Stuart Townend is one of the songwriters who wrote In Christ Alone (My Hope is Found) and a bunch of other great modern hymns. He is helping with the worship at the NWA 08 Conference in England. It was there that Adrian Warnock caught up with him for an interview to be found in New Frontiers Magazine. You can download the whole interview if you want. Here are a few excerpts from Adrian’s blog:
Stuart
It was the first song Keith Getty and I wrote together. Keith is a fantastic melody writer. It was his music that inspired me to take my lyric writing seriously and convey the truths of the Scriptures in a poetic way to help people retain the truth. I have been humbled to see how it has been used. I get more comments on that song than all the rest put together. It was a timely song, written around the time 9-11 shook our foundations. To be able to sing at that time “No scheme of man can pluck me from his hand” was important.Adrian
What makes a worship song good?Stuart
Having focused on the cross of Christ, it’s important to ask, “What does that mean for me? What’s the foundation of life?”It’s not just, “How does it make me feel?” Rather, it should be—“What is the unchanging truth about my life based on the unchanging truth about God and what he has done? What has God said about me or us or the Church?” Those things are unchanging truths that don’t depend on whether I am having a good time or a bad time. They are about me, but they are really about God and what God has done in me. Worship is not just about singing songs that make me feel better. In the middle of whatever I am facing, God is with me. Worship should be exciting, but founded on the truth of the gospel. Our feelings are a by-product of the glorious truth we are celebrating.
Adrian
Indeed! In Christ Alone has also caused some controversy, hasn’t it?Stuart
Yes, some people breach copyright law by changing a particular line. Some people will not use the song. But the problem with that is that some people are saying we shouldn’t preach or sing about a core element of the gospel. I cannot make sense of the whole Bible without the concept of wrath.
I like the way he worded that: what does it mean for me, not to me. A great worship song is focused objectively on Christ’s work on our behalf. The subjective element is my response, which cannot be dictated to by a song. Truth must shape our “religious affections”.
Also interesting was the copyright issue posed by those wanting to eliminate any reference to God’s wrath in the song. Rather than skip a verse, they changed the words which is a no-no. In this case, I can see pressing the issue, though suing fellow Christians should be avoided (1 Corinthians 6). In the case of American Idol changing a word in Shout to the Lord, I can see their willingness not to make an issue of it. They are glad that the song was played on national TV.
What words do people object to?? The song is amazingly theologically accurate?!?!
Some disagree with the concept that He can be angry, and poured that wrath out on the Substitute.
So, “the wrath of …. was satisfied” was changed and possibly “for every sin on him was laid” as well.
It is fashionable to deny the “unpleasant, uncivilized” aspects of the atonement.
Hey Joel Osteen does it ALL yes, ALL the time in his sermons and books.
He doesn’t like the idea that he nor his readers / listeners have done anything to ever anger God, so he simply changes what Scripture says regarding God’s anger, wrath, atonement.
What is this about “Shout to the Lord” on national TV?
And what word was changed?
I didn’t hear it myself, but from what I understand there was an American Idol show which was about them ‘giving’ and it included a performance of ‘Shout to the Lord’ with something left out or changed (what it was I don’t recall); seems it was pretty well done as far as performances go – but then they should be able to make ‘three blind mice’ sound really good too
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Apparently, there was a subsequent performance where the song was sung as written.
In the initial version, they changed “my Jesus” to “my shepherd”. He is the Shepherd, but that might not be clear to everyone. Apparently there are a few Christians in the American Idol band, as well as contestants.
Joshua Harris’ blog has some good background on it.
“My Jesus” altered to “My Shepherd”?
Imagine being that intentional to remove “Jesus”
That says quite a bit doesn’t it?
2nd time around they sang it as written.
what have you read / heard as to why they sang it as written the second time around and not the first?
Did the composer confront them?
Bad press?
Thanks,