To sing or not to sing

I don't want to be "that guy". I really don't. But I feel I must let this out, or I will implode out of sheer frustration.

Music in the church service is a delicate subject. When it comes to talking about it, people seem to be on either side of the proverbial fence. On one side, you have the the religious zealots championing hymns and gospel tunes of old, continually bombarding the music minister with e-mails to go back to the way it was, musically. On the other side, you have the modern progressives who argue that more modern songs will lure in the people of today and hold the attention of the youth. Then you have those sitting on the fence, crying, "Can't we all just get along?"

I tend to sit in the tree 15 yards off and watch them fight to the death.

OK, not really, but seriously.

My earliest memories of church look different than the church I see today. It's to be expected; new pastor, new staff, new times. But the difference goes deeper than that.

I remember grudgingly getting out of bed, reluctantly putting on a dress, making it through Sunday School, and bracing for Big Church. Despite my boredom, I'd sing the hymns to the best ability, with all the reverence a kid could muster. The sermon took forever (maybe it just felt like forever to a kindergartner), but I listened hard and persevered, staying awake the great majority of the time. As I grew older and matured, I grew to appreciate the deep meaning and reverence behind the now outdated tunes. Even now, I associate congregational singing with hymns.

Hymns made it much easier for my brain to focus. Every line pointed straight to God. When the grand and solemn orchestra began to play and the choir began to sing "His name is wonderful, His name is wonderful, His name is wonderful, Jesus my Lord," the slow, somber, joyful tune let me think of nothing else but that His name is wonderful.

To me, hymns equal reverence. "Praise and Worship" songs equal jumping around, having a good time at VBS or children's choir. To me, "Modern worship", like Casting Crowns and the like, is what you listen to in the car. So you can imagine my confusion and frustration when I see and hear these things in "big church".

My biggest pet peeve? When the music minister takes hymns and changes the beat, or throws in some modern stuff to make a "medley". It wasn't broke, sir, don't "fix it".

The Bible does say to "Sing unto the Lord a new song." But the thing is, hymns never get old. At any rate, as the cliche goes, it doesn't matter what you're singing, so long as you're worshipping.

That's all good, except singing worship is a world of a lot easier for me when I'm in a reverent state. To each his own; I prefer hymns.