Bono . I love U2 . I ’ m just going through people that impacted me the most musically , I would say Martin Smith of Delirious . That ’ s massive for me , the Glo record changed my life . And then I would say , I mean obviously I ’ m a fan of Larry Norman and Keith Green .
[ Frank ] Old school guys there . So , specifically songwriters , when it comes to musicality , who are some of those people ? Maybe they ’ re the same when you just hear singers or bands and you go , “ If I could create that kind of a sound , that is it ”.
We ’ ve been talking these other groups , these other songwriters , these other bands . How can we stay spiritual ? How can you stay true to your own voice by having all these other influences , especially being really pastoral or spiritual right now ?
[ Chris ] Well , I think you do both . You let it influence you . It ’ s the same way you think about the Beatles were trying to do a Beach Boys thing and in their attempt to do something like the Beach Boys , they became the Beatles . So , I think the things that inspire us are the things that kind of build us as people . I love Sting . I love Donny Hathaway . I love Boyz II Men . And if you listen to my worship songs , you ’ re going to hear runs straight off of the nineties because it was such a big part of me . But is it nineties R & B ? No . It is me doing what I do for God through the lens of the life that I ’ ve lived .
[ Brenton ] Brian Doerksen had a cool thing . When God encounters people through the Bible and he changes their name , he doesn ’ t change it completely . So Abram becomes Abraham and he kind of breathes into his name . So when God meets us , he doesn ’ t completely change us . He takes what we have and he breathes his spirit and his life into who we are . Saul became Paul .
[ Leeland ] I love that . I would say , too , I think your question points at something that I ’ ve been kind of wrestling with for the last 10 years alone with the Lord . And that ’ s this differentiation
Chris McClarney
between what we would call “ artistry ” and with what we now call in the church “ worship ”. I love language and I love words . They help me wrap my mind around things a little easier . And for me , where God ’ s kind of brought me at , is what we call “ corporate worship ” is in the best sense of that word , the pure sense of that . I like to think of that as “ Levitical worship ”. What the Bible talks about , the gathering of the believers together , making songs and music for one express purpose . And that ’ s to minister to the heart of God as one corporate voice .
So there ’ s concessions that you have to make melodically and lyrically … there ’ s bumpers and guardrails . You almost have to approach that with a pastoral heart . You don ’ t approach that as an artist . You approach it as a pastoral heart .
But , then I ’ ll say this caveat . There is a bit of a negative tone in your question , which actually because it points at the dilemma that I ’ ve been with the Lord , and that is this : “ artistry ”… as that phrase and that word has a really negative conation in the church now . Because of actual valid fears of seeing really talented believers
10 December 2023 Subscribe for Free ...