Shaping our Speech and Song in Worship by the New Testament Would the apostles say “amen” to what we’re saying and singing? Lester Ruth Duke Divinity School sites.duke.edu/lruth

Basic Questions When contemporary Christians speak and sing in worship why don’t they sound more like the Bible? Specifically, when modern Christians speak and sing in worship why don’t they sound more like the Christians of the New Testament?

Goals Look at speech patterns in the New Testament Compare to some current tendencies, especially in the most popular songs Offer some suggestions for reshaping our language and aiming for a broader “amen”

Nouns Names for the Divine

What’s going on? What are the tendencies?

Naming tendencies in the most popular songs

Raw Numbers Less than 5% name all three Persons of the Godhead in a single song Less than 20% name at least two Persons in a single song About 15% of the songs make a clear reference to the 1st Person (God the Father) and about 5% use the term “Father” About 10% of the songs make a clear reference to the 3rd Person (the Holy Spirit) About 50% of the songs make a clear reference to the 2nd Person (Jesus Christ) A tendency of divine collapse: collapsing God references to Jesus and using “God” instead of “Lord” as the way to identify Jesus

What’s in the New Testament? In the Bible generally and in the New Testament 3 types of naming practices Covenantal: the Lord Imaginative: Rock, Shepherd, etc. Relational: the three Persons to each other General restraint about naming Jesus as God (esp. to the exclusion of making God the Father irrelevant) and a prevalence of naming him as Lord

What’s in the New Testament? Gospel of Luke: Jesus Christ: frequently uses “Father” Other people and angels: God, Lord, Most High, Lord God, Mighty One, the God of Israel, Sovereign Lord

What’s in the New Testament? Paul in Romans: the Persons in close proximity 1:3-4: …regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendent of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the son of God by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 5:5-6, 8: And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

What’s needed? Some suggestions Make more and clearer references to God the Father and the Holy Spirit. Be aware of all three types of biblical naming practices and be aware of your own tendencies. Don’t collapse all God references to Jesus Christ.

Verbs Who does what? And where is the emphasis placed?

What’s going on? What are the tendencies? Human verbs/actions Divine verbs/actions

What’s going on? What are the tendencies? People get a greater number of verbs (actions) than does the Triune God. It’s about an equal match in terms of the total number of different verbs. Most used verbs/actions for the Triune God: love, come, save, make, give, take, reign, fill, die, let, bring, open

What’s in the New Testament? Some great prayers and songs with a more robust range and emphasis on God’s activity. A sense that to be filled with the Spirit leads to speaking out about God’s megaleia (mighty acts). An old biblical “favorite” fallen out of use: redeem

Great Songs/Prayers with Great Verbs Luke 1:46-55 Luke 1:67-79 Ephesians 1:3-10 Philippians 2:5-11 Revelation 4:11; Revelation 5:9-10

What’s needed? Some suggestions Keep in mind that God is honored by remembering God’s activity. Keep in mind that commemorating God’s activity is the historic basis for Christian worship. Be attentive to the range of verbs used in the New Testament. Drill yourself on the following exercise: Son Paul Luke John Matthew What verbs/actions would __________ put between these Three? Father Holy Spirit

Adjectives A concluding pondering Are –er and –est some of the most overused letters?

What’s going on? What are the tendencies? No numbers Just a general observation: Some songs tend to rely upon adjectives to drive the song, especially adjectives ending in –er or –est (e.g., greater, greatest).

What’s in the New Testament? The New Testament is sparing in its use of adjectives for God like much of historic Christian worship materials. Divine qualities are recognized in divine activity.

What’s needed? A suggestion Use dynamic, vibrant, strong verbs rather than adjectives for the Triune God.

Final Thoughts Why Scripturally Informed Speech Patterns are Important in Worship

Aiming for a broader “Amen” Could Christians in other times and in other places say “amen” to our services? Could the apostles say “amen” to our services? Could Jesus say “amen” to our services?

To access online articles on Lester’s work on contemporary worship songs “How ‘Pop’ Are the New Worship Songs: Investigating the Level of Popular Cultural Influence on Contemporary Worship Music.” Global Forum on Arts and Christian Faith 3, 1 (2015). Available at http://www.artsandchristianfaith.org/index.php/journal/art icle/view/20 “Some Similarities and Differences between Historic Evangelical Hymns and Contemporary Worship Songs.” The Artistic Theologian 3 (2015): 68-86. Available at http://artistictheologian.com/journal/artistic- theologian-volume-3-2015/