Still, I think there was a time when I went too far the other direction. I began to get really self-righteous about what music I would allow myself to use in my (holier-than-everyone-else's) worship experience. I started to believe that if we were singing a song where there wasn't a theological truth taken from some obscure passage in one of the books of the minor prophets, then it wasn't good enough for me. (Then I'd stamp my foot, take my ball, and go home, because that's what real worship is all about.)
So, you might wonder, have I found a happy medium between a willingness to trivialize God and a self-righteous desire for every song to have some deep truth? Sort of, but my pride still likes to poke his head out about as often as my complacency does. I have to be on guard for both. The attitude I have tried to take is one where I certainly appreciate the more meaningful songs, but where I try to approach the "other" songs with a heaping helping of grace. I think that Paul writes pretty strongly about this: "Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions" (Romans 14:1 -- read the whole pertinent passage here). While I don't want to trivialize God, I don't want to be judgmental of the people who do derive some meaning out of these songs.
Anyone think this is a cop-out?
5 comments:
I tend to agree with you. My only concern is that I might err on the side of caution with people, rather than caution with God. What I mean is that I feel that I might be more worried more often about coming off as self-righteous (thus I avoid offending people) than worried about defending the righteousness and glory of God (thus I consider offending people an unfortunate, but necessary, side effect of man's fallen nature).
Now as far as "solid foods," don't get me started! One of my biggest pet peeves in the church is avoiding the Old Testament at all costs. (Before I get into this, I should note that the Lincoln Berean College Group has been working through Old Testament since this summer--we were in Joshua, and now we are in 1 and 2 Samuel. I don't want anyone to think that I am whining about Berean.) Often churches avoid the Old Testament because, I think, they perceive it as difficult, which it certainly is. It isn't always easy to see how the old covenant meshes with the new covenant (and vice versa), but I think we miss out on the astounding richness of the New Testament when we lose the perspective given by the Old Testament (which was the framework through which the New Testament authors were writing). I probably shouldn't go off too much on this, though, because this is a good topic on which I can later write a post.
So, my only other point would be to distinguish between "pleasure" and "worship." I suppose I find old hymns of the faith "pleasurable," but only because they give me a good picture of God (which is vital in worship). I would even go so far to say that I can worship without feeling pleasure (as when, say, God uses worship to point out a sin in my life and my need to correct it as soon as possible, which has happened several times to me during worship). On the other hand, I think that pleasure is possible without having worship.
I write this to in no way demean Super*Chik (I only have a vague idea of who they are as well), because I do not know their music at all. They may in fact write music that is both pleasurable and worshipful, so I will not use them as an example. If another band claims to be Christian yet loses focus on God (or doesn't put Him in proper focus), I can see that as a problem. On the other hand, if there is a band that puts a very shallow focus on God (but at least not a counter-productive focus on God), I hesitate to denounce that.
I apologize for rambling, but I think this clarifies what I was originally trying to say.
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