Not only Beautiful but also Suitable—part 7

Not only Beautiful but also Suitable—part 7

          2Corinthians 7:11 explains what happens when a sinner comes in true repentence  to Christ for forgiveness, “For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”  I am drawn to the statement “what carefulness it wrought in you”.  I contend that one of the marks of a mature Christian musician is a carefulness in the selecton of the music he or she musics unto God.  I believe that carefulness should permeate all musical decisions.  The earnest Christian who loves much desires to bring honor to God as opposed to hocking his or her musical wares to a croud in order to please them. 

          Excess or flaw in sacred music can cause our musicing to be eneffectual.  As we study the musical notation (the te’amim) of the Old Testament, we can see that the Bible melodies supported the content of Scripture rather than beinging a distraction, hinderance, or competition to its message.  When it comes to sacred music as an art form and a a concomitant to the “subject”, the musical vehicle ( i.e. the way that the formal properties are arranged into an artistic whole)  must not only be beautiful but also a congruent representation of the moral nature of God.  Religious music clothed in an inapropriate or inept vehicle will not change the moral nature of God (i.e. what God is really like), but it can change a person’s conception of what God is like.

Not only Beautiful but also Suitable—part 6

Not only Beautiful but also Suitable—part 6

          I spend much time throughout the summer and fall months each year going through literally hundreds of dresses and tailored suits trying to find a Christmas outfit for my wife.  I do this because this search is a part of my love language to her.  I could just grab something off the shelf.  I could just look at the price tag or I could have one of our three daughters pick out an outfit, but that would, to me, show a lack of love and caring.  Instead, I want the right color, the right size, and the right fit, and the style of garment that will be the best suited to her.  A suitable outfit for my wife requires a number of careful considerations that all matter to her and to me.  She knows and I know that how she is dressed represents who others think she is.  Because I wish to present her in the very best way possible, I want her outfit to put her in the very best light before others.

          If you knew how much time I spend each year picking out an outfit for her you would be convinced that I am not a good steward of time, am extremely slow, too much of a perfectionist, can’t make a decision, or that I love her so much that I want this gift to be the best love gift that I am capable of giving to her at Christmas.  In my mind I draw a philosophical parallel to a Christian making a prescriptive choice of which beautiful, appropriate, and suitable musical selection will be the best musical offering for the Savior who left the portals of heaven; was born of a virgin; served, suffered, died for our sins, and rose triumphant over sin, death, hell and the grave.  Surely a Christian musician’s love language to God should cause that musician to be careful to select only the most suitable, appropriate and profound musical offerings to present to a high and holy triune God.  Love for God, who is the object of worship, and not law should guide one’s selection of musical offerings. 

Not only Beautiful but also Suitable—part 5

Not only Beautiful but also Suitable—part 5

         At this point in this discussion you are possibly anxious to know how one is to go about insuring that his or her sacred musicing is “suitable to the subject”.  As I stated earlier sacred musicing is not only about beauty but also about suitability.  Suitability connotes profundity when one is considering sacred music and musicing.  Choosing profundity over banality is a matter of the wise Christian making prescriptive choices of which music he or she selects as the best possible musical offerings to present to God.       A laissez-faire attitude about the musical offerings that a Christian musician presents to God gives possible rise to the musician’s musicing becoming autonomous.  The attitude of no rules and no regulation has permeated the music ministry of postmoderns and now post-postmoderns in this century.  One of the problems that some Christian musicians have today is that they consider themselves music artist performers rather than musical servants.  When you hear a musician say words like “my music”, my style”, “my rights” and” my performance” you know that this church musician owns the music he or she performs and that this person is a religious humanist.  Any time that a musician is preoccupied with developing his or her human potential musical servanthood is low on that musician’s priority list.  Personal performance aggrandizement will be the covert and overt goals rather than being a “good and faithful servant” (see Matthew 25:21 and 23).

Not only Beautiful but also Suitable—part 4

Not only Beautiful but also Suitable—part 4

          Although God is ultimately the object and receiver of all our sacred musicing, the Christians and the unchurched seekers who are also the auditors must be included in a Christian musician’s sacred music praxis. To make this point clear study Ephesians 5:19 carefully and you will see that the Lord (kurios 2962) and yourselves (heautou 1438) are simultaneously conjoined in this Bible musical admonition. In the companion Scripture in Colossians 3:16 the “teaching and admonishing” of the grace filled musician in done in the presence of “one another” (1438) but “to the Lord” (2962).  Failure to recognize this phenomenon is to fail to meet the complete intent of this ancient Bible landmark of how to develop and execute a sacred music praxis.

          Every Christian musician, church, Christian school, Christian college and University should have a written series of systematic beliefs concerning the nature and value of the whole of music.  Unless they do they will be much like a ship without a stabilizer. All cruise ships that that handle storms at sea most effectively are stabilized.  I am told that the purpose of stabilizers is to reduce the ship’s roll from side to side and that many ships have a stabilizer on each side while still other ships have four stabilizers.  I like to think of a Christian musician with a well-developed music philosophy as a ship with four stabilizers.  Two of the Christian’s stabilizers are a well-developed series of systematic beliefs about music and the other two are a deep understanding of sacred and secular music and musicing.  Those who understand ships explain that a ship is less likely to be overturned from side to side rolling than from front to back pitching.  Christian musicians are often hit where they are most vulnerable.  Those who spend much of their public ministry putting out musical fires without the benefit of a well-developed music philosophy and praxis are much more vulnerable to experiencing musical shipwreck.

Not only Beautiful but also Suitable—part 3

Not only Beautiful but also Suitable—part 3

           Christian musicians sometimes lose sight of the real subject of their religious musicing.  Amidst the process of religious performance, the audience (seekers and Christians) takes precedence over the real audience (the Trinity) who should be the receiver of all our praise musicing.  Also, the performance practice often becomes the goal as opposed to the “subject” (content) and the object (the Trinity) of the music which is being performed. 

          As I have often stated in my musical lectures and in my philosophical writings, Christians should always music unto God.  All sacred musicing should be musical offerings unto God that are performed in the presence (or hearing) of real live people.  Christian musicing should be presented to God for His glory and for the education and edification of both those who do and do not know the Lord (i.e. those who have received Christ’s saving grace and the seekers).

Thank you for a Great Month of February 2019

Thank you for a Great Month of February 2019      

            This month was the 71st month of my blog which contained devotional and philosophical thoughts for Christian musicians. I have written over 3,425 posts since this blog was started in January of 2013. There have been several times this year when I have experienced a certain amount of writer’s burnout.  However, I am praying that my posts in 2019 will stimulate both the regular and new blog members to remain faithful to their musical ministries.  The over 2,475 page views of my blog this month were experienced by people who read a mixture of philosophical and devotional thoughts.  We have had over 140,697 page-views since the blog was started in January of 2013.  Since I started this blog the page views have come from 132 different countries. It is interesting to note that a little over one half of the total page views since we began in January 2013 have come from the United States and the other one half have come from a varied combination of 131 countries scattered around the world.

            These views have come from Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Argentina, Armenia, Angola,  Aruba, Austria, Australia, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Czechia , Czech Republic,  Colombia, Congo [DRC], Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Herzegovina, Honduras, Hong Kong,  Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland (Republic of),  Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordon, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia (FYROM) Macau, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Malta Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia,  Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands (Antilles) New Zealand, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Oman, Palestine, Paraguay, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru. Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Porto Rico, Qatar, Réunion, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand,  Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks & Caicos Islands, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Unknown Region, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

            We would like to welcome the country of Botswana to our blog family.

             The ten countries with the most page views this month were: United States, Unknown region, , Russia, Germany, Australia, France, South Korea, , Portugal,  United Arab Emirates, and the  United Kingdom. 

Not only Beautiful but also Suitable—part 2

Not only Beautiful but also Suitable—part 2

          We always experience sacred music in the context of community.  Most people like what they have often experience and mistrust that which they do not understand.  Such is most often the case with a person’s likes and dislikes when considering religious music and musicing in the context of religious settings both in and out of the church worship setting.  At this point the question arises, “Do frequent ways of religious musicing and these often experienced ways of doing so codify or establish a worthy sacred music praxis?” 

          I contend that frequent ways of musicing or musical traditions of church music do not insure that a style of music or the way that it has often musiced is automatically worthy to become the basis of sacred music praxis.  In other words, the way we have always musiced unto God does not insure that our music or musicing is “suitable to the subject”

Not only Beautiful but also Suitable—part 1

Not only Beautiful but also Suitable—part 1

          Although I do not agree with the French philosopher Blaise Pascal’s theology or much of what he wrote, I do agree with a statement he made in his Pensées when it is applied to sacred music.  He wrote, “It is not enough that a thing be beautiful.  It must be suitable to the subject, and there must be in it nothing of excess or defect.”  Many Christian musicians seem to have forgotten, or never learned about the fact that a musical composition has the propensity to be either congruent or incongruent with the purposes of sacred musicing. 

          The consideration of what is or is not beautiful in a musical composition is most often very difficult to establish with much of a degree of certainty.  Certainly there are cultural, musical and personal considerations that come into play in any such decision making process.  The musical neophyte will not have the historical and musical or experiential knowledge to make a purely empirical decision of what the beautiful in music consists of when speaking of the arrangement of the formal properties of the music.

Musicians Commissioned, Separated, and Taught

Musicians Commissioned, Separated, and Taught

          Those who suppose that the concept that there is that which is right and wrong, and that which is legitimate and appropriate in music is only a late twentieth century desperate effort to fight new approaches to music and music performance are sadly misinformed.  As early as the lifetime of Plato (c.420BC—c.348BC), philosophers were considering the concept of what was right and wrong concerning music and judgments made on this basis.  I am aware that there is much about Platonic thought (and Aristotelean thought) that a Christian does not agree with philosophically and biblically, but I see no reason that a Christian musician should not give serious consideration to the fact that from ancient times until somewhere in the twentieth century, philosophers believed that there was such a thing as right and wrong concerning music and music performance.

          As I have mentioned many times in this blog, the Bible is not silent concerning musical performance in the process of training our young people.  The twenty fifth chapter of I chronicles begins by explaining that,  “Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals…”  This verse makes it very clear that these Levite sons were separated to perform on instruments of music.  They were commissioned, separated, and taught how to perform the music of the Temple.

Thought for the Day

 Christian musicians should study sacred music and musicing by the Levite musicians in Ancient Israel.   It is an inspired window into the concept of musicing unto God.

Musicing that is Congruent with the Purposes of Worship

Musicing that is Congruent with the Purposes of Worship

Although it is possible for a composer who is not a Christian to order the building blocks of music in a fashion that will make them congruent with the purposes of scared musicing, it is the responsibility of the Christian composer, arranger and performer to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order that his or her involvement with music will be influenced by the Spirit instead of Satan.  Romans 8:6-8 instructs Christians to be filled with the Spirit “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  So, then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”  Furthermore, 1Corinthians 2:14 explains, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”   However, 1Corinthians 2:6 promises that the Christian is not alone in his or her musical endeavors, “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

          The way a composer or arranger organizes and utilizes the building blocks of music will give them the propensity to either be *congruent or incongruent with the purposes of sacred musicing to a high and holy triune God.  It is not the building blocks of music that are good or evil, but rather it is how they are arranged and performed that gives them positive or negative meaning.  To be more specific, it isn’t diatonic seventh chords, incomplete dominant ninth chords, augmented sixth chords, Neapolitan sixth chords, syncopated rhythms, put beats, dynamics, or hemiolas that are profane.  It is the way that a composer, arranger or performer uses them that determines their appropriateness or inappropriateness.  There is no such thing as an evil chord, dynamic or rhythm per se, but every astute performer, composer or arranger understands that they may be used inappropriately in a given situation.  Furthermore, the inappropriate *juxtaposition or *amalgamation of styles of music is capable of making subtle, or not so subtle, jest of the very thing that a Christian musician is supposed to be expressing when he or she musics unto God.

Thought for the Day

It should make sense to a Christian musician that if there is music that is appropriate for the purposes of worship, there is music that is not appropriate.