Gospel Prism

I was reading on Bob Kauflin’s blog a post that has so much to say that I do not know if I can do it justice here without directing you to it first. So please, go read his post.

Bob quotes Chuck Colson’s article, “Soothing Ourselves to Death,� an article that Colson writes:

When church music directors lead congregations in singing contemporary Christian music, I often listen stoically with teeth clenched. But one Sunday morning, I cracked. We’d been led through endless repetitions of a meaningless ditty called “Draw Me Close to You,” which has zero theological content and could just as easily be sung in any nightclub. When I thought it was finally and mercifully over, the music leader beamed. “Let’s sing that again, shall we?” he asked. “No!” I shouted, loudly enough to send heads all around me spinning while my wife, Patty, cringed.

I know Kelly Carpenter’s song well. I know the chords, can play it by heart. It has blessed me many times. BUT I wonder if in the midst of those blessings, there was any lasting value to them. The problem is that the lyrics are ambiguous and murky but the tune is catchy, and yes, soothing. They go like this:

Draw me close to you, never let me go.
I lay it all down again, to hear you say that I’m your friend.
You are my desire, no one else will do.
No one else can take your place, to feel the warmth of your embrace.
Help me find the way, bring me back to you.

You’re all I want. You’re all I’ve ever needed.
You’re all I want. Help me know you are near.

Copyright 1994 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing.

I appreciate what Bob Kauflin has to say on the subject because these are exactly my sentiments:

My personal history with this song goes back to the mid-90’s, when I used it quite frequently. I specifically remember two times I was deeply affected by the song. In one instance, while leading worship at a large conference, I remember singing, “You’re all I want, You’re all I’ve ever needed,� with great fervor, faith, and conviction. Those words truly expressed the reality in my heart. On another occasion, my wife and I were both moved to tears as we listened to the CD and were reminded how futile it is to seek joy in anything other than God Himself.

But over time, I became increasingly uncomfortable with the song, and haven’t used it for years in corporate worship…

There is a place for such songs, if the leader is very specific about the context. But even during such times, my thoughts are that the song might be good, but is there better? And I have to believe the answer is, “Yes!� I have come to appreciate songs that do more than merely speak about how I feel about God. Absolutely, there are times that such songs are expressive of the believer’s sincere pursuit of Him, much like the Psalms. However, isn’t it quite possible that our Evangelical music culture has been stuck for too long on too much form without the substance? For a long time, I only sang these types of songs. Why? Because the ones that had depth seemed to lack the connection with the type of music that I was accustomed to. This is different than the melody being poorly written, and this is why I am indebted to Bob Kauflin and Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio and Charlie Hall and David Crowder who are bringing to us the beautiful melodies of the hymns and the theologically-inspiring lyrics they have and yet, are written with the musicality of the modern day. I am also grateful for Sovereign Grace Music and some of the Passion stuff (not all, some), and Matt Redman that are producing some of the most-theoligcally enriching, Gospel-soaked, God-entranced, believer-worship response lyrics out there.

In speaking with worship leader Brian Doerksen recently at a Worship event we had with him, something he said to me about his songs hit home. He said that he spends up to two years sometimes to write one song. What does he do with the time? He studies and does theological research about the message of the song. That warmed my heart and when I think of all of the Vineyard leaders and their songs, his is the most enduring and the most that speaks about the character of God and not simply how we feel. In our church, we will rarely sing Vineyard songs, not because the melodies are bad, but because the far too often, the lyrics lack any depth. And lyrics that lack depth might stir the soul for the moment, but that stirring is often forgotten.

In Passion’s latest CD, they sing the hymn, “Jesus Paid It All,� which says:

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.�

—

(Refrain)

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

—

For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

—

And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side,
I am divinely blest.

—

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down
All down at Jesus’ feet.

—

(Bridge)

Oh praise the One who paid my debt

And raised this life up from the dead.

—

I used to weep during the song “Draw Me Close to You� because I felt as though I was far from Him and wanted Him to draw me near. While I still feel this way, when I sing songs about God’s payment for my debt, I am assured that I am close to Him. Now I weep over God’s incredibly rich mercy to save a wretch like me, and it truly does make me want to sing.