Most Americans cannot embrace the musical sound of 16-19th-centuries Lutheran hymns. My overall assessment is this: the Missouri Synod basically shot itself in the foot.

The musical instruments of ancient Israel included hand-held harps, hand-held drums, various types of pipes, shofars, and other instruments. Orthodox theology can be expressed in different languages and in different kinds of music. The theology and the words have nothing to do with their distaste. But that traditional Lutheran hymnic sound is just not popular among todayвЂ™s Americans. My mother was a traditional Lutheran church organist for over 70 years. The wording of those вЂњContemporary Christian songsвЂќ is no match for the strong theological wording of the hymns in LSB. They do not publish songs for the different seasons of the church year. In fact, those worship songs rarely express a verse-to-verse narrative about the saving work of God in Christ. Those worship songs rarely extol baptism or the LordвЂ™s Supper.

The problem with вЂњContemporary Christian musicвЂќ is precisely their words and theology. That means they look to вЂњContemporary Christian music.вЂќ But with that choice there is a huge downside.

As a result, congregations and pastors look to other sources for their worship songs and hymns. Well, trying to shove German chorales down the throats of todayвЂ™s Americans simply will not fly. It put out Lutheran Service Book and wants all synodical churches to use LSB. However, instead of investing in a large effort to raise up todayвЂ™s hymn composers who will compose hymns with todayвЂ™s sound, with a sound that average Americans would find attractive, Missouri Synod officially adopted a different strategy. So the rank and file want todayвЂ™s musical sound. The average American could not tell you the first thing about вЂњBaaatchвЂќ or вЂњBeeeth-oven.вЂќ And вЂњContemporary Christian musicвЂќ is very popular in the U.S. Americans listen to soft-rock, new country, jazz, rhythm and blues, and a host of other sounds but not classical music. Less than 5% of the American population listens to classical music, and probably more like 1%. No, they are complaining about the sound, the notes, the rhythm, the beat, the music. Why? I donвЂ™t hear the lay people complaining about the theology of these hymns, complaining that such-and-such hymn teaches the genus maiestaticum. Average Americans are not into 16-19th-century classical hymns. What worship hymns and songs are sung will pretty much be determined by the lay people and their wants.ДЄnd here is the point. As a result, every congregation and pastor must attract American вЂњworship consumers.вЂќ This means that the musical tastes of the вЂњworship consumersвЂќ will determine the worship resources. We do not live in a state church context. Every congregation is more or less forced to вЂњsellвЂќ itself and everything it is about to American consumers. In this country вЂњchurchвЂќ is forced into a consumer system, a free-market system, a capitalistic system with buyers and sellers. Americans are church shoppers and church hoppers. You drive by some type of church every six blocks. In the United States, Protestant churches-by which I mean non-Roman Catholic-are competing with each other. It is a sociological answer, a this-worldly explanation. My question is this: How did this happen? I think the answer is not really theological. My hunch is that they are not commonly sung in at least 50% of synodical congregations. Traditional Lutheran hymns no longer hold a monopoly on hymnody in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. By вЂњcontemporary Christian songsвЂќ I refer to songs composed over the last 30 years by non-denominational churches, played with guitars, drums, and electronic keyboard. By вЂњtraditional Lutheran hymnsвЂќ I refer to all hymns in Lutheran Service Book. Here is my opinion.ДЇirst, two definitions are necessary. I might be completely wrong in my assessment.

Christian worship a lutheran hymnal