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“What we sing and how we sing reveals much of who we are, and entering into another’s song and music making provides a gateway into their world, which might be much different from our own. Sharing our song with others who do not know us is sharing a gift…” -Don E. Saliers

I recently read this statement and it catapulted my mind into thinking very practically about how we communicate the holy and transcendent occasions of our lives in song. I am not speaking of things that happen while Christians are assembled together at times of corporate worship but the small epiphanies that occur as we are simply doing our best to live for Christ day by day. Things like, Being moved to tears by the magnificent hues in a sunset…Sweetly stroking the cheek of your newborn and completely turning to mush…Suddenly being overcome with how much you love your spouse…Recollecting a nostalgic moment from your childhood and reacquainting yourself with the sheer joy of running through a lawn sprinkler on a hot Summer day…Being touched deeply by a great book or movie… How do these things translate in our music? Is it even alright for these things to filter into our music and still call it worship? Does every song, in order for it to qualify as worshipful, have to contain some reference to God and his holiness, beauty, righteousness, grace, mercy, majesty, etc…? And, as well, must a song contain one or more of the pet cliché phrases so popular with many writers of modern worship? Or, might it be possible to bring glory to God by finding a glorious satisfaction in the regular things of life and singing about them. Things like, friendships, flowers, mountains, meadows, oceans, rivers or one of the above mentioned things are worthy of song but would it be allowed in “Christian” culture and deemed “Christian” music? Does it need to be deemed anything at all other than just music…? There seems to be so much offence among Christians over lyrics that do not blatantly and elementally spell out the gospel. Must our lives be lived wearing Christian t-shirts, our vehicles bearing Christian bumper stickers and constantly carrying a pocket full of tracts to leave with our lousy tips at the restaurants we frequent? (C’mon…you know the reputation Christians have for being poor tippers!) Can’t we just live the gospel and that be enough? Is it enough to love God and our neighbor…To act justly, love mercy and walk humbly before God then write and sing about what happens in the mean time? If my music conveys the gospel by portraying a message about how much I love and revere my wife does it not honor God as well? If Ephesians 5 inspires me to love my wife and give myself up for her and I write a love song pledging my love and commitment to her, is my intent not intimately linked to obedience of the scriptures? What about the song that is filled with lyrical images of creation or acts of social justice? Just because something does not seem to be blatantly “Christian” are we obliged to judge it useless for ministry purposes?

I suppose my point is this: Just because some music may not be ordinary and “useful” in our worship services does not mean it isn’t useful for bringing honor and glory to God. All music that Christians create may not fall under the criteria set for “Christian Music”. I tend to think that the more we allow God to interpret our lives the more we will see him in every happening and circumstance of our lives. There is a saying that I try to live by and I have taught it repeatedly to people I worship with. It goes like this, “Worship is not the performance of an hour but the outflow of a life…” So, every lyric may not be cited plainly with the Romans Road but for the God saturated musician I think you might understand when I refer to a familiar colloquialism… “All roads lead to Rome…”

Reader Comments

Keith,
Thanks for your comment. Your last sentence is the point of the entire article. "...To convey the Spirit and Glory of God in every thing we do." To that I say a resounding YES! But I think you presume a bit too much about the intentions of songwriters. Not to mention giving a song too much power and influence and the Spirit of God too little. The fact that Christian Artists want to sell their music does not demean them. In fact, I think it speaks well of them. B/c they are not just trying to sell music they are spreading a message. I would hope that artists believe enough in what they are doing that they would work hard to sell their music! That only makes sense. Why do it if not. Not to mention it is their living. If you, a Christian, sold cars for a living would it make you less of a Christian if you were good at your job and you sold a lot of cars...? Hardly! You would likely gain more glory for the name of Christ among your peers b/c you were good at your job and you worked hard at it...

A good example of the principle I'm speaking of in the article comes from Jesus' teaching. He rarely if ever taught the people without telling a story. Not just any story but what could be considered a "secular" story...Something about farming or nature...Using food, money, a child or the human body as an example... Also, Jesus didn't share the gospel with the general population as much by telling it as he did by being it... If people were hungry he fed them. If they were sick he healed them... He met their real, physical, everyday needs. He used the stuff of life to convey his message and I'd like to think he got it across pretty well. Especially since we're still talking about him two millenia later...

Right on Jen! Jewish culture is a great example of the heart of this article. I've heard it said that when the Jews settled in a foreign land Egypt, Rome, etc...the local goverments didn't quite know what to think of them. They didn't know where their cultural tradtions ended and their religion began.

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