So, what is the ‘new sound’ for this generation?

A monthly column in which Jenni Pretorius Hill shares stories of hope which bring Heaven’s perspective to Earth

If singer Taylor Swift were to vocally support a political candidate, she could swing the US election. Her cultural impact is so huge that it is said to have exceeded the influence the Beatles had on the culture of their day. Considering our family playlist on car journeys, it’s not surprising; my teens are devoted “Swifties”. The power and influence of music is no secret: like a river that forges a chasm in a landscape, music trends can sculpt the trajectory of an entire generation. Unfortunately, the Church, for the better part of history, has been slow and resistant to recognise and incorporate the sounds that the younger generation are most responsive to. 

Recently, we hosted a conference where our guest speaker introduced us to the type of music that is typically played in dance clubs and blasted out of car windows in downtown party districts. You know the type of sound I’m referring to; it holds a bass that you can feel under your feet. In my happy Bethel-Music bubble, I didn’t know that such worship existed. We blasted it through our speakers and watched as a dozen or so teenagers lost their usual inhibitions, moved towards the front of the church where they formed a circle and took turns to lead the group from the centre. (This is the space most often inhabited by the older folk waving flags and shifting from one foot to the other.) 

It wasn’t long into the song when I noticed three drunk young men stagger through the front door and weave their way toward the partying teenagers up front. They had been drinking on the street outside and had been drawn in by the music. I started to panic, hoping that there would be able-bodied help on hand to chuck them out should they begin inappropriate gyrations. The one man staggered up the steps onto the stage and started dancing there, while I near scrambled under my chair and pleaded with God to mobilise a big strong Christian gentleman to remove him. It wasn’t necessary as he wasn’t up there for long before he and his friends danced their way out while waving and cheering happily to the rest of us. 

“I am so filled with hope that the hardest people I thought to reach, are just moments away from a life-changing encounter with Jesus, should we be willing to pursue them.”

The next morning, we were gathered for our usual Sunday service. During the sermon, we heard a commotion at the front door. Our friends were back, but this time they had brought others. They weren’t drunk but they were all dressed in EFF attire – red berets and t-shirts. Stopping mid-sermon, our American guest welcomed them to sit in the first couple of rows. We learned afterwards that they had returned with their friends because the experience of church the night before had so challenged their theology of an angry God that they wanted to learn more. Under their red berets, they were simply disillusioned students looking for someone or something to believe in. They would not have set foot in a church building ordinarily, but the music had drawn them because it spoke a beat they understood. After the service, they sat with a group of believers who were able to share some of the good news of the Gospel. I am so filled with hope that the hardest people I thought to reach, are just moments away from a life-changing encounter with Jesus, should we be willing to pursue them. 

One of our most beloved Christmas carols, Joy to the World, was rejected by much of the Church when it was first written by Isaac Watts in the early 1700s. Like many of our young people today, Watts was dissatisfied with the archaic-type music of his church. His father, seeing how dissatisfied his son was, challenged him to write new, contemporary songs. This he did and in his lifetime composed over 600 hymns.

In the 1960s, the Hippie rockstar, Larry Norman, was saved into the Jesus Movement. According to a quote in the New York Times (Dennis Hevesi: New York Times March 4, 2008) it was Mr Norman “who first combined rock ’n’ roll with Christian lyrics”. The article describes how, for much of his career, his music did not sell in Christian stores because of antipathy by the religious-right. Only now do we fully appreciate how the songs produced by artists like Larry Norman, were the very thing that drew thousands of young people to Christ and shaped our current church music culture. 

I love how Jesus came into a culture. He was not a distant, uninvolved observer but a passionate participator. His very first miracle of turning water into wine served to keep the party going. He facilitated joy. Church should be a happy place; it’s supposed to be a gathering where people choose to be. If we have to compel our young people, then something is not working, and we would do well to consider how relevant and meaningful our traditions actually are.This is where I find myself. I’m uncomfortable, to say the least, but I’m desperate to see a generation saved and I’ll never see it should I choose to remain safe and comfortable. Growth only happens when we’re nudged from the nest. 

I think it’s time for a new sound. As much as I love Bethel Music, Hillsong and Jesus Image worship, they’re not going to reach the kids on our streets. The songs that carried the revivals of history are not relevant to Generation Z. And I don’t mind Taylor Swift, but I don’t want her to inform my children’s worldview. So where are the Christian musicians who can capture the song and sounds for this generation? Will we make space for them on our stages? Or will we go down in history along with the opponents of Isaac Watts and Larry Norman? In the lyrics of the latter “There’s nothing wrong with what I play ’cause Jesus is the rock and he rolled my blues away.”

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