Tuesday, September 15, 2020

What's up with Vague Modern Worship Songs? (The Porter's Gate)


Pastor John Piper says, "Right worship, good worship, pleasing worship depends on a right mental grasp of the way God really is." It is "a valuing or a treasuring of God above all things.” Worship songs, then, cannot be confusing or false, if Christians are to worship together in truth (John 4:24). It does not help that there are alot (not all of them but alot) of modern day worship songs that can be vague.

Take a look at the modern day worship song "Do it Again" by Elevation Worship. It features the opening line, "Walking around these walls I thought by now they'd fall, but You have never failed me yet." When I sing this line, I think I'm the one on the inside of the walls, and I'm walking around them and checking to see if they're still standing. From this viewpoint, God is the "walls," which reflects Psalm 18:2, "The LORD is my rock, my fortress...my stronghold." On the other hand, I know Christians who sing "Do it Again" and think of themselves as people on the ground hoping the walls before them wich they are walking around will fall. From this viewpoint, God in the song might be a bringer of justice exacting His wrath. The "walls" can be the preachings of false prophets, which reflects Ezekiel 13:10-11, "They lead my people astray...because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall...I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth."

Of what do you think, when you sing these lyrics?

Now, "Do it Again" features more than this opening line, but nowhere later in the song are the "walls" defined. What the "walls" in "Do it Again" are needs to be stated, in order to avoid confusion. Since to some the walls are God, to others the walls are lies, to more the walls are the difficulties in their life and to anyone the walls can be whatever they want them to be, the church can be in a state of confusion when they are supposed to be singing in harmony of word and mind. If every believer can sing the same worship song, but have varied ideas on what the song is about, then that puts a stumbling block between Christians and the likemindedness of believers in which God delights (Philippians 2:2).  The vagueness of many (not all) modern day songs allows for people to put meanings they desire (whether true or false) into the song's text. It is important for Christians to know what is true and cherish it in their heart, so that they don't sing songs of worship towards lesser things than God (whether on purpose or by accident).

This brings me to The Porter's Gate, a relatively new worship music group that according to their YouTube page "is a sacred ecumenical arts collective reimagining and recreating worship that welcomes, reflects and impacts both the community and the church." Personally, I'm skeptical of worship bands or churches that describe themselves as "reimagining" or "recreating" worship, and this group says they do both. The Porter's Gate website expressly states the group "was founded to help worship leaders respond theologically to the pressing questions of our times through the writing of new worship songs and the creation of new liturgical resources." On Septemeber 4th and September 11th The Porter's Gate released two new worship albums comprised of original worship songs. The albums are titled "Justice Songs" and "Lament Songs". Worship leaders can download the lead sheets for these songs on The Porter's Gate's website, so that they can integrate these new songs into their church's services. Like the somewhat vague nature of modern worship songs, these new worship songs by The Porter's Gate follow that pattern, but one song in particular does it possibly the worst.

The two covers for The Porter's Gate new worship albums

On the album "Lament Songs" Matt Maher (famous for the worship songs "Because He Lives" and "Alive & Breathing") sings a reimagined recreated version of the olde (with an "e") hymn "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded." The original version of this hymn is about Jesus' suffering on the cross for our sins, and this is clearly reflected in the hymn's original opening verse, which is as follows:

O sacred Head, now wounded,
with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
with thorns, Thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory,
what bliss till now was Thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call Thee mine.

This opening line reflects both the shame and glory of the cross, and what joy it is that we as born again believers can say that Jesus died for our sins. These lyrics place great value on God above all, by refering to His head as glorious. This song has a right grasp of who God is. 

This hymn was originally written in Latin, later translated into German and then English. On Septemeber 9th 2020, though, this beautiful hymn was released by The Porter's Gate with new lyrics and a new title, "O Sacred Neck." The opening line to this new worship song is as follows:

O, Sacred Neck, now wounded
Pressed down by blows and knees
This son of God surrounded
By silent enemies
Will no one stop and listen?
Will no one rise and speak
Of violence and oppression
Which hanged You from that tree?

These new lyrics do not clearly reflect Jesus' suffering on the cross, but instead feature new ideas about that suffering (ideas that you will not find in the Bible). To begin, Jesus' neck and it's sacredness is not important in the story of Christ's suffering on the cross. If it was, the writers of the four gospels inspired by the Holy Spirit would have mentioned it, and none of them did. Continuing on, the Messiah does not appear to have been "pressed down by blows and knees." According to the gospel of Mark in chapter 14 verse 65 it is written, "Some began to spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, 'Prophesy!' And the officers received Him with slaps in the face." Jesus was slapped, beaten and hit, but it does not appear He was pressed down by someone's knees. The one time I can find knees involved in the suffering of Jesus is where it is written, "They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him," but even here the body part of Jesus prominently refered to is His head; not His neck (Mark 15:19). Lastly, Jesus' enemies on that day were not silent before Him. Rather, they hurled insults at Him and mocked Him (Matthew 27:39-41). The one who was silent during Jesus' suffering was Jesus. As it was prophesied, "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open his mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth" (Isaiah 53:7).

A depiction of Jesus being beaten, mocked and spat upon

So, why might The Porter's Gate choose to release this hymn with these vague and certainly misguided lyrics? According to the YouTube comments for the song "O Sacred Neck, Now Wounded," it is for the purpose of equating Jesus' death with the deaths of African American men and women (in particular the death of George Floyd) that have inspired the current Black Lives Matter movement. Many in the comment section refer to the song as blasphemy. Protestia, writes "the content [of the song] is replete with mention of George Floyd’s sacred neck, it being pressed down by knees, other officers not helping, being breathless in the streets, etc.," concluding that "apparently, this is their new savior." Alternatively, the Art & Theology blog states that the song, "'O Sacred Neck, Now Wounded' toggles between descriptions of Jesus’s murder and that of unarmed black men and women, highlighting the sacredness of every neck, head, and body." For the neccessity of Biblical truth, the word sacred according to Bible Hub means "Set apart by solemn religious ceremony; especially, in a good sense, made holy; set apart to religious use; consecrated; not profane or common." Since not everyone on earth has been set apart by God to do good works, or has a consecrated body that has been born again, not every neck on earth can be considered sacred by the standards of God's word.

Clearly a worship song like "O Sacred Neck, Now Wounded," can cause confusion in the Church and can even lead Christians astray. It is perhaps that creating this confusion and misdirecting of believers towards false doctrines is why vague modern day worship songs like these are made. Todd Friel, host of Wretched Radio, illustrates this with his following quote:

"That is precisely the modus operandi. 
Let's confuse language; 
confuse words, and import utter 
garbage into the Church." 
-Wretched Radio

I believe this importation of garbage has come about implicitly, through a lack of care and understanding of Biblical truths. It is written, "Jesus said, 'If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples.' Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).

This is precisely one of the main reasons why I published this blog a year ago. Christians need to be "on the same page," when it comes to what's in the Bible and what it teaches. We need to know what God's word says, so that we will not be deceived by lies from this world. At the top of this blog I wrote this blog's mission statement, which reads, "This blog is dedicated to ensuring that the teenagers and young adults of this generation are well equipped with the truth of the word of God, in order that we may all be "like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind (Philippians 2:2)." I still believe this.

Sources
Posted by at
Labels: ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)