Worship’s Redemptive Center
Something that is often lost in today’s mainstream, nondenominational worship services is the redemptive center. Usually services cater to a particular emotion, or they work toward a single intended effect. For example, some pastors push to get people excited, so they organize a service that sticks mainly to upbeat, “happy-sounding” songs; also, the message tends to deal lightly with some (hopefully) Scripture-based subject matter. Or, in, say, a communion service for Baptists, we focus so much on the death of Christ; therefore, the music is typically somber rather than celebrative. Or, revivalist preachers manipulate the service, extend the “invitation” ad nauseum, and beat people into repentance. In any of these cases, the service was organized around the intended emotional response.
Modern worship songs also tend in this vein. They appeal to a single emotion. The song “Friend of God” deals with an intimate connection with God without allusion to what God had to do to accomplish this, nor does it take into account the too frequent times when God does not feel so friendly. This is not just Christian culture; it finds its way into our movies as well. American movies are strongly genre-driven. Movies fall all too easily into rigid categories, whereas the greatest films of all time appeal to a broad spectrum of genres within the same story. Good novels do the same.
What do I mean by recovering the “redemptive center” in our worship services? Well, a couple of songs can illustrate this for me.
“How Great Thou Art”
O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder…
This song begins with two verses of human observation, an unfulfilled wonder, the natural observation of the world. However, the third verse moves us to something more astonishing than any wonder of the world: the Lord Jesus gladly bearing our burden, bleeding and dying to take away our sin! The song ends with a forward look to finished redemption in the risen, victorious Christ when He returns. I’ll outline the progression this way:
- Human observation/perspective
- Refers to the Gospel and how Christ meets the basic human dilemma
- Refers to the eschaton, or “last things,” the summing up of all things under Christ
Another example:
“It Is Well with My Soul”
When peace like a river…when sorrows like sea rivers roll…It is well…
The song begins with a merely human situation, including the sorrow of grief, yet the assurance we have in knowing God is faithful. The second verse deals with how Satan exploits such situations, he “buffets” us, and tries to convince us that our sin deserves such cruelty, or that God has abandoned us. But what is the Christian’s response? “Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed His own blood for my soul.” The third verse expounds this, but makes the image, in my opinion, so much clearer: My sin…is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more…Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, o my soul!” Finally, the fourth verse looks forward to the return of our Lord.
- Human need/experience
- Gospel
- Eschaton
Seeing this pattern of wide-ranging material in the greatest of our Christian hymns convinces me that worship services need not appeal to a certain kind of emotion. We must preach the entire Gospel, which neither begins nor ends with the crucifixion, although we certainly can’t have a Gospel without a crucified Savior.
Surely we are all for better content in our worship music, more substance to our songs, more range in our preaching, and more glory to our God!
Beyond Despair 
I agree with the analysis of most “Christian” music today. As much as it seems the old hymns and a piano can put you to sleep with the greatest of ease, if the music of today had the same emphasis on theological input into the verses, then the gospel and what salvation truly is, wouldn’t be so watered down. Not that there are not writers out there who still try to blend lyrics, melody, and the gospel all into a song, but WE tend to be drawn more towards something that makes us feel good.
The same goes for most church services. What you save them with, is what you save them to. The sacrifice of our lives by picking up the cross and following Christ, believing He IS and making Him Lord, confessing our sins, turning from them, and all this is not going to be a “FUN” time on this earth. We will suffer. We will struggle. We will have times where we can not make it, without Christ. Reality in Christ is alot more than jumping up and down and waving our hands ‘in Jesus name’. Of course the flip side to that is, no one but us as Christians truly have anything to be excited about. Christ’s finished work on the cross and resurrection is enough to shout about. Did all that make any sense?
Gosh, Brian, you’re so negative. Why can’t you be more accepting?
No, I’m just kidding! I always feel a little guilty singing “Friend of God.” I know that because of the finished work of Christ, we can now gladly and excitedly approach God’s throne, but the “finished work of Christ” part is left out of that song. The words seem to humanize God a little too much, or downplay His holiness. I definitely think you are right, though. Our leaders need a little more discernment.
I know it sounds negative, but there’s also a lot of good music. I hate always to get on this soapbox about Christian music. The hymn writers were geniuses at capturing so much in a single phrase. “Praise! Praise the Father, praise the Son! And praise the Spirit, Three-In-One!” There you have three centuries of a theology which sets us apart from every other religion. It’s also what makes people think we’re nuts. Thomas Jefferson said the Trinity was mathematically impossible, and therefore, stupid. Something else on this entry: I’m also feeling the frequent criticism of our preaching prof., who wants all sermons to hit a high note on the eschaton. That’s good, but not at passages work that way, even though they might be leading that way. Blah blah blah… Man, I’m ready to finish school!