Part 3-What may happen...destructive change

 

Part-3-What may happen if we do not resist destructive change. 

       First of all, a Christian musician should not resist change merely because it involves new music or a new way of musicing unto God.  Every new method and all new music must meet the biblical criteria of musicing unto God.  We know that God does have an opinion about the appropriateness of the offerings we bring unto Him. (See Genesis 4:4 and Leviticus chapters 4 & 5 and Romans 12:1).  It goes without saying that it is sometimes very difficult to discern whether or not something new will meet the biblical criteria of musicing unto a triune God.  However, most of the time it is not difficult.

        To a conservative minister of music, new music and new techniques are always “suspect” until they pass all the Bible principles of musicing unto God.  For that matter, all old music must meet the same standards if it is to be used.  Yesterday’s post mentioned the Karaites passion to “build up a wall around the Torah.”  Today we are discussing a conservative music minister’s passion for “building up a wall around musicing unto God”.  If true ministers of musicing unto God do not protect our Bible based traditions of musical worship, it will not be very long (it just takes one generation) until we will not recognize public music worship.

        It is believed by some music scholars that the Levite musicians of ancient Israel kept the musical notation (the te’amim) in the abbreviated manuscripts called the Serugin so that the music melodies of the O.T. would not be vilified.  Modern day ministers of music have the right and responsibility to protect church music in the fear of the almighty God who thought music into existence.  If we do not conserve the ancient landmarks of music worship, who will?

        I sometimes think about the milk cows my father kept in the west pasture of the farm that I grew up on years ago.  My father always kept the hedge brush cut down and planted fescue, red clover, brome, and other grasses so that our milk cows would have quality grass to eat.  However, I remember coming home from school in the evening and seeing some of our cows with their heads pushed through the tightly stretched barbed wire fence.  I still remember seeing their necks bleeding as they incessantly pushed through the barbed wire trying to get to a wild onion just outside the fence.  There was absolutely no need for them to reach for the onions because THERE WAS HIGH QUALITY NOURISHMENT INSIDE THE FENCE.  This is the mental picture I get of many post-modern church musicians today.  There are wonderful old and new hymns and worship choruses available to them, but they are incessantly reaching outside of the quality musical provisions available to them for a musical “wild onion”.

        Some present day church musicians seem to have no interest in being careful which styles of music they use in musicing unto God.  It isn’t that they have set different limits of which styles music they consider appropriate for worshiping God, they are no longer setting any limits. They have no interest in “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.”  When a post-modern church musician makes no difference between what is proper and not proper for the awesomeness and solemnity of worshiping the Trinity music ministry becomes independent of the Lordship of Christ.