A friend argues that this is the most important question a person can ask himself. He argues that our whole life is a series of decisions based on the comparisons we make.
I’ve found that if you approach something with very low expectations, you perceive the response completely differently than if you approach that same something with high expectations! So, that’s been a real-life experience for me – compared to what really matters.
People can hotly argue about anything, and usually it is an either / or argument. Which is better, the democratic or republican party? What if neither is your answer? If you just compare two and select one, you might find that good is the enemy of great.
What if the options are full of things you don’t support? What’s the point in grabbing the package of assorted flavors only to discard 3/4 to save the 1/4 you like?
I’m rambling, admittedly. Okay, one concrete example I’ve been mulling over. I was introduced to some CCM songs a few years ago. I had, and still have, a general dislike for this style. It wasn’t just the style I didn’t like, it was a lot of things. I didn’t like the lifestyles of the artists (by your fruits ye shall know them), I didn’t like the repetitive lyrics, I didn’t like the dependence on instrumentation, I didn’t like the shallow lyrics, I didn’t like the way radio stations would sound all touchy and feely about Christianity. I didn’t like CCM. Recently, I was at a conference and we attended an evening worship service. After 10 minutes of sitting in an auditorium of pounding music, my head and stomach didn’t like CCM either!! We exited and came back later! My stomach, no joke, had had enough.
So, now I’m comparing acappela CCM to guitar-only CCM to full-band-stomach-churning CCM and realize this is a compared to what question.
That’s just talking about instrumentation, however. We’d heard this same song over and over at the conference, and, I kid you not, they repeated the same phrase, trying not to exaggerate, but like 12 times. Let’s see if I can remember the phrase…your goodness is running after me or something similar from a Bethel song. I think the song lasted like 12 minutes, too. I looked at Betsy, like, when is this going to be over?! When they started the next song, we made our exit.
It felt hypnotic.
I compare that to hymnology of early times. Poetry. So much of it is a different type of language. So much is coupled with strong, mellow chords.
I’m not wanting to argue or make anyone change. There are people who think CCM, now that’s MY music. Fine. Maybe ask yourself a question. Compared to what? When I compare CCM music, from the best popular songs with deep meanings to the shallowest with stomach-wrenching instrumentation, I agree there’s a continuum. You can be fed…But think about it this way, traditional hymnology with its rich language focus and non-distracting melodies provides a way of remembering important truths that would impoverish us to forget.
So, professor, what did we learn?
Avoid a stomach ache. Choose wisely, my son.