What’s Worship Music’s Focus? Matt Redman Says …
By Movieguide® Contributor
Worship singer Matt Redman explained why he is revisiting his old songs and how he hopes to help people see all of God’s character instead of only the things that benefit them.
“We’re revisiting a lot of old songs…A lot of revisiting, reworking, but we didn’t want to be too crazy with the reworking, too clever. We wanted them to feel 2024 but, you know, a reimagining that felt natural to the song still,” Redman told Shannon Bream. “And then we brought the freshness by bringing songs together.”
“So we have a song of mine like ‘Never Once’ where we went into the chorus of ‘You Never Let Go’ and merge them together,” he continued, explaining his recent album. “They’re in the same key, the same theme. We did the same thing with a song of mine ‘Better is One Day’ and a song called ‘Face Down.’ And so we felt like some of the freshness could come from the medley side. And then there was one new song as well called ‘Let Me See Jesus.’”
The new album, Coming Back To The Heart (Live Collection), was recorded at the Beverly Theater in Las Vegas and released earlier this summer.
While revisiting and revamping old songs, some of which have been around for nearly 25 years, Redman wanted to make sure his music was true to who God is. He feels that many worship leaders focus on the style of the song more than how the song teaches people about God.
“I think the real challenge for us is the kind of content of these songs. What are they saying about who He is? How are they revealing to us He is a God of self-revelation?” Redman said.
This has become Redman’s mission as he looks to raise up the next generation of worship leaders who will begin to lead the church.
“What we want to contend for are these deep, biblical, wonderous worship songs that really paint a picture of who God is. You know — one way I talk about this is we like talking about helpfulness in worship. So we’ll sing a song about God as a shepherd or deliverer or as a rescuer of some kind; He’s the rock, He’s my comfort. And all that stuff’s really good; it’s wonderful. But we have to talk about holiness too.” he said. “It’s helpfulness and holiness.”
“Holiness are those songs about God’s wonderful nature, character attributes, and we’re not even in the picture,” Redman continued. “We’re singing about Him as high and holy, as majestic as the judge, you know. As the one who is in all things and holds all things together. The one who was and is and is to come.”
“And one thing I’m trying to encourage is, let’s sing about holiness and helpfulness,” he added. “Let’s not sing about the songs, you know, where we’re just singing about the things that benefit us: ‘Oh I like this about God because this benefits me.’ That’s wonderful to sing about, but let’s also sing about the other part. Let’s sing friendship, but let’s sing fears; let’s sing mercy, but let’s sing majesty.”
In a recent Instagram post, he reflected on the importance of worship leaders collaborating with theologians to create spiritually true songs.
“Many of us worship leaders admit we need assistance in this area,” Redman wrote. “We likely didn’t come into this via seminary or intense theological training; we came in through the avenue of loving music and being able to play or sing. We humbly recognise we cannot do this on our own. We need help from thinkers, theologians, and pastors. We need to be sharpened by fellow songwriters and worship leaders too.”
Movieguide® previously reported:
Matt Redman discussed how he has seen worship music change over the years and where he hopes to steward the genre moving forward.
“I would write a song on Wednesday, sing it on Sunday, probably write another one next week, maybe sing it, and then some would live, some would die, and that was that,” Redman told Rita Springer’s “Worship Is My Weapon” podcast about his old songwriting process. “But it’s so fascinating now, you can write a song and maybe I won’t get to end up getting really to lead that for a few months, it goes through a process.”
“I mean I think I led nearly every song I wrote back then, and these days, I probably would lead like one in 20 of what I write,” Redman continued. “So part of me thinks, oh, that must be better, like we’re putting it through a filter, and part of me misses that old, like, here’s me with my heart, here’s the people of God, we’re just going to sing what came. There’s something beautiful about both, I guess.”
While the old approach certainly had its perks, now with the luxury of being able to filter his songs, collaborate with others and go at an overall slower pace, Redman is focusing on creating holistic songs that hit on every aspect of God’s character.
