Why Are Certain Sounds Considered Worship? Pt. 1

Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. 

Psalms 33:3 (NIV)

Here I am To Worship, Let It Rain, Our God is an Awesome God, Dance Like David among other are some of the most popular and beloved worship songs in Christian Music. In terms of industry success, the artists who perform or cover these songs sell millions of albums. These songs, especially the first one are among the top Christian songs of all time. But why are certain names always associated with worship music and not others? What if the music I listen to glorifies God but in a dramatically different sound as opposed to the ones mentioned at the beginning of this blog? Is it still worship? Or is worship music constrained to the box of repeated choruses, predictable crescendos and makes no room for creativity in other genres?

Heavy Metal Worship in the country of Columbia

This is what I mean. Christian/Gospel content has veined its way into nearly every genre of music. Rock, Metal, Rap, Hip Hop, Poetry, Pop, Contemporary, EDM and so many more now contain lyrics that are faith-centric, God-honoring and all the while very different in terms of style but it's never called worship. When you go to a Christian bookstore you will see in their music section (usually) is broken up into genres (or really sub-genres) Skillet, Demon Hunter and Relient K are under rock or metal. Lecrae, Da' T.R.U.T.H. and KJ-52 are under rap/hip-hop. You know the usual until we see Chris Tomlin, Hillsong Worship, Jeremy Camp, Kari Jobe under "Praise/Worship." Now sometimes you will see them under "contemporary" but the former is more common. Again, why is their kind of music considered worship but others aren't?

Kurtis Blow MC's Sunday mass at Harlem Church in New York,

According to Websters dictionary Worship is defined as "the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity." Nowhere in its finite definition or it's sub-definitions is music involved in any way. Even in the Greek & Hebrew definitions of worship, music isn’t specifically mentioned. Rather the definitions allude to a lifestyle. This is something that is frequently said (at least in my neck of woods) "Worship isn't music it's a lifestyle." Now if you're a musician and a devout believer, clearly your faith and lifestyle should reflect in your music. Now, not everyone's spiritual lifestyle or worship is the same so their output won't be the same. Taking that into consideration shouldn't it mean then that Rappers, Rockers, Metal Heads, DJ's that live for God should be considered worshipers? and their music worship? I'll continue this later within the upcoming days in part 2 of this blog but I'd love to hear your opinion on the matter.

Is the term "worship music" reserved exclusively for those to a specific sound?

Is there a repetitiveness to today's worship? If so, is it lazy writing?

Why is Christian/Gospel considered a genre? What does Christianity or the message of the Gospel sound like musically?

Thanks for taking the time to read.

God bless family!

- William

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