I love music.
I love all kinds of music…mostly. If you scan my iPod you can find most genres represented in differing levels. I have to say that not every kind of music is my favorite, but I do have a hard time nailing down one specific favorite.
I just love…and appreciate…music.
I honestly believe that music is a gift from God. A gift to reach deep into our souls and stir up a part of us that has been long forgotten since the first bite of the fruit in the garden. Music has this supernatural ability to move us beyond words, with an intensity and passion on a soul level that leaves us gasping for more. And oddly enough seems to freeze time around us in a strange kind of mental photograph full of sight and smell and feeling. Have you ever heard a song or piece of music that just took you back to a certain event or time in your life and it was like you were right there in the moment again?
Music is indeed a powerful gift from God…it is no wonder then, that some would fear it. I do believe that there is a spiritual enemy of God, one who is in every sense anti-God. One who has dedicated himself to thwarting God’s great plan for the world and its inhabitants, and the best means that he has of doing this is not by direct competition, but through crafty deception and a shifting of focus from God to ourselves. Music has not escaped this plan. There is much of this God glorifying gift that has been tainted by man’s desire to exalt himself and his own pleasures above God. For one then who is fearful of God’s enemy and his deceptive plans, it would make sense that they would want to distance themselves from anything that might appear to be related. So this beautiful gift of God that stirs us up to passionate communion and worship of Him, to some, begins to stir up fears that if embraced might carry them away into deception. I have to say that I can understand this fear. I don’t share it, but I can understand it. You see, I believe John when he said, “…He who is in you, is greater than he that is in the world.” (I John 4:4) And I believe James when he said, “Every good and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights…” If these things are true, than I should feel free to give myself freely to worship in music without fear, embracing constantly the glory of God and He being exalted; not what I might get out of it. But that’s not to say that I don’t get anything from freely worshiping through music. I also believe that whatever God says is good and right, is what is best for me, and is what will bring me the most satisfaction, the most joy, the greatest pleasure and contentment and peace in life. It is the best kind of life to live; it is a life of companionship and intimate relationship with my Father.
The church has a long history of truly great music that has moved people into deeper levels of communion with God. This history has also been mottled with dark times of feuding over what styles of music…if any…should be allowed into the church. As with any good and God honoring practice that has been embraced by the church, there are those times when certain ones would rise up and place their preferences and ideologies on a pedestal of holiness and claim them, in the name of God, as being the only right way.
I thank God that this does not seem to be the case among our family at Donnelly Bible Church.
Fairly recently, within the last year and a half to two years, we started our own “contemporary” service. (I really don’t like that term as it comes with many pre-loaded connotations, but I don’t know of a better or more recognizable term, so it will have to do for now.) This service was started before my family and I came to DBC, but I know that the intention of the service was not to just facilitate a younger and “hipper” crowd coming to church on Sunday mornings, but instead to provide as many opportunities for our church body to freely join in passionate worship as possible. And style of music was just one more opportunity for some to freely do so. And so, this is what we continue to do. It is not the only way to freely worship, it is not the best way to freely worship, it is simply one more way, one more opportunity, and one more component of an entire lifestyle of worship. And that is something that I haven’t even touched on yet! A life dedicated to worshipping creator God in everything we do, not just in our music. (I’ll have to blog on that more later.)
So no matter our stylistic preference toward music, whether it be more “traditional” or more “contemporary” (again, for lack of better terms in both instances) the thing that we must focus on above all else is, does this glorify and exalt God and lead me into deeper more intimate relationship with Him? Brian and I were talking the other day and he said to me that in every thing we do, whether it be singing, or preaching, or service, or programs, or ministries, the focus should always be this question, are we leading others into a life of discipleship in Jesus Christ? If not, then it’s not deserving of our time. I wholeheartedly agree, and so take that call very seriously. Are we singing modern, catchy, upbeat songs; or tried and true comfortable anthems; or are we glorifying and exalting God putting music to our prayers of how great and awesome He is, and how we want to be conformed into His image and likeness? This is the heart of worship. This is the kind of worshiper I desire to be.
Like I said earlier, I have a hard time picking a favorite genre of music of the many on my iPod, but if you want to know what I listen to more often than not, I would have to say that it is “praise and worship” music (again…for lack of better terms). Music that would so stick in my mind that I would even wake up singing His praises as I step out of bed. Now that is a way to start the morning…that and coffee!
My prayer for you is that you would choose to find yourself “…being filled with the Holy Spirit, addressing each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (Ephesians 5:18b-20)
I love you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment