I just read a blog post yesterday that inspired me to say something about tools. I stumbled across this link on twitter in a search I have up in TweetDeck. So here goes.
Is a tool inherently good or evil? How about a fork? Is it good? Bad?
Seems a kind of silly question. Let me rephrase it a bit: Is a weapon inherently good or evil?
Now that will get some responses. A weapon generally is used to harm. Most people would say that is an “evil” purpose. But how about when it defends something from evil? Is it now “good?” Most would say that defending the innocent is good. Why the difference?
It’s all about how the tool is used! The intent of the heart decides what is good or evil.
The original post, if you didn’t read it, were about contemporary worship music and how the inherent quality of certain kinds of music (extreme paraphrase). As a musician and as a Christian, I am deeply passionate about this subject. So here are my thoughts in response.
Musical style is a tool. Musical instruments are tools. Tools are not inherently good or evil. Therefore, no musical style should be considered good or evil. If a musical style reaches a portion of our culture in such a way as to bring them to Christ and repent, then why should we not use said style? If a musical style brings us to worship our Creator God who wants nothing more than to fellowship with his people, then why should we not use it?
My biggest problem of the “Which musical style is the best for worship?” debate is who gets to be arbiter and judge? Who decides that rock music is evil and that folk music is good? Or that classical music is worthless and rap is relevant? God is the only one who can judge the heart and soul of a man. Period. If you don’t understand why someone is moved by a certain genre, try to understand. If you still don’t, try and find out why. Agree to disagree, but don’t say one style is better for worship than another.
I think I need to put a disclaimer in right here. I am not condoning a “Whatever works for you” brand of theology. That gets into some dangerous waters. God is the judge, so go to Him for your answers. Listening to questionable lyrics that talk about sex explicitly, or have rampant profanity, or hold to very ungodly ideologies is probably not a good idea. We are to be holy as God is holy, so what we take in needs to be controlled.
That said, how does instrumental music (i.e. devoid of lyrics) become sexual? Or filled with profanity? Or rebels against God? How do drums depict wrong affections whereas piano depicts right affections? If I remember my music history correctly, the piano (or the fortepiano as it was originally called) was not accepted into the church rapidly. It was seen as an evil instrument, and that the organ should be played in church instead. Sounds familiar… And what do we see today? Piano is considered an acceptable instrument. Funny how that works.
All art, I believe, is viewed through the lens of one’s own values, views, and experiences. That means, if you think that the electric guitar is not an instrument to be used for sacred music, you won’t like modern praise music that uses it. There’s nothing wrong with not liking something, or saying that you feel the presence of God better if you listen to Style A than Style B. I don’t like pickles, but my wife likes pickles. I love fish, but my wife does not. Both were created by God. Which one is better? Who is more right? Neither. It’s a preference. But to say one is holy and one is not makes a statement I don’t want to make.
And I can’t understand how one style can be acceptable and one cannot. Art is subjective. It’s not concrete. Offering sacrifices was a concrete deal. There were certain animals you were to sacrifice for certain things, at certain times, in line with your means. So how do we make the jump that music for worship has the same concrete ideas? It’s the same thing as saying only one set of chords are acceptable. Boy, wouldn’t that be boring! It’d become a ritual! Not an overflow.
So here’s an extreme example. If we take instrument restrictions to the logical maximum, then we should only play with instruments that the Bible mentioned. Which would be, I think, basically the lyre, cymbals, and our voices. I’m probably leaving something out, but you get the point. Our God is creative. He is the Ultimate Artist. Therefore, why should we stifle our creativity for worshipping Him? I think God, being the lover of our souls that He is, enjoys hearing all of our ways to worship Him.
The blog post did make some good points. It urged us to pay attention to how we worship. Worship is not just music. It is us responding rightly to all that God truly is. If we go to musical worship and just follow after the cool emotions of being in a crowd, watching a show full of lights and pictures, waiting for the fuzzies to come over us, then we are there for the wrong reasons. But if those outward expressions of love and fear are flowing from a truthful realization of who God is, then that is true worship. It doesn’t matter if that style is classical, rock, rap, folk, blues, jazz, metal, pop, or whatever! If God is truly at the center, then He will be praised.
And it doesn’t have to be music! It could be a painting where you see the true suffering of Christ on the cross, bearing the weight of our shame to save us from our sin. You see that and thank God for his grace, and praise Him for it. Or it could be a work of fiction, where you see God’s eternal pursuit of His children no matter the cost, and you realize that you have been running from God and turn back to Him and praise Him. Or it could be a film, where you finally see the gravity of your sin and the fullness of God’s holiness and glory, and you realize that one day you will not have the option to turn from it, so you turn to God and praise Him for it.
The tools are a means to an end. I don’t believe that they carry with them an inherent value of good or evil. And just because someone does something evil with a particular tool does not make that tool evil. Neither does it make the tool good if good comes from that tool. The tool is subject to the heart of its user. And the heart is subject to God. If God can use us as tools to advance His Kingdom, surely he could use rock music for good.
If you have any thoughts or scripture to share, please do. I always want to be learning about my passions. And if you disagree, please post some comments about why, but do so in love. Thanks.
