In Give Praise To God, Terry Johnson writes, "Evangelical Christianity has struggled to stay afloat among the flood of secular, materialistic, and hedonistic influences" (284). In other words, many churches today are forsaking their commitment to the Word of God and embracing culture - the secular, the materialistic, and the hedonistic.
According to Johnson, the answer to this problem is psalm singing. Psalm singing will spark a "bolder, more militant spirituality," and cultivate a "piety [that will] stiffen the resolve of Christians today as it did in the past" (284). But the problem may run much deeper than anything one more church method band-aid will fix.
Jeremiah Burroughs writes: "It is an easy matter to convince men and women that they are bound to sanctify the name of God when they come to receive the holy communion more than for the hearing of the Word" (249). I think this accurately describes the state of the modern church, as well. And what I mean is this: Many churches don't take God's Word seriously at all, but even at BBC, where reading God's Word is "in style", it is often more of an exciting thing (a spiritual experience) than a convicting and eternally significant thing (a life-changing experience). It seems we read the Word all the time (religiously) without the real life-change that should result, and that's why I don't think Psalm singing is necessarily going to fix the problem. It may become one more "in thing" spiritual event that doesn't touch our hearts.
How can we point people back to the Word of God as the single source of life, and help them to recognize its seriousness and importance?
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