I don't listen to worship music on a regular basis.

the following thoughts have been brewing in my mind for some time now. i've never really shared them because i'm afraid of being labeled a heretic or a "bad" Christian. then I realized something: everyone makes mistakes, that's part of being human. mistakes are part of the process of growing. i can potentially say something completely wrong, and while i should try to be careful with what i do say, i realized that i can't always have the right answers, nor am i going to pretend that i do. i think Christians put so much pressure on each other to never say the wrong thing and i think that really cheapens the process of learning; how will we know if what we believe is wrong, if we don't put it out there?

this leads to my thoughts about worship music. while i appreciate worship music within the context of a worship service, i do not go out of my way to listen to worship music outside of church settings. i actually would prefer to listen to anything else (except for country. i never want to listen to country). i think this is attributed to a few things (a) the simplistic, repetitive nature of the music in worship songs sort of irritate me (b) it may be a rebellious response to the idea that Christians should listen to just Christian songs (c) i appreciate the creativity of the secular music i listen to, more (oh so much more).

I think that letter "B" is the driving reason behind my wariness of worship music. Worship music is a different class of music because it is music that is, supposedly, written for God. However, due to the Christian music label and the Christian music business and the implications that there needs to be a separation between Christian and secular music--and that it is more "Christian" to choose one side than the other--I sometimes wonder, is worship music really for God anymore? Or has it somehow become something that is more about ourselves, than anything else? If the strategy behind it all is to "separate us from the world," or to "appear as light to a dark world," then the strategy has failed because the secular world does not respect us, but ridicules us and hates us. Granted, that is what Jesus said would happen to those who followed Him, but I don't think this is what He meant. Christians are not coming off as humble disciples of Jesus Christ, but rather, proud, condemning people who think they're better than everyone else.

I'm not saying every Christian is like this nor am I saying that there is nothing beneficial and God-honoring about singing and listening to worship songs. But I do think we need to be careful in how we view and react to worship music. I don't think it should ever have the cult-like following that it has today, meaning people should not "worship" the music itself. I think an important reminder to remember is that worship is not merely genre of music! I believe that worship existed before music ever did. For worship is the posture that humans should have before God...always.