Meredith Rounsley

You Are What You Eat – Thoughts on Worship

How many times have we heard this phrase? I distinctly remember my eighth grade health class; sitting in rickety desks and being taught how to read food labels. The sad fact is that there are a lot of people who don’t give this concept a second thought. Because of that, there are over 750 million people in the world who are classified as either overweight or obese. While I could go on a rant about how the media sensationalizes the “perfect body”, the sad truth is that those extra pounds wreak havoc on a person. Heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and even several types of cancer are linked to being overweight. All of this can be managed or even reversed with more access to solid truth about nutrition.

In the same way, our spiritual lives are being affected by the nutritional value of our worship music. We survive on a steady diet of soaring lead lines, catchy melodies, and pounding kick drums. These, just like the occasional candy bar, aren’t bad at all. In fact, they are brilliant. Music is one of the most transcendent forms of communication out there because everyone listens to it. I find myself humming lines from songs that are new to radio within hours of hearing them because I have connected with them. One of my friends always tells me that she loves music because it is a way of proclaiming the truth without getting punched in the face. People listen to music and take it to heart.

So what are you listening to? What songs are you allowing to influence your life and feed your ideals? Music, if we truly stop and think about it, has a way of forming our worldviews without the slightest effort. Three and a half minutes and BAM! We have a new perspective on something. Often we forget that worship music does not have any special type of lyrical immunity. If it isn’t grounded in truth it can be totally misleading and even contradictory.

I say this to myself and to all worship leaders. Let us always acknowledge the responsibility that we have to write and lead people in songs that are Biblically sound. We are living in a generation where people remember the hook to a worship song better than any sermon or verse. Take a minute and let the weight of that rest on you. It’s not meant to be something that freezes us up and keeps us from ever trying to write again. What it should do is encourage us to deepen our relationship with God through the knowledge of His Word, writing new songs that convey the love that we have for Him (and that He has for us!).

I’d totally love to know what you all think on the subject. How do you think that we could improve our worship music? If you’re a writer, what lyrical gaps have you seen yourself trying to fill?

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Comments

• pastorchris says:

  August 26, 2010 at 2:07 PM

  Great post, Meredith. It helps reinforce the importance of spending time in the Word as much as one listens to worship music. If we know the truth of the Word we can make sure the worship is on target. After all, we are to worship in Spirit AND IN TRUTH. It still blesses me when someone says they don’t have much scripture memorized, yet I can ask them to sing some favorite worship songs by memory and then reveal them the exact scripture reference!

  I believe our Father speaks to us through our worship. How many times do people testify that the worship lyrics spoke directly to them, speaking confirmation or assurance precisely at the right time? What a blessing to the songwriter to know that months/years ago when they were sitting at a coffee shop scribbling lyrics on a napkin, or waking up in the wee hours of the night with one inspired verse, chorus or even line of song that God was using them as the vessel to speak life, love, and hope to someone else! So songwriters–I encourage you to realize what a blessing you are to all of us! Continue your time in prayer, the Word and fellowship with the Holy Spirit! He is speaking to us through you!

  Blessings to you Meredith and all the worship songwriters out there…
  Chris