If You Love Jesus, Burn Your CDs
All of life is worship. Being a disciple of Christ means that we must bring every area of our life under his authority. So how does this play out in the area of entertainment, and specifically in the area of music? How do we bring our music under the authority of Christ?
I Fought the Law
One way of course, is the legalistic approach. You make a list. Lists are great. Lists can explain to you exactly what you should and should not be listening to. As long as you follow the list you are a good person. Not only do you make a list, but you periodically reinforce this list with derisive comments about “worldly music” and examples of the filthy lifestyles and lyrics of several “heroes of this world.” Then, in an emotional call to separation, you light a bonfire and ask everyone to throw in all their worldly music.
Of course the problem with lists lies in the details (one could say the Devil is there). How, exactly, do you define worldly music? If a secular artist sings a Christian song is it OK to listen to? Is it OK to buy the CD? What if a Christian artist sings a secular song? What about Christmas music? What about patriotic songs? What about nursery rhymes?
Amazing Grace
As a Christian, every area of our lives should be brought under the authority of Christ. For us there is no such thing as secular and sacred; everything is sacred. So if we cannot rule out music based solely on genres how do we know what to listen to? Curiously enough, the answer is found in the Bible.
Ezekiel 44:23 “And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.”
Even in the Old Testament, when the Law reigned supreme, God still expected his people to be able to discern between clean and unclean. The priests were to teach this acquired skill of discernment to the people instead of simply handing them lists. Now that we live under the freedom of grace, the skill of discernment is even more important.
Learning the difference between holy and unholy is a difficult task. It requires lots of prayer and a deep desire to please God before all else. Discerning between unclean and clean demands sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit. It’s just so much easier to live by lists than it is to do the work of discernment.
So the way I see it, we have a couple of options: 1) we can burn our CDs for Jesus, or 2) we can burn our lists and get a relationship with Jesus.
Post Script-I’m feeling a little off today, so feel free to chalk this up to the ramblings of a madman.
I Fought the Law
One way of course, is the legalistic approach. You make a list. Lists are great. Lists can explain to you exactly what you should and should not be listening to. As long as you follow the list you are a good person. Not only do you make a list, but you periodically reinforce this list with derisive comments about “worldly music” and examples of the filthy lifestyles and lyrics of several “heroes of this world.” Then, in an emotional call to separation, you light a bonfire and ask everyone to throw in all their worldly music.
Of course the problem with lists lies in the details (one could say the Devil is there). How, exactly, do you define worldly music? If a secular artist sings a Christian song is it OK to listen to? Is it OK to buy the CD? What if a Christian artist sings a secular song? What about Christmas music? What about patriotic songs? What about nursery rhymes?
Amazing Grace
As a Christian, every area of our lives should be brought under the authority of Christ. For us there is no such thing as secular and sacred; everything is sacred. So if we cannot rule out music based solely on genres how do we know what to listen to? Curiously enough, the answer is found in the Bible.
Ezekiel 44:23 “And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.”
Even in the Old Testament, when the Law reigned supreme, God still expected his people to be able to discern between clean and unclean. The priests were to teach this acquired skill of discernment to the people instead of simply handing them lists. Now that we live under the freedom of grace, the skill of discernment is even more important.
Learning the difference between holy and unholy is a difficult task. It requires lots of prayer and a deep desire to please God before all else. Discerning between unclean and clean demands sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit. It’s just so much easier to live by lists than it is to do the work of discernment.
So the way I see it, we have a couple of options: 1) we can burn our CDs for Jesus, or 2) we can burn our lists and get a relationship with Jesus.
Post Script-I’m feeling a little off today, so feel free to chalk this up to the ramblings of a madman.
posted by Josh at
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
8 Comments:
Yeah! Finally! A discussion I want to jump back into.
Josh, one question. Why did you post this 3 times? It's a good blog, but not that good.
My thoughts are simple. The Bible is inspired by God, right? Right. Then what in the world is the Song of SOlomon? It is a sexual song or poem ... that some conservative people could weakly stretch a connection to our affection to God and vice versa. But face it, GOd inspired Solomon to write a song about sex ... how good it was ... within the confines of marriage.
That's under our worldly category, no doubt ... but its strange how God inspired it and has protected its presense in the holy bible all these years.
Maybe it is a sign that we can enjoy songs that don't mention Jesus by name and influence us to lift our hands. maybe we can just listen to stuff that infuences us to look inward, or upward, or even at our spouses in a "song of solomon kinda way". Maybe Marvin Gaye was inspired too.
Amen!
God created us and designed every part of who we are. Within my marriage it has been healthy for my wife and I to consider our love life and other "unholy" (according to some Christian's standards concerning music) aspects of our relationship. Sometimes it's a serious look at where we are...other times it's a light-hearted look at where we've come from.
Speaking of inspired by God. I think my friends Brett & Jermaine may have been inspired by God when they wrote this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGOohBytKTU
Seriously, though; sometimes it's just nice to sit back and crack up about some of the more "serious" things in our relationships. If my wife and I didn't laugh at ourselves every now and then, we'd have divorced in the first year! I'm sure God wouldn't have been for that!
I know the answer for the Trinity of posts! He originally titled each post (respectively): If you love the Father...If you love the Son...If you love the Holy Spirit..., but the ninetyandnine.com "All In Him" patrol caught the blasphemy and changed each post to read "Jesus." I knew something was up with that Josh and all his heretical, crazy ideas!
So . . . I have a question for you. Is the "filthy lifestyle" off limits when it comes to building a valid argument about why or why not something should be listened to?
BTW, congrats on your new gig over there. Does that mean you will not be doing the "one Friday a month" pitch?
-R
Dear Rambling Madman,
I agree with you about the lists - I think we'd end up in the asylum if we all we did was sit around and try to categorize everything. Yes, I agree wholeheartedly that sensitivity is key. But that is precisely the problem that has concerned me for a long time - ARE we being sensitive? "Let the words of my mouth and the MEDITATIONS of my heart be acceptable...." I don't care what it is- music or otherwise - if it prevents me from complete abandonment to God, well then... I think that's what you're saying or am I wrong?
Ann
...burning a list and getting a relationship with Jesus also demands that we recognize the Bible contains scatological language, sexuality, and a host of other items that one could run out and say, "Oh, my look at all this stuff in the Bible and how much it is like the secular world," yet it also calls us to understand the aforementioned instances in context, which are seldom if ever gratuitous vs. the secular world where much if not most are gratuitous. Agree that lists ineffective, but don't have a problem with calling people, myself included, to throw away "worldy" music if it hinders the relationship with Christ. Maybe we have approached the issue in the wrong manner.
Thank you! People are understanding what I am saying. I must finally be getting a grasp on this whole communication thing! Yes, Ann, you have nailed prcisely what I was trying to say. Because we have been trained with this list mentality, when we seek out the loopholes or abandon the lists in favor of freedom we typically go too far and fail to discern. This is a call for those with lists to abandon them in favor of Jesus' direction as much as it is a call for those who have already abandoned the lists to return to Jesus, and let Him dictate our musical tastes.
And to all you people out there who didn't read any one of the three blogs I posted, please reference the post script.
Nate, thanks for the very inspirational video link you posted.
I am not at all offended.
In fact, I think that unmarried people who are of marrying age ... over the age of 17 (R rated movie ratings there in place for propriety) ... should know about the realities of married "business". Statists report that unrealistic expectations tend to be one of the major reasons for divorce.
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