Sacred and Profane Sounds—part 6

Sacred and Profane Sounds—part 6

            Although the topic of identifying the real audience of a Christian musician’s musicing is too large a discussion for these blog posts, let me say briefly that God is the ultimate audience and object of musical worship that is truly Christian.  Ephesians 5:19 gives a very accurate explanation of who hears, who worships and who is worshiped.  “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…”  There is no doubt about it; both God and people hear our musicing.  However, the music making of a Christian is “to the Lord”.  The fact that some Christian musicians believe that musicing which is really Christian is ultimately directed to God in no way makes them un-sensitive, un-caring, inwardly focused, bigoted musician who is not in touch with reality, is not evangelistic in focus, and therefore does not care about the congregation who attends the worship service (i.e. is not seeker sensitive).

            We recently viewed the results of some church surveys of what was called “inward reaching churches”.  Supposedly, those who are inwardly reaching are those who have members who are divisive about “music preferences”.  These church members who had these “music preferences” also presumably were not interested in evangelism.  It was not conservative musicians who were against evangelistic services that utilized evangelistic preaching and the utilization of gospel songs and choruses.  It was the more progressive churchmen who lobbied against evangelistic services, revivals, and evangelistic campaigns.  This same mindset developed the faulty notions that hymns, gospel hymns, gospel songs and gospel choruses were outdated and representative of Christian beliefs and notions that were outdated and therefore of little or no use to the twenty-first century church.