Appropriate Musical Art-forms

Appropriate Musical Art-forms

Every music worship leader must be sure that the music being used in worship is, as Tolstoy put it, “Christian art”.  Art forms that the world considers “great art forms” are not always appropriate vehicles for worshiping the blessed Triune God.  Some religious music that may be considered a high art form that is currently being used by Christian musicians may be considered religious music, but it is not always sacred music and ipso facto Christian music.  Music, being an art form, communicates the various implications of the composer’s and/or the arranger’s world view.   An arranger and/or performer can super-impose his or her world view over the original composer and librettist’s original intent.  When this happens, the original intent of the text and/or music part of the music is so eclipsed that it is no longer sacred music but instead it has been rendered merely religious music—there is a difference.

            Worship leaders must remember that everyone who attends a worship service brings memories and previous associations.  Therefore, the worship experience is never done in a musically sterile “bubble”.  Some worship leaders use music that has previously been clearly associated with situations that were anti-Christian and are averse to “universal principles” that are congruent with the separated life of a born-again Christian which are taught in the Bible. Other musical art forms are simply not appropriate for the purposes of worship because of the way the formal properties have been arranged.  When the formal properties of a piece of music form a congruent (or incongruent) whole that is not an appropriate concomitant to the awesomeness and solemnity of worshiping a high and holy God and is clearly antagonistic to the purposes of worship it is not Christian music.  Sometimes religious music is no longer distinctly Christian because it has been fashioned in a way that makes it not compatible with the purposes of worship. Whether or not it is a developed art form is not the proper criteria for accepting or rejecting it as a worship vehicle.