A friend of mine sent me this great article by Tim Stevens at Granger Community Church regarding secular music in church. I think we try to compartmentalize things too much to make it sanitized and safe. I know personally that God has used a variety of music to reach me or teach me and many of those tunes weren't "Christian" songs. Anyway, maybe more about this later, but check out the article and see what you think.
Peace.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Great Article About Music in Church
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3 comments:
Good article. I know back in the beginning of Ginger Creek Comm Church where I used to help find music for our services, we went back and forth a lot on the issue. Not that anyone was opposed to using the secular music but in trying to make sure that it didn't become a stumbling block--maybe instead of opening people's hearts, it distracted them with a mental video image or took them somewhere else. And you can't paralyze yourself with that kind of analysis either. I just remember being so excited seeing God "redeem" the music of the culture to get His message across and to hear people say "I can't believe you guys did that song in church". On the other hand, as someone who enjoys playing devil's advocate let me ask this to get some feedback...is it ok to look at the Sunday service as a refuge where you can get some relief from the high intensity culture around you? When is it just as ok to use a "Christian" lesser known song with the same message if its a quality musical piece? Just a thought. Or do you just throw out the "this is how we will always do it" mindset and go service to service as the Spirit leads?
LOVE THIS ARTICLE!!!
I especially love the analogy of using "secular" authors, historians, etc. AMEN!!
If I can address the previous comment from Joni....... I used to view "church" as my refuge, where I went to get fed, and where I went to learn more, or unwind, or focus on God; and looking back at that attitude in hindsight, my attitude was pretty inward. My thinking has changed fairly dramatically, in that now I look at the sunday service as a place to plant the seeds of faith, no matter where "we" are in our spiritual journey. My refuge tends to be worshipping or praying when I'm alone in the car, or rehearsing with the worship team. I could also see someone who is really sensing a need for refuge, perhaps seeking out a more traditional service for a week, that would be more conservative in it's approach. God is certainly present wherever we choose to look for him.
I don't agree with choosing a song, secular or christian, just to say that we did it in church. I think it's important that the song be tied in on purpose by the speaker, worship leader, or someone. Putting up the lyrics, I feel is also a must. I also LOVED the disclaimer that Mike put on the church website a couple of weeks ago about the "content" of some of the other music on the album. I think that shows responsible and loving shepherding.
Either way we look at our sunday service, as a refuge or an evangelistic tool, it's a very fine line to walk. Going too far either way isn't a good balance.
hey-there are a lot of "secular" songs and lyrics that can speak to our hearts. One of my favorites is an old song called spirit in the sky. I would be willing to bet that the people singing the original probably just thought it was a cool song-now we sing it in church because that's what we want to do-"goin' up to the Spirit in the sky"!!
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