Lyrical Debauchery

Music represents an intriguing dichotomy. On the one hand music can be the tie that binds. On the other hand music can be extremely divisive. Few issues seem to be more divisive than music. I find this to be especially true in Christian circles.

Often music is blamed for a myriad of ills. I find it interesting that religious leaders not only blame lyrics, but also the beat of the music. This is an intriguing concept to me. I can’t say that the beat of any music has ever done anything more than inspire me to dance. Yet to hear some religious leaders tell it, the beat of music has inspired everything from drug use to murder. I truly fail to comprehend this concept. I will allow that the lyrics may inspire the weaker minded among us to do things that are universally considered wrong, but I simply cannot see how the beat would do that same thing.

I’ve also often heard fundamental leaders say that music for worship can’t be of the contemporary genre. Why? Why is contemporary Christian music considered bad for worship? One argument I’ve heard often is that contemporary Christian music cannot pass the Philippians 4:8 test. According to these people, contemporary Christian music is not honest, just, pure, or lovely. They contend worship music hast to be 100+ year old hymns. Obviously I have an issue with this.

Music is continually evolving and changing. One hundred years ago those hymns were contemporary Christian music. Thus, those hymns are every bit as “bad” as current contemporary Christian music if we apply the reasoning equally across all time periods.

Don’t misunderstand me. I like the old hymns as much as the next fundamental Baptist. However, I also truly enjoy incorporating contemporary Christian music into my worship. I’ve been told this is because contemporary Christian music appeals to my emotions and that I’m wrong to follow my emotions because emotions lie to us and lead us astray.

Really? Really?!

Wow…

Let me try to wrap my mind about this…

Isn’t religion the marriage of a purposeful decision born of a conviction? Isn’t that conviction predicated on emotion? Does not worship of it’s very nature demand an emotional response? If your emotions are not involved in your worship is it worship at all? Our whole existence as humans is an emotional one. How could one separate such an integral part of our earthly lives from out spiritual lives?

When I go to worship I feel peace, well-being, contentment, happiness and sometimes even sadness, unease or guilt. Does this mean my worship is wrong? Perhaps my belief in and of itself is no more than my emotions leading me astray?

At it’s very core worship must involve our emotions. The love we profess for our God is an emotion. So, if emotions in worship are wrong, bad, lead you astray, etc that would mean our belief in God is bad, wrong, errant, etc. when we apply this logic. And, logically speaking, that makes no sense at all!

If we actually look at this logically, music has the ability to bridge even the largest of gulfs between people. Why not take advantage of that? All types of music can be beautiful, enjoyed and incorporated into worship. Simply because a certain style may not be your choice doesn’t mean people who use that style of music to worship are wrong.

Instead of infighting about the type of music to use in worship, wouldn’t it make more sense for us to be cooperative and go into our communities and put actions to the faith we profess? We don’t have to agree on music to work together, to take food to the homeless or labor with others to build a house for the needy. Let’s focus on the many needs of our communities and what we can do to meet those needs rather than bashing each other for the type of music we use in our respective houses of worship.