Why Contemporary Christian Music Should Not Be Allowed in any Lutheran Church!- Installment Number 1

Greetings in Jesus,

Sorry for the delay. The summer is supposed to be a quieter time.:-) Anyway, these thoughts have been on my mind for many years. So, over the next several weeks, I am going to try to lay out for you why I think that Contemporary Christian music should not be allowed in any Lutheran Church for any reason. Many of us are trying to start a return to Confessional Lutheranism. I believe that one of the major tenets of the movement is our objection to the Contemporary Christian movement and praise worship in all its various manifestations. This also includes "blended worship." It should not be allowed in our churches. It is wrong and should be rejected!

Why am I against Contemporary Christian music? Why do I feel so strongly? I will tell you why. It causes division. St. Paul encourages us to stay away from those would cause division or put obstacles in our way (Romans 16:17). Even those who are in favor of Contemporary Christian music in our Lutheran worship must agree that it causes division.

At St. John's, CCM caused a major division. They had a Contemporary Christian entertainment service for a short time, a few years before I came. For various reasons, they decided to end the service. Some people got quite upset and left the church over it. In various places where I have been, I have seen it cause heartache and dissension in the church of God. The CCM movement should not be allowed in our Lutheran churches.

As I stated before, and will say again, the historic Lutheran liturgy provides all that is necessary for Lutheran worship. For those who understand the depth of the liturgy, nothing else is even comparable.

One of the most troubling things about our current Synod situation is that we have allowed or given approval to congregations to dabble with "alternative worship forms." One of the worst things we could have done! It has caused division in our Synod.

One of the things that bothers me is when people complain about something and don't provide any solutions. I don't claim to have all the answers. There are many brighter and better educated pastors who can flesh out how this can be done. But, in order to stop the ship from sinking we must plug the holes. One of the holes that must be plugged is the Contemporary Christian movement in the Lutheran churches. All congregations should use exclusively TLH (My person favorite), LW or the HS or the new hymnal. If we are going to start being a caravan again, we must not allow for dissension and division in our churches. Stay tuned for future installments.

May God bless our movement according to good and gracious will.

In Christ' service,

Pastor Haugen