1. 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

2. 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?

3. 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”

4. Nouns
Names for the Divine

5. What’s going on? What are the tendencies?

6. Naming tendencies in the most popular songs

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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.

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

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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

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

21. 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).

22. 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.

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

24. Final Thoughts
Why Scripturally Informed Speech Patterns are Important in Worship

25. 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?

26. 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 icle/view/20
“Some Similarities and Differences between Historic Evangelical Hymns and Contemporary Worship Songs.” The Artistic Theologian 3 (2015):
Available at theologian-volume /