Humbled and Amazed

I was just thinking about how amazing it is that God would use music to minister to people. Even a "secular" song. Now I don't believe that David ministered to Saul with "secular" music. But it was just such a song that ministered to me recently. There were no words to the song. There was just something in the chord progression that touched my heart. God used this song to minister to me.

Do I think secular music has a place in our sanctuaries? Absolutely not. Although I wasn't really intending to "go there" with this post so I am going to leave that one alone for the time being.

Back to me.

I find it odd that God would have used this particular song to minister to me. I can't say there was anything super spiritual that happened. I didn't break out speaking in tongues or start rejoicing or dancing in the spirit. God simply used the song to break me out of my "I'm not going to let this ________ affect me." I worship you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord.

I have often struggled with the question of "secular" music and its role in the Christian life. On the one hand there are many tunes with inspiring, well-crafted lyrics. On the other hand there are songs with lyrics that run contrary to biblical principles. One should never let a well-crafted turn of phrase or pleasant rhythmic or melodic happenings distort one's perception of ungodliness in a song. I was listening to Sting's "We'll Be Together" with new ears one day last fall. The first five lines of the song proceed without anything that stands out as offensive. But the sixth and seventh lines, start to emphasize the object of the narrator's affection as much greater than what should be our greatest affection. The eighth line, moving to the title, seems fine at the outset, "We'll be together" sounds all right, but then the repeat of the phrase tagging the word "tonight" at the end gives the song its thoroughly illicit feel. I tried to take a step back and 'spiritualize' the song by imagining Jesus as the object, as opposed to a member of the opposite sex. I couldn't really do it sincerely. The song doesn't really have that tone. Nor does it even seem acceptable to apply the song to a marital relationship -- the song does not have that feel, either.

Instrumental music can run amok as well. Take the music of John Coltrane, for example. I would not argue that all of it is bad, but some of his tunes leave me spiritually cold. Worship of the creation and not the Creator is the general sense I get from some of his music. I certainly like jazz. But I much prefer Charlie Parker to Coltrane.

I'm a little rushed this morning, so this post may be a bit uneven around the edges. Thanks for your understanding. I guess I'm still on the whole "secular vs. sacred" thread. I hope this post adds to the discussion. I feel a little like I'm just babbling.