Louder Than The Music

The title of this blog could come across as being a bit controversial, but it really isn't. My aim here is to put down on paper a few thoughts I have had about Christian music, of course take what you read with a pinch of salt, as this is primarily my own thoughts and views.

The main point I'm trying to put over to you guys is, with an ever-changing secular music world is it not time that Christian music changed a little to adapt with that? I'm not saying the message of the worship songs should be watered down, if anything I would love to see more contemporary Christian music being a little bit bolder.

In the last few years we have seen less and less guitar bands in the secular music world release albums, this is maybe down to record labels not seeing guitar music as being commercially cool, or they know that what will sell at this moment in time is hip hop, rap, boy bands and female singers like Cheryl Cole, Lady Gaga and Beyonce. Yet in probably 99% of churches around the world we are still using the guitar as the main form of leading worship music.

As a worship leader myself who plays guitar, you might think I'm trying to talk myself out of a job, but could it be that if we were a bit more daring, such as using rap in our worship or some hip hop beats, we might see a fresh wave of worship impact the church?

Can I point out again, I'm not here to criticise guitar music, I'm a massive fan of the songs that are being used in the church at the moment, some really powerful strong songs that claim who Jesus is and talk about His power. I'm also not saying we must follow cool trends for the sake of trying to be cool, that is a very dangerous road to go down.

I was on a car journey with some friends, and they were listening to a compilation album of live worship songs that were recorded over the summer and the comments that came from them surprised me. They said all the songs sounded similar in tempo and style. This was a fair point as all the songs on the album tended to lean towards worship being lead on an acoustic guitar with a steady drum beat and harmonised vocals. Which as I said before is good, but could we musically be missing something more?

One band that has really stepped up and out during the past year is British hip hop band LZ7. These guys really impressed and inspired me. This is coming from someone who is primarily a fan of guitar music from bands like Oasis, The Beatles and Queen. What has inspired me from a band like LZ7 is hearing them sing with passion, mixed with electrifying beats and a fantastic energetic live set. This is a group of people who want to show Christian Music is as good as anything in the charts, and they do this without compromising their positive God filled message and encouraging young people to step out and make a positive difference in today's world.

Maybe it's time to take a leaf out of LZ7's book and starting trying to be a little bit more creative with our music, lyrically and musically. Again, I repeat I'm not saying we must follow whatever trend the secular music world sets, if anything we need to start setting the musical trend ourselves, and I'm not saying we now need to overhaul our churches with rap music. This in a small way is me trying to say let's be more bold, more creative and more on fire for God. Let's keep pushing forward in our worship to the Almighty one, let's give Him everything we have without holding anything back.

Keep going worship leaders, you guys are doing an amazing job, getting into church early, honing your skills, learning new songs, leading a team of musicians (which can have its own challenges) - keep working hard and for an audience of one. If anything this is a message for myself to be more creative in my worship. Let 2011 be a year where we see more Christian artists impacting the secular charts and in our churches let's see people giving an offering to God with excitement and honesty in their worship.

Jono