There is a song that we occasionally sing at church called "Famous One." It was written by Chris Tomlin, whose music I generally like. Here is the chorus:
"You are the Lord
The famous one, famous one, Great is Your name in all the earth
The heavens declare
You're glorious, glorious, Great is Your fame beyond the earth"
When we sign this, all I can think is, "Who cares if God is famous?!!!" Is fame now a positive character trait? Paris Hilton is famous...Is the paparazzi following God around now, forcing God's car off the road to get better pictures? God is certainly a bigger deal than Lindsay Lohan!
There are plenty of praise songs that I enjoy. They don't even have to be especially deep or profound for me to like them. Pump Rich Mullins Songs or Third Day Offerings and I'll be singing along at the top of my lungs in no time. Just cut out the nananas and the saying dumb things and the repeating the last line three times to conclude.
I admit that I'm cynical and maybe a little bit jaded. But, let's be serious...nanananana? NANANANANANA??!!
People tell me that some songs are just meant to be fun. Are fun and intelligence mutually exclusive? Shouldn't we use our minds in worship?
On a related topic: why are most worship services either contemporary or traditional? The Falls Church does a good job combining these two styles of worship, better than I have seen in any other church, but, combining generally means contemporary with a taste of tradition or traditional with a praise song thrown in. Let's get it together people...
Rant over.
3 comments:
Hmmm...I've had very similar thoughts about that song! The very word "Famous" certianly has some negative connotations which really hinder me from worshiping God with all my mind (because I'm dwelling too much on the poor lyrical aspect of the song).
I meant to comment on this a while back, but I forgot about it. I think the author is using the denotative meaning of the word "famous", which is to be well-known for doing great things, or for greatness. This fits with the next line of the song, too (Great is your name in all the earth). Technically, someone like Paris Hilton isn't actually famous. She is well-known, possibly even infamous, but she isn't known for any great works. In fact, the mere existence of the word "infamous" (meaning well-known for bad things) implies that the word "famous" must mean well-known for good things. And the Psalmists definitely made heavy use of the "known for great works" aspect of God, so it's not a new idea.
That said, most people associate the word "famous" with its technically incorrect modern usage, so it probably wasn't the best choice on the part of the songwriter.
you know... i'm a youth worker/associate pastor (followed a link over here from a comment you left elsewhere and was poking around)who used to annoyed all the time with songs like every move that are full of the na na na's. until i realized one day... what does any word i say have anything to do with my worship? i can sing a grand old hymn and have it mean nothing... and i can say na na na and have it mean everything.
its certainly true that some songs lead each person to a place of worship better than others, but i do fear we spend way too much time nitpicking them
have a nice day
tuf
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