The Music That Praises God 02

VIEW:574 DATA:2020-03-20

 Why do they mix sacred lyrics with worldly music?

First of all, it should be understood that the controversy over music is, in fact, the consequence of a deeper problem resulting from the ignorance of the biblical principles that govern the questions concerning music. One of these principles is to differentiate between the holy and the profane (Leviticus 10:10). The key word in this text is difference. God wants that which is associated with Him to be different from the world, and for this reason he clearly said, through Scripture, "withdraw from them, separate, ... do not touch unclean things; and I will receive you. ".

Apparently, this text emphatically suggests that if we want God's blessings, we must not only make a difference between the holy and the profane, especially in our music, but we must depart from what God does not accept.

In recalling the story of Cain and Abel and the offerings that each presented to God, we obviously recognize that one was accepted and the other was not. Cain, whose motives were purely selfish, offered what he wanted to God, while Abel offered what God demanded. is our music an offer that God can accept because it is different from the world, or is it what we want Him to accept?

In his book, Set the Trumpet to Thy Mouth, David Wilkerson described his shock when he leafed through a Christian magazine in which he saw a picture of a "heavy metal" band, which called itself Christian, dressed in black leather clothes, ornate belts with metal, bracelets, chains and a punk haircut like the twelve sadomasochists who had recently approached him on the streets of San Francisco. (1) How can it be? He wondered. How could a "Christian" group look and dress like sadomasochists, play their music, and still claim to be ambassadors for Christ ?!
Perhaps the same question can and should be asked by us today. How can we, who call ourselves "Christians", Christ's ambassadors, present music contaminated by "worldliness" in the church, all in the name of worship? Is this due to our concept of church, worship and what is sacred and holy to have been tampered with or lost sight of?

There is a saying, "If he looks like a duck, he walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, he must be a duck." As proof of what I say, if "Christians" look like the world, dress like the world, behave like the world, and resemble the world in their music, then they must be ambassadors of the world, since by fruits of the "world" are known. What is the difference required of us by God?

Webster's dictionary defines the word mundane as "that which is devoted to this world and its occupations instead of religious or spiritual interests".

Worldliness, then, is the concern with wealth, materialism, commercialism, fame, fashion, sensuality, etc., everything that is somehow associated with modern music, whether religious or secular. Is it not that the worldliness that has crept into the church is really the desire to represent rather than minister? Isn't the church becoming a place of entertainment instead of worship?

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will be angry with one and love the other; or he will devote himself to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches." (Matthew 6:24).

Isn't the reason for the controversy over modern Christian music a result of trying to serve both God and Satan simultaneously, whether through ignorance or personal preference?

Consider, for example, the distance between generations. Young people have a natural tendency to identify with rhythm music and fast beats when compared to music heard by people from one or two previous generations. However, slow sensual music also has its adverse effects. Regardless of the time of conversion, young people do not have the maturity to make judgments or decisions, spiritual or otherwise, simply because they have not lived long. it is a proven fact that we worship according to our knowledge and experience with God, which is also reflected in our choice of music.

Unfortunately, the criteria by which many people make music evaluations, very often, is based on their personal preference. However, whether young or old, only when there is growth and maturity in Christ, the musical taste becomes refined and tempered.

The music and recording industries are aware of this situation and are taking the opportunity to make millions of dollars by mixing today's popular sounds with religious words. part of the scientific proof that this music is harmful to the physical body (hearing loss, destruction of brain cells, etc.), and is flooded with sensuality in tone, style and text, when we contemplate and assimilate it, we become in conditions conditioned to it, and the line of distinction between the holy and the profane are blurred or disappear completely.

Of the three main elements of music - rhythm, melody and harmony - rhythm is the element that offers immediate satisfaction, and at the same time, it does not require the level of reflection and contemplation required by the melody and harmony. The function of today's music drums, whether religious or secular, is to accentuate the rhythm and the beat, thus making the melody irresistible. Scientific research has proven that when the gap between tension and relaxation progresses at a slow average, the mind is more actively involved. that's why young people are attracted to songs that have rhythm and fast beats. it stands to reason that if one wants God to control his mind, one should not expect him to do so through a method that accentuates the physical rather than the mental. Where is it, then,

To further illustrate the impact that tone, style and lyrics have on music, consider two keywords: appropriate and association. The Webster dictionary defines appropriate as being "separate for a special purpose", or something that is especially "suitable, compatible or adjusted". Obviously, songs like "Jesus is Better", "Let us break Their Bonds Asunder" (from Handel's Messiah), or "Master! Everything is Revolt" would be inappropriate for a wedding. The songs themselves are good, but for this occasion they are neither adequate nor compatible.

Association, on the other hand, is "something that associates itself in memory or thought with something or person that forms a mental link between sensations, thoughts or memories". So when names like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald or Duke Ellington are spoken, the mind automatically associates them with the specific style or genre of music, called jazz. Again when names like Bach, Del Delker, or Rolling Stones are mentioned, there is an automatic association with other styles or musical genres called baroque, sacred and rock, respectively, with neither the genre nor the source being separate from one another.

The spirit and style of the music are also suggestive of the tone and behavior they produce. For example, if a trio of trumpets are going to play certain chords in a festive rhythm, the spirit and style of this song will suggest majesty and splendor. Conversely, if a pianist gently plays a progression of groupings of chords sustained in the lower register of the keyboard, slowly and deliberately, the spirit and style of the sound may suggest mystery, sadness or even fear. The association of a musical sound can also be found in the atmosphere created by a certain environment. For example, nouns such as circus, funeral or disco, all create their own unique tone, atmosphere, behavioral response and music.

If the hymn "Oh what a friend in Christ we have" is presented in the style of Duke Ellington, the sound associated with this style is jazz, and so it becomes secular. Simply because a style of music is currently popular does not necessarily mean it is sacred.

Action towards mixing the Holy with the mundane?

People in the world get used to worldly things, and so adapting to worldly things like them, and they miss it when they find themselves in a sacred (separate) environment from such worldly things. So due to their distorted taste they bring to the saint (separated), the things that once liked the world, desecrating (not leaving pure) what is sacred (separated).

An easy example of bending distorted tastes is found in that God created fruits, vegetables and cereals, as foods in which he said "and he saw God who was very good", now a person adapted to eat chocolate prefers chocolate created by men the fruits, vegetables and cereals that were made by God. So what God has produced is for man less tasty than what man does. This is an adulteration of taste. Just as there is adulteration of the taste, there is auditory adulteration, in which profane music is more pleasing to the Christian-worldly ear, than those that were produced to properly fit the sacred place.

Man uses change in the opposite way. In other words, instead of man adapting to divine rules, man modifies divine rules so that the church adapts to its old worldly customs. God asks for a change in customs, but man seeks to make sacred liturgical works impure.

On average, people who worldly sacred things do not usually change their way of being and continue mixing the holy with the profane and saying that the holy sanctifies the profane, which is untrue because of the biblical texts that we have already shown that distinguished the holy of the profane. Of course, such people who mundaneize the sacred do not prove that the word of God accepts the holy-profane mixture, on the contrary the scriptures strongly demand to separate the holy from the profane.

But with the ideology that Christian-worldly people have their tastes distorted, they say that they feel better with such worldly music, as the one who likes chocolate more than the healthy foods that God created. So in illogicity and trying not to listen to the scriptures, such people continue and continue to seek the worldliness of music that should be sacred.

A mundanizer who does not alter his sentimental concepts and does not seek to base himself on the scriptures, is worse than a mundane, the mundane listens to his mundane songs and knows that such are profane, the mundanizer transforms sacred music into mundane and cannot see the who does, or sees and still closes his eyes because of the twisted tastes.