When Conservatives take the Musical Exit Ramps-Part-14

When Conservatives take the Musical Exit Ramps-Part-14

The Christian musician must prove before he or she uses! This is necessary before a committed Christian musician proceeds with a music praxis that will dictate all areas of musical action.  If this is the case, and it is, sacred musicing is far from a neutral, standardless benign art form that is without cause and effect on either the doer or the listener.  The writer or Romans would not have written, “don’t be squeezed into the world’s mold”, if it is ok  for the Christian musician, who has committed all his or her musical doing to God as a living sacrifice, to present these musical sacrifices in the same styles and performance practices that worldly musicians music.  What this means is that close association with the way that liberal, worldly musicians and the way that they music often does do harm to worship.

 Both chapter 12 of St. Paul’s inspired letter to the Romans and the musical discourse found in his inspired letter to the Ephesians chapter 5, teach that God is not responsible to provide chapter and verse with specific “thou shalt nots” but rather the onus probandi is squarely placed on the musician who musics unto a high and holy God.  The sine qua non of the Christian keeping religion pure and undefiled before God is, as James 1:27  states, to keep himself unspotted from the world.”  Surely it is not far-fetched to deduce that this teaching includes all sacred music and musicing.  Certainly when religious musicing looks, sounds, and aligns itself with the music of this world that most often was never intended to bring honor and glory and lavish praise to our high and holy God, a Christian’s musicing is indeed spotted by the world  by association and by what the music part of the music communicates to an audience.