How Contemporary Worship Music Is Shaping Us—for Better or Worse

This article is a book review on a work that critically evaluates contemporary worship.  It is a interesting read for anyone who has an interest in worship and worship styles (KSchaal).

In a similar vein, some Christians use the language of “worship fix” or “worship junkie” to describe their craving for contemporary worship music. Ingalls suggests what may be behind this: “The language of addiction [seen in such terms] evidences the overwhelming success of the major worship brands in not just responding to felt needs, but also actively producing desire” (204). The question is: desire for what? My aim as a song leader is to foster desire for God and for his glory. My fear, however, is that in the contemporary worship movement we have too often trained people to seek a caffeine jolt of emotional bliss.My fear is that in the contemporary worship movement we have too often trained people to seek a caffeine jolt of emotional bliss. This is where Ingalls’s book can prompt us to some healthy soul-searching about the future of contemporary worship music. What if composers of modern praise songs carefully selected lyrics that focus more on God’s character than on our experience? What if we embarked on a campaign to teach believers that worship is more about ascribing worth to God than pursuing an emotional response—that in fact, our emotions will often be stirred in the right ways when we focus more on God and less on ourselves?

Source: How Contemporary Worship Music Is Shaping Us—for Better or Worse