BOBBY’S CORNER

MISSION STATEMENT/DISCLAIMER/ WARNING LABEL/INTRO.
A weekly (basically) devotional look at the lighter (and weirder) side of music ministry, the church, and life in general or as my seminary student son would say, “It’s about Jesus and stuff!” (Stuff here means music.)

 

SONGS THAT REALLY MATTER

(May 5, 2008)

 

The older I get, (Stop laughing!) the more annoyed I become with pop culture and the fluff of empty “social living”.  I know shows on TV that deal with who’s eliminated and who can survive the next round of criticism and back-stabbing are all the rage but I just don’t get them.  I catch a moment or two and find myself wondering what the point is.  I know the shows are enormously popular and reap a windfall of advertising profits for the sponsors but really, be honest, if you were extremely wealthy, wouldn’t you pay some of them the prize money just to stop whining?  Granted, there are some wonderful stories of long shot talents and undiscovered gems of musical genius in the mix, but I can catch them on the internet without having to endure night after night of insufferable posturing, second guessing, and manufactured suspense of who will make it to the next round.  The music used in these shows seems to be inconsequential.  The song is just there as a vehicle to propel the contestant to the next level.  I found it very interesting that a “composer/coach” conveniently steered a contestant to one of his songs.  It probably didn’t have anything to do with the load of cash he stood to make in royalties for the use of his song.  Now, I understand the shows are a talent search and they have every right to do what they do however trivial I may think the whole business is.  I’m just wondering if somewhere, in our addiction to popular music culture, we haven’t lost the simple joy of a “necessary song”.  It doesn’t have to be a church song.  I obviously lean in that direction because I believe music reaches its highest purpose when we turn it in praise toward its Creator.  There are songs that cause people to be better either because they present the truths of God or just because they address a deep spiritual need or capture the unspoken yearnings of the American heart.  Beethoven was right when he suggested that music could be a moral force for good.  There is something about a well written song that causes us to want to be better.  That’s a song that matters.  I’m always looking for them in the church music world.  They are not easily found and are even harder to write but they are worth both the search and the struggle to be creative.  The process makes us all richer in things that royalties and popularity can never buy.

 

© 2008 RJS Music & Etc.  All rights (if we have any) reserved but if you ask we’ll probably be so flattered we’ll let you use it for free! 

 

 

JOKE OF THE WEEK:

Q: Why did God wrestle with Jacob?

A: Because Rick Flair wasn’t born yet!