Today something struck me with much more force than ever before. In viewing student reactions to a sociology presentation concerning the power of music in our society, it appeared that we have in all seriousness cast our worship to an ethereal and man made concept. We have deified a harmony… let ourselves be taken by waves vibrating on our ear drums. How can this be and how have I not seen it till now? We have special songs to listen to when we are feeling down… we have special songs to listen to when we are angry… when we are filled with joy… when we are expectant, hopeful, nervous, or any other form in the range of emotions we as human beings feel. We have thrown our worship to lyrics that evoke personal responses that fulfill the gap that our day ‘til then possessed, attributing our mood swing to the good beat or sweet melody.
We have turned from God, who wants to be our refuge, protector, laughter, smile, joy, and fulfillment of everything else to a sound emitted by our choice of instruments and sources. We have built houses of worship to this god, creating structures suitable and used only for its performance and ritualized displays by our favorite idol’s individualized priests. Our temples range from small rooms of isolated cultures across the Midwest to multi-level high, technology structures in major cities around the world. We come together to celebrate the unity of sound and emotion. What is more is that we have accepted and participated in this idolatry. If we proclaim God as our everything and source of life, how can we live for anything else or unashamedly say “I LOVE this song” as if it were essential to our being?
God is the Creator of all good things… music has been his creation forever… the harmonies of man are in no way comparable to his majestic choruses. That said, music is not evil, but when we depend on it for our life’s well being or even the mood’s progression and rescue we set it up as something completely corrupted and removing it’s nature- the glory of God. I confess there are many songs that can bring me up, what I must now choose to look at are if these songs bring me Christ, or simply make my flesh more comfortable with the refinement that God is doing… are they my own anesthetic… my own morphine pump, dulling the pain or discomfort of my Creator’s work? If they call me to emotion, I must say that there are more powerful and meaningful sources of truth and life transformation found in the Psalms… if they call me to repentance and bring me to my knees before an almighty and righteous God, I must praise His name for working through the creation of man to fulfill His purposes. We have to be careful… this idol is more prevalent than I believe we know… and its followers are greater than we can suspect.
God is our source of everything, He is our everything, the Spirit is the worker of comfort and the bringer of joy for all times and in every circumstance… why waste time with the shallow, temporal extraction of hollow emotion when the God of all promises his presence in all things and at all times? This is going to continue to tempt me… I must turn to God in faith and full trust rather than any work of man, whether physical or emotional… He is my everything.
-G.N.
1 comment:
Wow. BIG topic.
I am a singer, instrumentalist, songwriter, and arranger: in short, a devoted musician. I understand that I may be too close to the topic to be objective, but here it goes...
"Music is audible emotion." My violin teacher taught me that, and it makes sense. What is the difference between a captivating violin solo and notes being played? Emotion. Its the nature of the beast.
Are emotions inherently bad? No. God made them. Are there any individual emotions that are wrong (anger, jealousy)? No. See this blog entry on violence. So what is the real question?
What are the emotions driven by? The motivation of the emotion: therein lies the key to music. We are commanded to listen to psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. The driving force there is God. Note that there is no list of emotions to avoid. In fact, well done songs and music can readjust a bad attitude or emotion and refocus us back to Christ.
I think I am restating what you have said, but in a different way.
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