In Praise of Praise Music

Praise music gets no respect, even among Christians. It is not hard to figure out why the unchurched don’t care for it. They can sing “Stairway to Heaven” with gusto because they don’t believe that the stairs are really going anywhere, while it is hard to sing “Here I Am to Worship” without doing exactly that. But Christians are people of praise. That’s what we do. So why do so many Christians have such a condescending attitude toward praise music?

A note to the trads no doubt already heading for the comments: I am not talking about liturgical music. The Protestants had their worship wars, and praise music won. A worship skirmish or two might help shake up lethargic celebrations of the Mass, but I am not asking traditionalists to give praise music a liturgical hearing. Nor am I suggesting that praise music is the best kind of sacred music that anyone can listen to. All I am saying is that praise music should have a significant place in every Christian’s heart—or at least in their iPods.