WORSHIPPING A HOLY GOD
Holy and awe-inspiring is His name. Ps. 111:9, Berkeley
I must confess to a strong personal prejudice. Will you listen as I share it with you? Though I have rather broad-ranging musical tastes and am willing to grant people their own latitude in this subjective area of experience, I simply cannot handle one style of music. That is the style known as "gospel rock"--religious word or sentiments set in the musical idiom of a rock beat.
While it is true that my temperament does not enjoy heavy drums, strained and highly stylized voices, pounding electronic amplification, and the earthy connotations of traditional rock, I don't think this is my basic problem. My distaste centers, rather, around another matter. That is the picture of our God that is projected through religious rock.
Worship is centered in the adoration of God. Any form of worship, including its music, is shaped by who we believe God to be. The writers of religious music hold a particular understanding of the God about whom they are composing music, and it molds their musical style. I have come to know God as a Being of great dignity, nobility, and grandeur. This does not mean that He is distant and stuffy, or terrifyingly awesome. But I cannot be at peace hearing Him exploited for the sake of private entertainment.
Our understanding of God's character is the basis for our attitudes of reverence toward Him. Satan has successfully portrayed God through many centuries as somber, abusively powerful, and with a very short fuse when it comes to people who misbehave. As a result, much religious music wore dark tones, alien to joy and freedom of spirit. Loving to swing pendulums, Satan then told religious people they could bolt over into the opposite alternative. He presented a God who was a trite, lightweight "pal in the sky." His name could be ritually dragged through just about any style of music, and thus He would presumably sanctify it.
Rather than letting our music shape our understanding of God, I believe that our clear and growing understanding of God must shape our God-centered music. Though our experience in Christ is joyful, even the texture of that joy derives from the Person who brings the joy rather than the joy itself.
Don't you long to hear how the angels--who behold Him face-to-face--adore our holy and awe-inspiring God?
Holy and awe-inspiring is His name. Ps. 111:9, Berkeley
I must confess to a strong personal prejudice. Will you listen as I share it with you? Though I have rather broad-ranging musical tastes and am willing to grant people their own latitude in this subjective area of experience, I simply cannot handle one style of music. That is the style known as "gospel rock"--religious word or sentiments set in the musical idiom of a rock beat.
While it is true that my temperament does not enjoy heavy drums, strained and highly stylized voices, pounding electronic amplification, and the earthy connotations of traditional rock, I don't think this is my basic problem. My distaste centers, rather, around another matter. That is the picture of our God that is projected through religious rock.
Worship is centered in the adoration of God. Any form of worship, including its music, is shaped by who we believe God to be. The writers of religious music hold a particular understanding of the God about whom they are composing music, and it molds their musical style. I have come to know God as a Being of great dignity, nobility, and grandeur. This does not mean that He is distant and stuffy, or terrifyingly awesome. But I cannot be at peace hearing Him exploited for the sake of private entertainment.
Our understanding of God's character is the basis for our attitudes of reverence toward Him. Satan has successfully portrayed God through many centuries as somber, abusively powerful, and with a very short fuse when it comes to people who misbehave. As a result, much religious music wore dark tones, alien to joy and freedom of spirit. Loving to swing pendulums, Satan then told religious people they could bolt over into the opposite alternative. He presented a God who was a trite, lightweight "pal in the sky." His name could be ritually dragged through just about any style of music, and thus He would presumably sanctify it.
Rather than letting our music shape our understanding of God, I believe that our clear and growing understanding of God must shape our God-centered music. Though our experience in Christ is joyful, even the texture of that joy derives from the Person who brings the joy rather than the joy itself.
Don't you long to hear how the angels--who behold Him face-to-face--adore our holy and awe-inspiring God?
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