Christian music is one music, however, that stands (or should stand) out above the rest, not because of its complexity but because of its unearthly source of inspiration. Unlike its cousins in the secular world, Christian music is inspired by something that the world does not even believe, much less understand.
Yet, for so many of us, church music tend to lose its meaning or even value as time goes by. With repetition, we heard its message over and over again. And that's probably the reason why we're not interested in the message anymore. We listen to a song once and it's great. The next time around, it's alright. The third time is probably tolerable because a new singer sings. But the fourth and the rest of the times, we simply don't pay attention, or simply don't care for the "old tune". Frankly, we may even say to ourselves that the song has become uninspiring as the rattling of the jackhammer, and probably just as annoying.
Monotony, repetitions. They are a bane to us Christians of the 20th century. A product of the MTV generation, we can no longer fix our attention to the same thing for too long. We go through the congregational singing more concerned about how far away the last verse is than how the song can condition our hearts properly for the preaching of God's word. Upon hearing an old song being sung in a special number, we are ready to conclude that it no longer holds any surprises for one who has heard it several times in the past. And so we turn away and see if there is anybody who may be ready for a conversation or a joke.
Therein lies the erroneous presumption. Life teaches us that a lot of things may look differently when viewed at a different angle, a different time, or a different set of circumstances. Hearing the line of the songs that says "Take it to the Lord in prayer…" may not mean much to us when we hear it at a time when we are at peace with everything and everybody and all our needs are taken car of. But hearing it while at the end of our wits as we stand face to face with a gargantuan problem, the same line can be like a glass of ice-cold water on a hot summer day. Yet, even when we are at a state of contentment, Christian music can always be a agent to make us thank God for the way things are. If we do not need encouragement, aren't we in need to be thankful? If we feel good because everything is going our way, don't we need a reminder from a song that says "…let me play the part that you wrote for me…" ? Not all songs are songs of petition.
In another note, many of us failed to be ministered to by church music because we forget for a while that songs are sung not for our entertainment. It need not be emphasized that the church is not in that line of business, regardless of what others are making it to be. And the ones who sing for us are not paid entertainers but fellow believers who, at one time or another, were also beneficiaries of the very songs that they sing. They sing in the hope of sharing whatever it is that they want to share with us, even if only to make us understand better our common experiences as we go through this life. In their hearts and minds, they have a song that pleads to be heard. And it's not even for their own sakes but for ours. For all we know, a line of a song well heeded today can save us a barrel of heartaches tomorrow.
Let us open our hearts then to the voice of a believer's soul. It's music talked to us once. It will talk to us again. The Lord Himself had to tell us about who he is at four different times in the scriptures. Some patient gourmet can find seventeen different flavors in the body of a single fish. We too can find endless blessings from a song heard over and over again. Let's just keep listening and singing with our hearts.