I want to say this as kindly as I can, but refusing to music
with emotion to exhibit humility, though perhaps well meaning, is a misguided
philosophical position. One of the
reasons I believe this so strongly is that real humility is not an act but
rather a condition of the musicer’s heart.
Likewise musicing for the purpose of self aggrandizement at the expense
of musicing that lifts up Christ is also the result of a heart condition. So, the Christian musician should not dumb
down his or her musical performance by inartistic unemotional performance in an
attempt to appear humble to an audience.
In regard to an over humble approach to one’s performance, I
remember that one of my daughter’s violin professors once said to her, “A
performer’s false humility is a form of pride too.” Removing oneself emotionally from musical
performance often has the result of musicing that is detached and sterile.
Trying to look, sound, or appear humble is a form of self pride. Another of the many reasons that I disagree
philosophically with such musical performance is that it is not
believable. In my opinion, the most
important part about musicing is that it must be believable to an audience.
This becomes even more important when it comes to sacred musicing. If the Christian musician is singing about
how much he or she loves the Lord in such a way that the audience believes that
the one ministering does not really love the Lord, then that musician’s
musicing will not be efficacious.
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