Most of the worship music we refer to as "contemporary" has been influenced by rock 'n' roll. As a form of art, the meaning of this style of music involves a whole set of assumptions and ideals, something Ken Myers has described as the "rock myth." Myers explains, "The essence of that myth was that rock would offer a form of spiritual deliverance by providing a superior form of knowledge, a form that was immediate rather than reflective, physical rather than mental, and emotional rather than volitional." (1) If these things are inherent to rock as a musical form, then rock music itself, regardless of the lyrics, may imply something about how we come to know and experience truth. It suggests that the immediate, physical, and emotional is more authentic and reliable than the reflective, mental, and volitional. This is something to consider seriously in relation to our worship tunes, especially in terms of how the Bible says we come to an understanding of the truth, as well as Paul's exhortation to "be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Rom. 12:2).
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1 [ Back ] Kenneth A. Myers, All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 137.
2 [ Back ] Julian Johnson, Who Needs Classical Music? (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), 14.
3 [ Back ] Johnson, 15.
4 [ Back ] Cited in Paul S. Jones, Singing and Making Music (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2006), 292.
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Issue: "The Cross and the Crescent" July/August 2012 Vol. 21 No. 4 Page number(s): 17
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