Written by Anneli Leb Thiessen.
Anneli Loepp Thiessen is the 2024 Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza Newcomer Award recipient. Her award-winning article can be read in the latest edition of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, available now.
Since its early days as a movement, modern worship music has made heavy use of intimate and romantic language to describe humanity’s relationship with God. These Christian congregational songs include intimate phrases such as “You are my everything,” “I want to touch you,” and “draw me close to you.” While this intimate and romantic language is meaningful to many, it has also enabled criticism of the genre (including the musical nickname “Jesus is My Boyfriend”). Contemporary worship music speaks to me both musically and spiritually, but in recent years, concerns about the way women are represented in this repertoire have made it difficult for me to sing certain songs. Some songwriters are using intimate language in a more offensive way, using words like “reckless,” “jealous,” and “insatiable” to describe God’s love. I noticed. I wondered. How does the shift toward intimate and aggressive language of God in worship music impact marginalized members of the congregation: women and survivors of abuse?
From 2016 to 2020, I served on the committee that compiled the recent Mennonite hymn, Voices Together. Our meetings were often shaped by discussions about the larger meaning of a song’s text. We asked ourselves, “What is the subtle message that comes from a particular image of God?” We often took our cues from feminist liturgical scholars who have long suggested that the image of God we hold influences our social arrangements and relationships. Marjorie Procter-Smith summed this up in her 1990 book, writing: Patriarchal relations of domination and submission are reinforced by such forms of address. ” With this in mind, I am concerned about the recent trend toward intimate and offensive language of God in contemporary worship music. What message does the language send?
Scholars have identified offensive words from God against people in various areas throughout history, including sacred texts (such as the Song of Songs) and the writings of medieval female mystics (whose writings often focused on attacking God). have expressed concerns about it. soul), or the hymns of 19th and 20th century women text writers (often emphasizing submission). Clearly, words for intimacy and sexual violence existed in Christian scripture long before the rise of intimacy in evangelical worship in the late 20th century. But from a feminist liturgical lens, the rise of violent language in the intimate contexts of contemporary worship music prompts us to consider unintended messages.
Jenelle Williams Paris suggests that the romantic language between humanity and God in contemporary worship music can be interpreted as a reflection of the romance between men and women. She notes that while God assumes the role of “leading male” in contemporary worship songs, the congregation plays doting helpless women, and that these roles may carry over and be reflected in romantic relationships as well. She specifies that there is. In the context of intimate and romantic worship lyrics, images depicting God as violent and aggressive have a negative impact on women and survivors of abuse, positioning them as inferior and reminding them of past experiences. It can be re-traumatizing. It also has a negative impact on men, who become accustomed to this language and the behavior that comes with it. It would be an overgeneralization to say that offensive language permeates all modern worship music, but the popularity of these songs shows that this trend is worth considering. Here’s an example.
“Reckless Love” was released in 2017 and quickly became one of the most popular modern worship songs of that year. The chorus declares, “The overwhelming, endless, reckless love of God…hunts me down, fights until I’m found, leaves 99 people behind.” The song is meant to portray that love as fundamentally caring and devoted, and reckless about their own safety as they search for lost sheep, but the use of the word “reckless” instead depicts God as careless and indifferent to how they act. Actions may be received. The message of carelessness expressed in the chorus turns into violence on the bridge as the singer chants, “There’s no wall I can’t kick down…it’s coming after me.” This text indicates that God is pursuing his worshipers, or if the romantic roles are superimposed, that the “leading man” is actively pursuing the woman. If a woman used these words to describe a man chasing her recklessly, people around her would be worried.
As a broader movement of congregational singing, the question is not whether congregations should continue to sing contemporary worship music, but rather how they can sing in a way that is more attentive to these issues. In response to this violent language, I suggest that songwriters and worship leaders work to find language that allows congregants to pursue safe, consensual relationships with God and with each other. Masu. They rely more heavily on various texts (including extensive female imagery), consider the influence of implicit or explicit liturgical power structures, and do this by providing symbolic, verbal, or sung consent. You can do it. Our worship will be stronger if we value the breadth of human experience in communion with a God who sees and understands pain. Julie B. Miller writes: “If we feminists are to continue our efforts to end violence against women, we must continue to defy and expose ideologies that oppress women, wherever they are.”
Anneli Loepp Thiessen is a PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Music Studies at the University of Ottawa, where her research lies at the intersection of musicology, religious studies, and gender studies. Her doctoral dissertation examines how religious, social, and political values influence women’s participation in the Nashville-based Christian music industry. This research was supported by a fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, an Ontario Graduate Scholarship, and the Louisville Institute. In addition to her articles in the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, she has also been published in Religions, Worship, Anabaptist Witness, The Hymn: A Journal of Congregational Song, and the Journal of Contemporary Ministries. An active church musician, Anneli serves on the hymn committee for Voices Together Mennonite Hymns (2020) and is co-director of the Anabaptist Worship Network. She teaches in the Department of Music at Mennonite University in Canada.
