I was doing some reading for my independent study when a chapter on music and the church came up. I knew where the author was going with the chapter based on other things she had already said in the book. Though this is not a complete expression of my views, I just wanted to share some of what I wrote because I think it's an important issue for the church. I am not a "traditionalist" or a "contemporaryist" when it comes to music in the church. I do enjoy hymns because they do seem to go deeper to me and where I am in my faith journey I need depth. However, I have sung contemporary music that I view as deep. One thing I do not like about "Praise and Worship" music in the church is that it is "feeling" based and ends when the leaders "feel" it should. Often I don't "feel" what the leaders or everyone around me seems to "feel." However, there are exceptions. There are contemporary songs that I feel capture worship perfectly and hymns that I refuse to sings because I don’t agree with the message they put forth. Part of my problem with singing in general is that I am partly tone deaf and singing is hard for me. My grandfather was tone deaf and I received some of that inability.
Anyways, for me music is art, not matter what the form of music is. You would not expect a 5 year old to paint the Mona Lisa; likewise, you cannot expect a new Christian who does not know music to be able to sing hymns that are not familiar to what they already know. The author I was reading seems to paint a picture that traditional music lines up with scripture better than contemporary worship forms. And though I like hymns for the history and the deepness of meaning, I very much disagree with her in this chapter. Because I think music is a God given talent and God gives us each different talents, I think that different styles of music only enriches what God has given people. We even see many different styles of worship in the Bible, particularly by David through the Psalms. Psalm 66:1 says, “Shout joyfully to God, all the earth.” According to Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary, to “Shout joyfully” means “to split the ears (with sound).” How many hymns do that? In my previous entries I wrote on the book, I have agreed with her that worship should make God the subject and object or worship. I still agree with her, yet, if we look through Psalm, we see many times where David says that he will seek God. According to Dawn that would turn worship onto David. Does this mean we throw out Psalm? Of course not! Another instance of an “unorthodox” style of worship was when David danced naked in the streets. I do not agree this should be done in church, and his wife didn’t think it was appropriate either, but David felt the need to express himself to God in that way. there are other instances of David dancing that would hold to my moral standard better. Likewise if people feel the need to express their love to God by using forms of worship such as a contemporary worship style, that is fine to me. I know this leaves things open to be misinterpreted and taken to the extreme in ways other than music. My thoughts are as long as your worship expresses yourself in a way that is still scripturally bound in morality and Truth, I see no problem with it. Also, look at the dedication of the temple and how many musicians were there playing for God. It would have been crazy!!! In my archaeology class this year we talked about a new form of archaeology that studies sound in worship settings in ancient times. It is fascinating to see walls were constructed to that the sound literally vibrated through the people and surrounded them. We do not see this in our construction of churches today. So what is to say that one tradition is right over another if we are not worshiping the way they did thousands of years ago? This does not mean I think we need to go back to sacrifices because I believe Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice and paid my debt that animal sacrifices of the past tried to pay for. I am simply stating that we should worship God through the gifts that He is given us. If that is through the use of guitars, drums, keyboards, or even if God has given you the talent of "screaming" (shout out to Jordan), you are free to use your gifts to glorify the one who gave them to you. Why should the devil have all the good music? He did not create music, our talents, or passions; God did. So why do we limit the Creator? Like I said earlier, I love hymns and even prefer them, but I just do not agree with limiting others. The truth is, every song has a beginning and must have started somewhere and music styles are the same way. They all have a beginning, so why not accept a new beginning? Besides like I learned my freshman year of high school (not college) saying something is right because it is old is a fallacy. So worship God in the way you see best, as long as you abide in it with integrity (as I have written about in an earlier blog).
"Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; Sing the glory of His name; Make His praise glorious."
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