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Contemporary Worship Music: A Biblical Defense
Contemporary Christian music has an increasing yet controversial influence on church worship today. This book discusses the topic from a biblical viewpoint and makes a case for using contemporary music in worship -- with theological integrity.
224 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1997
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119 people want to read
About the author
John M. Frame
92 books222 followersFor his education, Frame received degrees from Princeton University (A.B.), Westminster Theological Seminary (B.D.), Yale University (A.M. and M.Phil., though he was working on a doctorate and admits his own failure to complete his dissertation), and Belhaven College (D.D.). He has served on the faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary and was a founding faculty member of their California campus. He currently (as of 2022) teaches Apologetics and The History of Philosophy and Christian thought at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, FL.
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March 27, 2011
Frame’s work is both a relic and a roadmap in the debate on worship that still smolders in certain circles of Christendom to this day. Frame’s work is a relic in the sense that it views the scene of the worship wars from the perspective of the mid 90’s. Although the span of time that separates this review from the writing is relatively short, the strides that have been made in contemporary worship have been great. Frame looked out at the burgeoning contemporary worship of his day with some weaknesses and challenges, and pronounces that it is worthy for the worship of God. At times the writer struggles with the evidence as to the repetitiveness or shallowness of the music, and finds creative answers to these critiques. The author struggles with the connection of contemporary worship to the burgeoning “church growth” movement of his day by attempting to find a balance on the issues at hand (e.g. pragmatism). Arguments such as these have, thankfully, faded into the past as contemporary worship has moved from its infancy into maturity.
Frame’s work also serves as a roadmap. One of his most insightful contributions in the work is his critique of contemporary worship. His valuable points made at the end of chapter 10 (126-127) have, whether wittingly or unwittingly, served as a roadmap for contemporary worship over the last decade. It has become more “thoughtful” with better texts and melodies (e.g. Townend and Getty). It has broadened and deepened its doctrinal content. It is being used less as entertainment and more as worship. Its defenders are fairer to those who still retain traditional worship. In these and many other ways, contemporary worship has thankfully reached a much more mature state in the manners laid out in this work.
The work begins in chapter 1 by offering the reader a helpful glimpse into the life of the writer. As Frame summarizes, “although I am not a professional musician, I don’t think I can be regarded as a musical ignoramus or a cultural Philistine” (4). Most traditionalists will likely find much in the life of the writer that resonates with their own background. What becomes most clear in this introduction is that Frame is not a radical. He is not an anti-traditionalist, per se. He respects and values traditional worship for some rather objective reasons, but definitely not simply for traditionalism’s sake. In turn, his support for contemporary worship also appears to spring from objective biblical concerns. And it is to these concerns to which Frame turns after defining his terms.
Chapter 2 lays the foundation upon which the remainder of the work is laid. These principles will be expounded and expanded upon in various specific arguments throughout the book, but if the reader grasps these principles and the arguments in the following two chapters, he or she need not wrestle much with the remainder of the work. The principles in this chapter are (cf. 28): worship must not focus on God’s transcendence to the exclusion of His nearness; worship is God-centered but must not exclude the worshipper; worship should not be anti-traditional, but should evaluate traditions by Scripture; worship music is not limited directly by Scripture, so creativity is fine “within the limits of general biblical standards;” worship must is critical in worship and to be intelligible it must communicate to a contemporary worshipper; worship is not designed for the unbeliever, but should communicate in a way in which the believer can understand the message; worship must be done in recognition of the unity of the church around the Gospel, but the diversity of the worshippers; worship must be done in a manner in which believers are edified.
Chapter 3 points out the qualities of the contemporary worship which was popular in 1997. Frame argues that it is God-Centered, Scriptural, and fresh. Chapter 4 summarizes the critiques of contemporary worship music; however, prior to listing these points, Frame gives the reader an explanation of the history and current milieu from which these arguments spring. In the author’s mind, most of these arguments spring from critiques of the now aging “church growth” movement. The arguments that Frame notes are “subjectivism, humanism, anti-intellectualism, ‘psychologism,’ professionalism, consumerism, pragmatism, and temporal chauvinism” (46). These arguments certainly encapsulate a number of the concerns of the traditionalists, but others exist and have evolved over the last decade. Some of these arguments are dealt with in the following chapters, but several others aren’t (e.g. the morality of music). In spite of this omission, the author deserves much credit for attempting to fairly portray the (mostly properly motivated) concerns of his opponents.
Chapter 5 tackles the sticky issue of culture. Frame argues that the statement that some contemporary worship sounds like some pop music mistakes the biblical idea of “likeness.” In fact, the worship music of today is actually unlike pop music in the most important manners. This supposed likeness is not to be interpreted as caving to the culture, but as uniquely counter-cultural (58). He also rejects the notion that just because one may be saved from the pop music of culture that Christians must reject any similarity to it in their worship by arguing that churches do not adopt the same standard for those saved out of high class culture or Roman Catholic culture. But have the churches using contemporary worship forms caved to culture by turning worship into entertainment? The writer answers by reminding his readers that traditional churches are just as quick to entertain the congregants with high and lofty choral virtuosity as contemporary churches which often can focus too much on lead singers and praise bands. The true challenge is that neither must allow their style to become the idol, but should turn all affection to God alone.
Chapter 6 responds to the attack that contemporary worship is just about bringing in lots of money and people. In this chapter, Frame suggests that the “church growth” movement is not all wrong, but seriously questions a number of the more pragmatic elements of the approach. Chapter 7 responds to attacks related to the authenticity and reverence of contemporary worship. The writer responds well here and essentially calls out some of the traditionalists as being very unfair in their criticisms in this area. Chapter 8 deals with the claim that contemporary worship does not edify, but simply evangelizes. Chapter 9 confronts the idea that contemporary worship “dumbs down” worship. Frame responds that the critics have elevated the role of the intellect over the emotions and the will.
Chapter 10 is an excellent (pun intended) counterpoint to the argument that contemporary worship does not meet the standard of excellence to be worthy of worshipping God. The author makes two excellent points that this reviewer had not seen to this point. First, if aesthetic excellence is what God expects in worship, then should Christians all be singing Bach chorales in German? Clearly, excellence is not simply a matter of aesthetic quality, but of communication and intelligibility to the worshipper. Second, if aesthetic excellence is what God expects, then one should only offer the very best. With this paradigm in mind, all worship music should be analyzed in terms of bad, worse, worst, good, better, and best. By all music, Frame expects not just genres in general, but specific songs and hymns. Once this paradigm is constructed, one song must necessarily be the “best” (e.g. “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”). Once this is established, then singing anything else would be offering God less than ones’ best! In regard to challenges about the doctrinal depth of contemporary worship music, Frame points out by using several examples that traditional worship music is perceived to be much deeper theologically because it presents numerous theological truths in rapid-fire succession (e.g. “Arise My Soul, Arise” presents 15 different aspects), while contemporary worship music tends to just focus on three or four truths. Moving from this point to the argument regarding repetition, the writer explains the biblical and didactic importance of repetition. He then closes the chapter with his critiques of contemporary worship.
Chapter 11 approaches the argument that contemporary worship is an implicit rejection of tradition and denominational distinctives. Frame points out that the Reformers stressed that traditions were only to be held as they upheld sola Scriptura. He then moves on to present some suggestions for helpful contemporary worship in chapter 12. Two appendices are also included that primarily deal with works that deal with the contemporary worship debate (appendix 1) and the “church growth” movement (appendix 2).
Below are several great quotations that the reviewer found significant:
"Luther and Calvin...were respectful of tradition, as all Christians should be. But they were not bound to it, only to the God of Scripture" (4).
"There is no contradiction between the vertical and the horizontal, between the God-centeredness of worship and the benefits available to the worshipers" (15).
"We do not glorify God in worship if we fail to communicate on the human level" (18).
"Sometimes it is hard to draw the line between a legitimate concern for appropriateness and...aesthetic snobbery" (20).
"The New Testament...does encourage the church (1 Cor. 14:24-25) to plan its worship with the unbelieving visitor in mind" (21).
"When sophisticated members of the church insist that worship employ only the most sophisticated music of their culture, what happened to their love for those who are poorly educated or of a different cultural stream? Or, from the opposite side of our musical wars: when advocates of contemporaneity want to set the traditions of the church completely aside and replace them with something largely meaningless to the older generation, are they acting in love?” (24-25)
"Music is an area in which we have little explicit scriptural direction, and in which, therefore, human creativity should be encouraged, within the limits of general biblical standards" (28).
"Both sides, then, need to learn from one another, to gain a better grasp of the application of Scripture to the difficult situations of the present day. The dialogue will demand more, not less, intellectual effort. It will require us to make some distinctions that we have overlooked in the past. And it will require a greater determination to live and worship according to biblical principle rather than by either the human traditions of the past or the innovations of the present" (52-53).
"When one listens to the God-centered content of [contemporary worship] songs, the counter-cultural thrust of them is obvious" (58).
"Antiquarians who love Gregorian chants and attend churches that use such music need to ask God to guard their hearts, lest they get so absorbed in the aesthetic qualities of the music that they lose grip on the higher purpose of the worship" (60-61).
"It is wrong to govern worship either by the criterion of popularity or by the tastes of those who love high art and tradition" (112).
The work is not without its flaws. As noted in the introduction, the most glaring deficiency is the age of the work. Frame ends up fighting fires for page after page because of the deficiencies of the infantile contemporary worship of yesteryear. His terms are at times too nuanced and his perspective on the history of the debate seems a little skewed at times (e.g. he argues that his opponents are making these points because they are hyper-intellectual, but describes all fundamentalists, who are some of the most ardent adherents to traditional worship, as anti-intellectual). Finally, and related to the prior point, the work is primarily focused on the challenges being dealt with amongst the Presbyterian denominations at the time of the writing. Readers outside the spectrum will have no difficulty with the majority of the work, but there are occasions where the discussion lapses into areas in which the outsider will have little familiarity.
But for these minor flaws, the book still serves as a helpful and fair analysis of the “worship wars” from the less-prolific contemporary side of the spectrum. Frame’s arguments and groundwork serves as a foundation for those who would discuss the topic in the years going forward. The contribution of this work to others more modern works is abundantly obvious. This reviewer would note specifically Bryan Chappell’s “Christ-Centered Worship,” which takes Frame’s methodology and demonstrates how it can be done with the Gospel at the center and with the use of some of the excellent new contemporary literature. Any believer who is willing to wrestle with the debate should certainly read this work in order to gain a measure of clarity and fairness in the discussion.
Frame’s work also serves as a roadmap. One of his most insightful contributions in the work is his critique of contemporary worship. His valuable points made at the end of chapter 10 (126-127) have, whether wittingly or unwittingly, served as a roadmap for contemporary worship over the last decade. It has become more “thoughtful” with better texts and melodies (e.g. Townend and Getty). It has broadened and deepened its doctrinal content. It is being used less as entertainment and more as worship. Its defenders are fairer to those who still retain traditional worship. In these and many other ways, contemporary worship has thankfully reached a much more mature state in the manners laid out in this work.
The work begins in chapter 1 by offering the reader a helpful glimpse into the life of the writer. As Frame summarizes, “although I am not a professional musician, I don’t think I can be regarded as a musical ignoramus or a cultural Philistine” (4). Most traditionalists will likely find much in the life of the writer that resonates with their own background. What becomes most clear in this introduction is that Frame is not a radical. He is not an anti-traditionalist, per se. He respects and values traditional worship for some rather objective reasons, but definitely not simply for traditionalism’s sake. In turn, his support for contemporary worship also appears to spring from objective biblical concerns. And it is to these concerns to which Frame turns after defining his terms.
Chapter 2 lays the foundation upon which the remainder of the work is laid. These principles will be expounded and expanded upon in various specific arguments throughout the book, but if the reader grasps these principles and the arguments in the following two chapters, he or she need not wrestle much with the remainder of the work. The principles in this chapter are (cf. 28): worship must not focus on God’s transcendence to the exclusion of His nearness; worship is God-centered but must not exclude the worshipper; worship should not be anti-traditional, but should evaluate traditions by Scripture; worship music is not limited directly by Scripture, so creativity is fine “within the limits of general biblical standards;” worship must is critical in worship and to be intelligible it must communicate to a contemporary worshipper; worship is not designed for the unbeliever, but should communicate in a way in which the believer can understand the message; worship must be done in recognition of the unity of the church around the Gospel, but the diversity of the worshippers; worship must be done in a manner in which believers are edified.
Chapter 3 points out the qualities of the contemporary worship which was popular in 1997. Frame argues that it is God-Centered, Scriptural, and fresh. Chapter 4 summarizes the critiques of contemporary worship music; however, prior to listing these points, Frame gives the reader an explanation of the history and current milieu from which these arguments spring. In the author’s mind, most of these arguments spring from critiques of the now aging “church growth” movement. The arguments that Frame notes are “subjectivism, humanism, anti-intellectualism, ‘psychologism,’ professionalism, consumerism, pragmatism, and temporal chauvinism” (46). These arguments certainly encapsulate a number of the concerns of the traditionalists, but others exist and have evolved over the last decade. Some of these arguments are dealt with in the following chapters, but several others aren’t (e.g. the morality of music). In spite of this omission, the author deserves much credit for attempting to fairly portray the (mostly properly motivated) concerns of his opponents.
Chapter 5 tackles the sticky issue of culture. Frame argues that the statement that some contemporary worship sounds like some pop music mistakes the biblical idea of “likeness.” In fact, the worship music of today is actually unlike pop music in the most important manners. This supposed likeness is not to be interpreted as caving to the culture, but as uniquely counter-cultural (58). He also rejects the notion that just because one may be saved from the pop music of culture that Christians must reject any similarity to it in their worship by arguing that churches do not adopt the same standard for those saved out of high class culture or Roman Catholic culture. But have the churches using contemporary worship forms caved to culture by turning worship into entertainment? The writer answers by reminding his readers that traditional churches are just as quick to entertain the congregants with high and lofty choral virtuosity as contemporary churches which often can focus too much on lead singers and praise bands. The true challenge is that neither must allow their style to become the idol, but should turn all affection to God alone.
Chapter 6 responds to the attack that contemporary worship is just about bringing in lots of money and people. In this chapter, Frame suggests that the “church growth” movement is not all wrong, but seriously questions a number of the more pragmatic elements of the approach. Chapter 7 responds to attacks related to the authenticity and reverence of contemporary worship. The writer responds well here and essentially calls out some of the traditionalists as being very unfair in their criticisms in this area. Chapter 8 deals with the claim that contemporary worship does not edify, but simply evangelizes. Chapter 9 confronts the idea that contemporary worship “dumbs down” worship. Frame responds that the critics have elevated the role of the intellect over the emotions and the will.
Chapter 10 is an excellent (pun intended) counterpoint to the argument that contemporary worship does not meet the standard of excellence to be worthy of worshipping God. The author makes two excellent points that this reviewer had not seen to this point. First, if aesthetic excellence is what God expects in worship, then should Christians all be singing Bach chorales in German? Clearly, excellence is not simply a matter of aesthetic quality, but of communication and intelligibility to the worshipper. Second, if aesthetic excellence is what God expects, then one should only offer the very best. With this paradigm in mind, all worship music should be analyzed in terms of bad, worse, worst, good, better, and best. By all music, Frame expects not just genres in general, but specific songs and hymns. Once this paradigm is constructed, one song must necessarily be the “best” (e.g. “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”). Once this is established, then singing anything else would be offering God less than ones’ best! In regard to challenges about the doctrinal depth of contemporary worship music, Frame points out by using several examples that traditional worship music is perceived to be much deeper theologically because it presents numerous theological truths in rapid-fire succession (e.g. “Arise My Soul, Arise” presents 15 different aspects), while contemporary worship music tends to just focus on three or four truths. Moving from this point to the argument regarding repetition, the writer explains the biblical and didactic importance of repetition. He then closes the chapter with his critiques of contemporary worship.
Chapter 11 approaches the argument that contemporary worship is an implicit rejection of tradition and denominational distinctives. Frame points out that the Reformers stressed that traditions were only to be held as they upheld sola Scriptura. He then moves on to present some suggestions for helpful contemporary worship in chapter 12. Two appendices are also included that primarily deal with works that deal with the contemporary worship debate (appendix 1) and the “church growth” movement (appendix 2).
Below are several great quotations that the reviewer found significant:
"Luther and Calvin...were respectful of tradition, as all Christians should be. But they were not bound to it, only to the God of Scripture" (4).
"There is no contradiction between the vertical and the horizontal, between the God-centeredness of worship and the benefits available to the worshipers" (15).
"We do not glorify God in worship if we fail to communicate on the human level" (18).
"Sometimes it is hard to draw the line between a legitimate concern for appropriateness and...aesthetic snobbery" (20).
"The New Testament...does encourage the church (1 Cor. 14:24-25) to plan its worship with the unbelieving visitor in mind" (21).
"When sophisticated members of the church insist that worship employ only the most sophisticated music of their culture, what happened to their love for those who are poorly educated or of a different cultural stream? Or, from the opposite side of our musical wars: when advocates of contemporaneity want to set the traditions of the church completely aside and replace them with something largely meaningless to the older generation, are they acting in love?” (24-25)
"Music is an area in which we have little explicit scriptural direction, and in which, therefore, human creativity should be encouraged, within the limits of general biblical standards" (28).
"Both sides, then, need to learn from one another, to gain a better grasp of the application of Scripture to the difficult situations of the present day. The dialogue will demand more, not less, intellectual effort. It will require us to make some distinctions that we have overlooked in the past. And it will require a greater determination to live and worship according to biblical principle rather than by either the human traditions of the past or the innovations of the present" (52-53).
"When one listens to the God-centered content of [contemporary worship] songs, the counter-cultural thrust of them is obvious" (58).
"Antiquarians who love Gregorian chants and attend churches that use such music need to ask God to guard their hearts, lest they get so absorbed in the aesthetic qualities of the music that they lose grip on the higher purpose of the worship" (60-61).
"It is wrong to govern worship either by the criterion of popularity or by the tastes of those who love high art and tradition" (112).
The work is not without its flaws. As noted in the introduction, the most glaring deficiency is the age of the work. Frame ends up fighting fires for page after page because of the deficiencies of the infantile contemporary worship of yesteryear. His terms are at times too nuanced and his perspective on the history of the debate seems a little skewed at times (e.g. he argues that his opponents are making these points because they are hyper-intellectual, but describes all fundamentalists, who are some of the most ardent adherents to traditional worship, as anti-intellectual). Finally, and related to the prior point, the work is primarily focused on the challenges being dealt with amongst the Presbyterian denominations at the time of the writing. Readers outside the spectrum will have no difficulty with the majority of the work, but there are occasions where the discussion lapses into areas in which the outsider will have little familiarity.
But for these minor flaws, the book still serves as a helpful and fair analysis of the “worship wars” from the less-prolific contemporary side of the spectrum. Frame’s arguments and groundwork serves as a foundation for those who would discuss the topic in the years going forward. The contribution of this work to others more modern works is abundantly obvious. This reviewer would note specifically Bryan Chappell’s “Christ-Centered Worship,” which takes Frame’s methodology and demonstrates how it can be done with the Gospel at the center and with the use of some of the excellent new contemporary literature. Any believer who is willing to wrestle with the debate should certainly read this work in order to gain a measure of clarity and fairness in the discussion.
September 14, 2018
My 4 stars are not necessarily indicative of me "really liking it", but more that I tended to agree with his arguments. I find Frame as a very balanced and sane voice within the Reformed camp. I resonate with his approach to biblical interpretation, and his criticism of the historical methods used by guys like Michael Horton and David Wells. I think the church will need to realize that arguments against CWM are more preferential than they are biblical. I think that Frame did a good job of defending the use of CWM while also addressing its weaknesses. The book got a little monotonous, so I can't say I just loved reading all of it, but I am glad whenever I get a chance to read something that Frame writes.
February 26, 2020
Though somewhat dated in the examples of songs cited, Frame's book provides a strong, well-reasoned, biblically-informed defense of contemporary worship music, charitably responding to critics of CWM such as Michael Horton, David Wells, and Marva Dawn. Well worth reading.
March 15, 2023
This review was written for a class project, which shaped my approach to the content:
Frame's work is a helpful response to the material presented in Dr. T. David Gordon's Why Johnny Can't Sing Hymns. He largely builds his material around engaging with the Reformed objections to contemporary music and offering a biblical defense for why contemporary music is worthy of biblically informed congregational worship. He moves very helpfully through both defining what constitutes contemporary music (with specific examples either in songs or artists), and describing the valid or weightier arguments against using these songs by various authors and theologians.
In his early chapters he works through the dynamics of Biblical worship and evaluates contemporary music's merits related to these characteristics. Specific to the conversation, he holds Paul's work in 1 Corinthians 14 central to his argument that worship must be indelible to the congregation (p. 17). Here he introduces the phrase “musical snobbery” as a critique of the objections to what he will present, which ultimately tips his hand related to a great deal of the arguments he presents throughout. While there are weaknesses within contemporary worship music that Frame acknowledges, the large number of objections to it ultimately come down to some type of culturally (rather than Biblically) informed snobbery.
Alongside these opening remarks, Frame upholds the reality of the Great Commission in the way the worship music and styles of the church develop: “Becoming all things to all men is often costly and humbling. It means putting aside our preferences for the sake of our audience. This includes our preferences in music” (pp. 22-23). To this point, Frame's final bookend to this line of thinking:
“[It] is hard to find in Scripture itself exhortations to worship according to the traditions of the church above and beyond the teachings of the Word of God. Scripture is more concerned to rebuke those who place human traditions on too high a level of authority… In Hebrews 13:7, the author urges his readers to 'remember' those leaders whom God gave to the church in the past, those whom God used to found the church. It follows that we should respect not only our present teachers, but those whom God has given to the church in past centuries. In other words, God wants us to respect the traditions of doctrine and life that have developed over the history of the church. That does not mean that traditions are infallible. It does mean that they should be heard with respect” (135).
This is the type of perspective related to worship styles and musical compositions for the congregation that is more helpful than the critiques presented in this work (and elsewhere). There are certainly limitations, weaknesses, and problems in every age's worship styles, but that does not require slaven obedience to the “old ways,” simply because they are traditions.
In chapter 3, Frame argues that the obvious virtues of contemporary worship music are God-centeredness, scripturally, and freshness (or contemporary communication). In chapter 4 (pp. 46-47), he articulates some of the main arguments against contemporary worship music: subjectivism (centered on the worshipper's experience), humanism (“god” on our terms), anti-intellectualism (due to using less intellectually demanding hymns), ‘psychologism’ (or overly therapeutic) professionalism (or manipulative), consumerism (due to the nature of the Christian music industry), pragmatism (as contemporary worship music is connected to church-growth movements), and temporal chauvinism (that is, a fixation on today's music and disregard for past traditions). While some of these arguments have some merit, Frame responds that “among some contemporary worship music critics a certain amount of aesthetic snobbery, idolatry of the intellect, romanticizing of past history, denominational and theological chauvinism, and indifference to biblical principle (particularly the mandate of evangelism and the principle of intelligible communication in worship)” (p. 52).
Throughout the rest of the book, Frame engages in multiple ways with each of these categories, asking how the Church-Growth movement interacts with these points, whether contemporary worship music is “authentically Christian”, whether contemporary worship music dumbs down worship or if it edifies. He concludes with marks of ways that the contemporary worship music could be improved and grow as a movement. Frame admits that this movement of new songs is young and needs to mature, but the same could have been said about any hymn writers in their own day, and is thus not a reason for disregarding these new songs.
It would seem that this book is in some ways a historical marker to the transition of contemporary worship music into a more mature and thoughtful contributor to the church's worship. The songs and examples throughout are dated, but that is unavoidable with an author who deals with specifics. And since this works' publication in the late 90's, numerous worship song collectives have brought forth deeply thoughtful, musically engaging, biblically saturated, Christ-centered, contemporary worship songs.
I find within this book my own frustrations and experiences from my church planting work given illustration. This book is unfortunately required due to the excessive and tedious arguments of fellow Christians, directed at fellow Christians, about things that should not require so much ink. I have found my greatest headaches in my pastoral life, not from the post-Christian neighbors that we are trying to love and reach with Christ here in New Hampshire, but other Christians who have been wound so tightly around scruples and preferences that they have been baptized in proof texts. Which is why I appreciate Frame's missionary impulses throughout this conversation. Worship exists because God invites us into his presence to be shaped by behold him in word and sacrament. Because God is the lead missionary wherever we are, we will experience new cultures and new people coming under the Lordship of Christ, who will be filled by the Spirit to articulate the worship of God in a fresh community and context. This inherently requires new styles of worship; at minimum linguistic freshness of speaking the glory of God in the vernacular of the people, but additionally styles and types of musical expression that fit the instruments, tunes and history of this fresh congregation in the presence of their Redeeming God.
When reflecting on how this book might influence my own ministry, I find Frame being an example of patience with Christian quibbling gone amok. I did not grow up in a Christian tradition that calcified around these types of issues, even though I did grow up primarily in communities that were primarily hymnody based worship. My own inclination is to dismiss these types of deeply felt arguments as adiaphora. While that may be the ultimate conclusion, it is helpful to think through a careful, pastoral approach to engaging these questions in a way that draws people back to Scripture. I think Frame succeeds in being clear and biblical without hiding his own convictions or holding back points of correction. I find myself rather annoyed that this book needs to exist, but that may say more of my own need to grow in persevering grace with others than it does anything else.
Frame's work is a helpful response to the material presented in Dr. T. David Gordon's Why Johnny Can't Sing Hymns. He largely builds his material around engaging with the Reformed objections to contemporary music and offering a biblical defense for why contemporary music is worthy of biblically informed congregational worship. He moves very helpfully through both defining what constitutes contemporary music (with specific examples either in songs or artists), and describing the valid or weightier arguments against using these songs by various authors and theologians.
In his early chapters he works through the dynamics of Biblical worship and evaluates contemporary music's merits related to these characteristics. Specific to the conversation, he holds Paul's work in 1 Corinthians 14 central to his argument that worship must be indelible to the congregation (p. 17). Here he introduces the phrase “musical snobbery” as a critique of the objections to what he will present, which ultimately tips his hand related to a great deal of the arguments he presents throughout. While there are weaknesses within contemporary worship music that Frame acknowledges, the large number of objections to it ultimately come down to some type of culturally (rather than Biblically) informed snobbery.
Alongside these opening remarks, Frame upholds the reality of the Great Commission in the way the worship music and styles of the church develop: “Becoming all things to all men is often costly and humbling. It means putting aside our preferences for the sake of our audience. This includes our preferences in music” (pp. 22-23). To this point, Frame's final bookend to this line of thinking:
“[It] is hard to find in Scripture itself exhortations to worship according to the traditions of the church above and beyond the teachings of the Word of God. Scripture is more concerned to rebuke those who place human traditions on too high a level of authority… In Hebrews 13:7, the author urges his readers to 'remember' those leaders whom God gave to the church in the past, those whom God used to found the church. It follows that we should respect not only our present teachers, but those whom God has given to the church in past centuries. In other words, God wants us to respect the traditions of doctrine and life that have developed over the history of the church. That does not mean that traditions are infallible. It does mean that they should be heard with respect” (135).
This is the type of perspective related to worship styles and musical compositions for the congregation that is more helpful than the critiques presented in this work (and elsewhere). There are certainly limitations, weaknesses, and problems in every age's worship styles, but that does not require slaven obedience to the “old ways,” simply because they are traditions.
In chapter 3, Frame argues that the obvious virtues of contemporary worship music are God-centeredness, scripturally, and freshness (or contemporary communication). In chapter 4 (pp. 46-47), he articulates some of the main arguments against contemporary worship music: subjectivism (centered on the worshipper's experience), humanism (“god” on our terms), anti-intellectualism (due to using less intellectually demanding hymns), ‘psychologism’ (or overly therapeutic) professionalism (or manipulative), consumerism (due to the nature of the Christian music industry), pragmatism (as contemporary worship music is connected to church-growth movements), and temporal chauvinism (that is, a fixation on today's music and disregard for past traditions). While some of these arguments have some merit, Frame responds that “among some contemporary worship music critics a certain amount of aesthetic snobbery, idolatry of the intellect, romanticizing of past history, denominational and theological chauvinism, and indifference to biblical principle (particularly the mandate of evangelism and the principle of intelligible communication in worship)” (p. 52).
Throughout the rest of the book, Frame engages in multiple ways with each of these categories, asking how the Church-Growth movement interacts with these points, whether contemporary worship music is “authentically Christian”, whether contemporary worship music dumbs down worship or if it edifies. He concludes with marks of ways that the contemporary worship music could be improved and grow as a movement. Frame admits that this movement of new songs is young and needs to mature, but the same could have been said about any hymn writers in their own day, and is thus not a reason for disregarding these new songs.
It would seem that this book is in some ways a historical marker to the transition of contemporary worship music into a more mature and thoughtful contributor to the church's worship. The songs and examples throughout are dated, but that is unavoidable with an author who deals with specifics. And since this works' publication in the late 90's, numerous worship song collectives have brought forth deeply thoughtful, musically engaging, biblically saturated, Christ-centered, contemporary worship songs.
I find within this book my own frustrations and experiences from my church planting work given illustration. This book is unfortunately required due to the excessive and tedious arguments of fellow Christians, directed at fellow Christians, about things that should not require so much ink. I have found my greatest headaches in my pastoral life, not from the post-Christian neighbors that we are trying to love and reach with Christ here in New Hampshire, but other Christians who have been wound so tightly around scruples and preferences that they have been baptized in proof texts. Which is why I appreciate Frame's missionary impulses throughout this conversation. Worship exists because God invites us into his presence to be shaped by behold him in word and sacrament. Because God is the lead missionary wherever we are, we will experience new cultures and new people coming under the Lordship of Christ, who will be filled by the Spirit to articulate the worship of God in a fresh community and context. This inherently requires new styles of worship; at minimum linguistic freshness of speaking the glory of God in the vernacular of the people, but additionally styles and types of musical expression that fit the instruments, tunes and history of this fresh congregation in the presence of their Redeeming God.
When reflecting on how this book might influence my own ministry, I find Frame being an example of patience with Christian quibbling gone amok. I did not grow up in a Christian tradition that calcified around these types of issues, even though I did grow up primarily in communities that were primarily hymnody based worship. My own inclination is to dismiss these types of deeply felt arguments as adiaphora. While that may be the ultimate conclusion, it is helpful to think through a careful, pastoral approach to engaging these questions in a way that draws people back to Scripture. I think Frame succeeds in being clear and biblical without hiding his own convictions or holding back points of correction. I find myself rather annoyed that this book needs to exist, but that may say more of my own need to grow in persevering grace with others than it does anything else.
April 12, 2025
ITA
A dire la verità, non mi aspettavo la risposta da Frame in riguardo alla musica contemporanea. Leggere la sua posizione nel tema è stato un tragitto molto interessante e anche pieno di sorprese. Sebbene non mi ha convinto di cambiare la mia mente al suo punto di vista, lui ha fornito una schiera di argomenti molto lunga e valida. Lo ho davvero apprezzato!
ENG
To tell the truth, I didn't expect Frame's answer regarding contemporary music. Reading his position on the subject was a very interesting journey and also full of surprises. Although he did not convince me to change my mind to his point of view, he provided a very long and valid array of arguments in favor of contemporary music that I do not seem proper for worship like heavy rock. I really appreciated it!
SPA
A decir verdad, no esperaba la respuesta de Frame con respecto a la música contemporánea. Leer su posición sobre el tema fue un viaje muy interesante y también lleno de sorpresas. Aunque no me convenció de cambiar de opinión sobre su punto de vista, proporcionó una gama muy larga y válida de argumentos a favor de la música contemporánea que no me parece pro per para la adoración como el heavy rock. ¡Realmente lo aprecié!
A dire la verità, non mi aspettavo la risposta da Frame in riguardo alla musica contemporanea. Leggere la sua posizione nel tema è stato un tragitto molto interessante e anche pieno di sorprese. Sebbene non mi ha convinto di cambiare la mia mente al suo punto di vista, lui ha fornito una schiera di argomenti molto lunga e valida. Lo ho davvero apprezzato!
ENG
To tell the truth, I didn't expect Frame's answer regarding contemporary music. Reading his position on the subject was a very interesting journey and also full of surprises. Although he did not convince me to change my mind to his point of view, he provided a very long and valid array of arguments in favor of contemporary music that I do not seem proper for worship like heavy rock. I really appreciated it!
SPA
A decir verdad, no esperaba la respuesta de Frame con respecto a la música contemporánea. Leer su posición sobre el tema fue un viaje muy interesante y también lleno de sorpresas. Aunque no me convenció de cambiar de opinión sobre su punto de vista, proporcionó una gama muy larga y válida de argumentos a favor de la música contemporánea que no me parece pro per para la adoración como el heavy rock. ¡Realmente lo aprecié!
May 10, 2017
Hooray for Frame. Love this guy. I'm probably more progressive with my view of music than he is, so it's a delight to see him defend modern worship music. This is more conversational than academic, so everyone is invited.
(1) Hasn't undergone the winnowing of time (126)
(2) Overhead projectors! (133)
(3) "Reason is that God-given faculty which applies the norms of scripture to the data of experience." (187)
(1) Hasn't undergone the winnowing of time (126)
(2) Overhead projectors! (133)
(3) "Reason is that God-given faculty which applies the norms of scripture to the data of experience." (187)
December 29, 2021
Even though this book is not that old (copywritten in 1997), the material in it is already dated. In my opinion, contemporary worship music (CWM) has changed quite a lot in the last 20-25 years. While I think Frame's defense of CWM was pretty good for the time, I think that the critics of CWM turned out to be mostly correct.
October 14, 2023
I agree with the other views that this book is a little dated. I really appreciate how the author cones from a classical background and preference. I would love to know his thoughts on current modern music!
January 8, 2021
Very clear, logical, and succinct argument for contemporary music in worship services. Highly recommend.
July 13, 2012
Dated, perhaps, because it focuses on the worship music choruses of the 70s and 80s rather than the body of work associated with CCLI over the past 20-or-so years, this "critique of critiques" of modern worship music (defined as that which is not the "traditional" material found in hymnbooks) still has some bite, partly because it questions the theological method by which opponents of contemporary music make their case. Frame argues that many of them use "what has been accepted for centuries" as their criteria for judgment more than authority of the Scriptures.
January 14, 2013
O worthy wad if you want many perspectives but don't read it if you aren't prepared to think critically and form ideas from others books as well. In other words if you are only reading one book, don't make it this one.
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