The Judahite prophet Amos (ministry c. 765-750 BC) brought a wake-up call to a materially prosperous but religiously superficial Israelite society. The hedonistic wealthy exploited the poor, distorted justice, and in other ways ignored covenant standards even while practicing a showy form of institutional religion that included the "noise of songs." In other words, their so-called "worship" did not lead them to practical righteousness, which is what God primarily wanted from them (5:21-24):
5:21 [NIV] "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.
23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Amos's essential message was that God's people must re-learn "how to do right" in covenant terms--which meant that they must conduct themselves so that justice would "roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (5:24 NRSV). Their religion must be given practical expression, even unto the least and least powerful among them.
Many American Christians, too, live lives of relative ease and comfort, reveling from time to time in music-driven worship assemblies and playing worship-and-praise CDs when they're not in church. Many do make practical expression of their faith--not just in speaking words of the Gospel, but in doing righteous deeds according to God's commands. But some who zealously sing worship songs look with disdain on people who have not been economically successful and blame them for their failure to thrive rather than help them toward success. Some apparently believe that giving any of their attention to what is wrong in the world is a transgression of the apostles' command to think about noble, pure, lovely, and admirable things (Philippians 4:8). Some are apparently so determined to protect themselves from the fallen world that they don't want to risk contamination by concentrating on its difficulties. Some believe that expressions of social concern are a waste of time in light of the ultimate spiritual emergency faced by every human being. Some want to be sure that messages of social concern deal with needy persons who are already Christians--part of the "in" group. Others simply live in a beautiful "worship bubble" that seals them off from other people's pain. Such "worshippers" have so compartmentalized their spiritual/religious and social lives that they cannot actively live out the covenant's social expectations with their fellow human beings--whatever their sort.
The relative scarcity of "practical righteousness" topics in Christian contemporary music suggests ominously that we may be paying too little attention to them. If we are to bring the "noise of [worship] songs" to God, we had better make sure that we are also taking care of the covenant's social expectations. One way to urge ourselves to do so is to sing songs about doing so. Thus, this website advocates much greater investment in "music of service"--by our songwriters, our performers, our recording artists, our production and publishing companies, and our music ministers. The CCM industry now has great influence: let it be used in a much greater way to encourage practical, covenant righteousness.
© Nathan H. Nelson, 2000. All rights reserved.