs of one particular stool, and it's a super, super vital one; but God has many more stools in His house.

G. Mark Sumpter