{"id":316,"date":"2012-12-29T13:36:30","date_gmt":"2012-12-29T17:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/?p=316"},"modified":"2019-03-24T07:17:24","modified_gmt":"2019-03-24T11:17:24","slug":"sharing-the-same-error-some-thoughts-on-medium-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matthewcochran.net\/blog\/sharing-the-same-error-some-thoughts-on-medium-message\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharing the Same Error: Some Thoughts on Medium & Message"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are times when errors are so deeply ingrained in a culture that they show up on all<\/strong> sides of a hotly debated issue.\u00a0 The result is often that two people who hold vehemently opposed positions do so because of an erroneous shared assumption that is taken in different ways.\u00a0 In such cases, it’s not uncommon for the two sides to feed and provoke the shared error in one another even as they debate.\u00a0 My recent post<\/a> on contemporary worship brought one such example to mind.<\/p>\n

“Keep the message; change the medium.”\u00a0 It’s a familiar refrain from those who advocate contemporary worship for the sake of church marketing.\u00a0 Take a hymn, for example.\u00a0 If it’s a good one, it has some kind of meaning.\u00a0 Those who seek to divide medium from message perceive the meaning as being encapsulated in a distinct shell of rhythm, tempo, notes, and lyrics. However, since the meaning is what we generally find to be truly important about a hymn, they try to extract it from the music and encapsulate it in a new set of notes and lyrics.\u00a0 The upshot is that if a particular style of notes and lyrics happens to be extremely popular among folks you want to reach, you can take your message out of it’s current medium and repackage it in the new popular one without having any effect on the message itself.\u00a0 In theory.<\/p>\n

Of course, this mistake is rarely made by skilled and experienced musicians and songwriters.\u00a0 If anyone doubts, for example, that style and instrumentation touch a song’s meaning, just compare this selection<\/a> from Huey Lewis & The News to this cover<\/a> by Glen Phillips.\u00a0 You may not be able to articulate the difference, but nearly anyone can perceive it.\u00a0 It might be a good difference, it might be a bad difference, but two things are certain:\u00a0 There is <\/em>a difference and those who do not or cannot acknowledge that difference are incapable of discerning whether it’s good or bad.\u00a0 Accordingly, those who select a style based on its popularity rather than what it communicates do an injustice not just to their message, but to the musical style as well.\u00a0 In the immortal words of Hank Hill, “you’re not making Christianity any better; you’re just making rock n’ roll worse.”\u00a0 While this mistake is not made by all contemporary Christian musicians (some of whom are<\/em> skilled and experienced), it’s a common one among congregations who see musical trends as a way to stop the bleeding of members.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately many confessional Lutherans who steadfastly oppose contemporary worship & church marketing nevertheless share in this same underlying error and apply it to preaching.\u00a0 Consider some of the following statements:<\/p>\n