Music

Read Part 1.

Introduction

I often hear claims in various contexts that particular theological positions on salvation (soteriology) or understandings of biblical interpretation (hermeneutics) necessarily lead to either so-called “conservative” or “progressive” music or worship philosophies. What I would like to do in this essay is to demonstrate that such positions do not, in fact, automatically lead one to hold a particular worship or music philosophy.

In many conservative gospel-preaching churches, the only thing rarer than drums is Psalms singing. This seems particularly odd in view of the fact that most of these churches insist on musical worship that is biblical, that is deeply rooted in history, and that has stood the test of time. What songs are more biblical, more historically rooted, and more timeless than the 150 songs that God Himself breathed out more than 2,000 years ago?

Few words are as apt to elicit a passionate response as the words worship music. Churches, institutions, and homes have been rocked (pun intended) by debates over what is—and more often, what is not!—acceptable music. While I understand the debate and tend to land on the conservative side of it, the fact that the term worship is heard by many as a call to arms instead of a call to prayer grieves me.

I Surrender “Some”

When I came to Christ at age nineteen, my life was dramatically and irreversibly changed. Many of those changes were immediate. I stopped doing and selling dope. I cut my hair. I burned my rock albums (no CDs then!) and shaved my mustache, the final vestige of my worldly life, before going to Bob Jones University (Greenville, SC).