Another of my recent columns in Christian Week:

By Michael Krahn  |  ChristianWeek Columnist

About a year ago a prominent Canadian Christian professor (details) took aim at one of today’s most popular worship songwriters in a piece called “Chris Tomlin’s Worship Songs: We Have Got to Do Better.”

Setting the tone early in the article, one of the first things he says of Tomlin’s songs is that “many of them stay with you after church, even if you want them badly to go away.” He roundly criticizes Tomlin’s songs for their “bad lyrics,” “musical clichés” and “discomfiting lyrics.” He calls him an outright “bad lyricist,” who “either doesn’t care about rhyming and settles for the merest assonance, or he lacks the skill or patience to actually craft rhymes.”

Why stop there? The professor goes on to write that Tomlin also lacks a “strong grasp of Scripture, and particularly of the metaphors and allusions he uses.”

If this diagnosis is correct, then many of the rest of us are musical idiots who lack the ability to discern a good song from a bad one. He nearly says as much: “We are the most educated Christians in history, and yet our lyrics are considerably stupider than our much less educated Christian forebears…”

Chris Vacher, a worship pastor from Orangeville, Ontario and founder of a Canadian songwriting collective known as WorshipRises recently came to Tomlin’s defence.

Echoing my own experience, he says, “I do know this: more often than not, if I do a Chris Tomlin song with our church, they are singing their hearts out for the glory of God. As a worship leader, what more could I ask for? Why do I care whether the last word of each line rhymes? All I care is that I am putting words in the mouths of the people of this church which give God glory, stir the hearts of people toward Christ and proclaim the gospel to those who don’t know Him.”

If a loose rhyme scheme is all it takes to keep someone from worshiping God, the problem likely isn’t with the song.

At the other end of the spectrum is the widespread idolization of the band Hillsong United. With a cast of hip, young and good-looking band members and the Hillsong promotional machine in full force, United has become the “it” band in worship music.

In today’s industry, music and image are inextricably linked. Unfortunately, this is just as true of the Christian music subculture as its secular counterpart. The visual presentation of Hillsong United is a message to its audience: image counts for a lot.

One disturbing outworking of this message became evident to me recently as I was looking at the search terms that bring traffic to my blog. One of the top search terms is “Hillsong” and the words most commonly paired with that term are “girls” and “girl singer.”

The girl they’re likely searching for is Brooke Fraser, one of the aforementioned hip, young, and good-looking members the band. Type that name into a Google image search and you’ll see her in poses ranging from “cute” to what can reasonably be described as “seductive.”

This strong push toward image marketing says nothing about the quality of the music that emanates from Hillsong’s various incarnations, the quality of which ranges from lacklustre to profound. Fraser herself is a gifted writer and singer who penned the popular anthem “Hosanna” (the one that begins with “I see the King of Glory…”).

But it does say a lot about the methods they’re willing to use to sell worship music. When we see a “professional worship singer” posing for photos that are not-so-subtly seductive, it’s normal to experience some confusion.

There’s a difference between looking presentable and seeking to become the centre of attention. When sensuality is used as leverage—or worse, manipulation—to sell something for Jesus, we’re getting uncomfortably close to the line between acceptable and not-so.

All of this to say that we do still love to attend to our idols, whether by attempting to tear them down with undue criticism or via the adulation that makes them too high a priority in our lives. Given a choice between fickle fascination and condescending criticism, we should choose neither.

In one case, we’re tearing down something good for the sake our own over-refined sense of quality; in the other case, we’re praising something unholy because we’ve bought into the false god worship of celebrity culture.

Let’s allow the songs to be songs, regardless of who wrote them or what the writer looks like. Let’s neither use nor reject songs because they come from a certain artist.

I plan to continue to use both Hillsong and Chris Tomlin material when leading my church in worship. I’ll also use anything else that’s singable and theologically sound. And I’ll continue to be diligent about avoiding the mixed messages of the visual presentation of worship artists.

My most recent column for Christian Week:

Every time a church music director receives a suggestion from a congregant about a new music team member, there’s a bit of a twist in our stomachs.  I need to say this bluntly: non-musicians are not good judges of musical ability.

They typically underestimate the amount of skill and diligence required to play in the setting demanded by most churches. They also often assume that if someone is judged to be “not good enough” then the music director’s standards must too high, the thinking being that anyone with some ability and a lot of good intentions should be given a spot on stage.

Newer musicians themselves often overestimate the state of their own development. Their actual musical ability is often far less than what they perceive it to be.

My response is usually this: There is no other aspect of corporate worship that is abandoned to people with good intentions alone – why music?

So when the situation arises, music directors are often set up for a bit of an awkward conversation.

Musical people generally fall into one of the four following categories:

Beginner

This person has probably recently taken up an interest in singing or a musical instrument. At this stage there is a lot of excitement but very little self-awareness of competence. Beginners often bail when the going gets tough, when the process of learning becomes more difficult than they thought it would be.

Amateur

The amateur musician has persevered through the beginner stage and is becoming aware of their place in the spectrum of competence. This is still somewhat of a probationary stage, but this when they are probably ready to begin playing a small role in corporate worship. Pushed forward too soon however, it can shatter both confidence and the quality of the worship service itself.

Competent

A competent musician is a confident musician. At this stage they’re past having to look at their fingers at each chord change, for example. Having attained this level of competence, they are now ready to start playing a more prominent role in corporate worship, perhaps even to lead a team of their own.

Professional

If you live in a larger urban center you may have access to musicians who make their living playing or singing in a professional band or recording studio in the area. These people can be a great blessing to a music director if they have a good attitude. Sometimes however, professionals are prone to adopt the ways of the culture of idolization in which they spend the majority of their time.

If this is the attitude of a professional you have access to, choose not to access their talent.

There is one more category that I won’t name but will draw attention to: the competent or professional level musician who is a congregation member and a musician in addition to being music snob. (I’ve spent my share of time playing this role.) They attend services and judge what’s happening on stage to be “ok”, but they could certainly do better. So much better in fact that they won’t embarrass everyone else by making themselves known. Until that attitude is set aside, this type of person is of no use to you.

When joining as a new musician, regardless of your level competence, making a first impression as someone who is humble will go a long way with your fellow team members. It also acts as a deterrent to the idolization that people in our culture seem more than willing engage in when they’re impressed by anyone on a stage.

Don’t give them opportunity to do so by appearing to bask in their adoration. If you become the focus it means that someone more import – Jesus, the one you’re supposed to be leading them to worship – is not.

Our standards CAN indeed be too high, and they are too high when they impede competent musicians from serving God with their talents. If an occasional off note is all it takes to keep someone from worshiping God, the problem likely isn’t with the singer.

But our standards are too low when we allow incompetent musicians to deter others from worshiping God. When we do this we put the congregation in the unenviable position of attempting to engage in worship while being led by someone with a lack of training or ability. We also set the unqualified musician up for embarrassment. Better a truthful word in private than an obvious embarrassment in public.

Having said that, we should not seek to “professionalize” our corporate worship services. Anyone who has attained the level competence required to avoid being a distraction should be put to use. And those who have not attained this level, and are willing to work toward that end, should receive the training they require.