Deuteronomy 31:19-22
19 “Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel. 20 When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves oand grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. 21 Then it shall be, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for I know the inclination of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them.” 22 Therefore Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.
We have a very creative God. Music was one of the many “arts” that was created under Him. There are over 1100 references of music, instruments, and/or singing between Gen: 31-:27 and Rev: 18:22-23. In the bible, there are all sorts of reason for singing: marriage, praise, bereavement, merriment, worship. I’m sure that with the various kinds of instruments (flute, harp, lyre, cymbals, etc.), there were also different styles of music. It’s important to note that God created not only music as a whole but different sounds & kinds of music.
I think that one of the biggest mistakes any one person who enjoys music can make is being exclusive to one or two genres of music. I grew up on metal and anything loud. Metallica, Finger 11, and Nirvana were my bread and butter as a wee young’n. I even had a major Marilyn Manson phase, if you can believe it. But, as I’ve grown older my tastes have changed quite a bit. I’m now listening to rock, pop-rock, blues, (self-coined term) ”computer-rock”, alt-rock, worship, world music, singer/song-writer stuff, new-school jazz, and even some post-hardcore. I think it’s important for any musician to explore as much music as possible. There's no better way to expand a musicians abilities and gifts than to expose themselves to music that they would not normally listen to. Steve Vai, guitar virtuoso, emerses himself in all kinds of music (like Hungarian wedding music and Indian tabla/sitar songs) that heavily make its way into his own music. Vai is one of the most influential, accomplished, and versatile guitar players in teh world. I'm sure that if I hadn’t been introduced to John Mayer’s acoustic version of “Neon” I’d still be stuck with Dream Theater in my headphones and playing old Metallica riffs. Listening to Mayer’s great song-writing and smooth guitar playing also introduced me to bands like The Police and Marvin Gaye as well as re-igniting my love for Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. And, through my years with JSB, Jay and Sunny introduced to other bands like Copeland, Future of Forestry, and even Coldplay that really made me think outside my musical box.
So where does this all fit in the “Art vs. Music” dilemma I’ve been exploring? I thought about it this afternoon, and you don’t find many “ministries” that are making art (bare with me here before you get all puffed-up). Sure, worship music is still “art” and worship leaders/song-writers are “artists”. I won’t dispute that; God made music which is an “art”. And while I like a lot of worship music available, there aren’t too many song-writers willing to push the envelope of worship-music with (in my opinion) the exception of people like David Crowder and Charlie Hall who are using on-stage sequencing/loop programs like Ableton & Reason run and instruments like turn-tables, Guitar Hero controllers, and toy Xylophones to push their musical sound-scapes. All that, and their focus is on leading a large group of people to a place of communicating with God through music. However…
Then there’re the bands, artists, and musicians who are always reinventing what people think of music. Sufjan Stevens, Radiohead, and Feist are a few names that come to mind that I believe are redefining the art of music. Yet, while I do not necessarily love all of their music, claim to be ½ as talented as those individuals, nor inspire to make similar music, I long to follow their footsteps and be artistic and create. I don’t quite understand how to make “ministry” out of a form of art that isn’t necessarily meant to spiritually rejuvenate a specific group of people.
I could define Christian Ministry as a definite profession that serves the specific function of meeting people's needs with love and humility on Christ's behalf. Christians are to minister to others out of their devotion to Christ and their love for others, whether the other people are believers or unbelievers. Ministry to others should be impartial and unconditional, always seeking to help others as Jesus would. So, can ones profession of being an “artist” still meet these specific needs? There are plenty of artists out there who are Christians, write/sing about Christian things, yet don’t consider themselves a ministry. Moreover, they’re introducing Christ (whether obvious or not) through their music. Is that still ministry or does ministry have to have the purpose of teaching/leading other into a better understanding of Christ or introducing others to the person of Christ? There’s a question for some discussion. I’d like to hear some different opinions.
4 comments:
Seems to me that every Christian has a ministry, no matter what they're doing. If they live and work for the glory of God, then what they produce is potentially a ministry to others. It can be as grand as a song or as mundane as faithfully working at an everyday job next to someone else. As far as art in general goes, it's a shame that Christians seem to often be chained by what is 'acceptable' and are rarely at the forefront of invention. As a visual artist, I'm saddened by the utter lack of visual art Christians have produced since the reformation. Our concept of 'worship' seems to have shrunk.
"As far as art in general goes, it's a shame that Christians seem to often be chained by what is 'acceptable' and are rarely at the forefront of invention. As a visual artist, I'm saddened by the utter lack of visual art Christians have produced since the reformation. Our concept of 'worship' seems to have shrunk."
I whole-heartedly agree. I find we've left behind a lot of the "classical" arts and put so much effort and time intot he "technological" and "contemporary" arts.
Brother I think you're asking some of the same questions that I've asked or am asking. Here's something I've come to understand: everything I do is worship: every move, action, thought ascribes worth to something more than everything else. I can worship God or money or possessions or my family or or or. So with respect to art, for a Christian, every piece of art they make is worship.
Ministry, to me, is two fold: help them grow in Christ and invest in their potential as people made in God's image.
The question for me as it relates to all of this is this: is maintaining an unhealthy status quo of the relationship between worship and art really the means by which we can help people move closer to God or is it possible that by having a church where art is used, in all its forms and in all freedom in Christ, a better, more biblical way of using art in the church? For me, communities like Mosaic in Los Angeles are using art more holistically than the majority of churches.
Personally, I'd love to see a guy like you, with a broad view of art and lots of talent helping create a church environment where God is worshipped in His fullness and people are invested in and grown in their relationship to Him and their understanding of biblical worship.
Thx for the thoughts, Timbo.
I will agree with you (and, in some degree, Matt above) that there's no vocational difference between Christian Art and Worship; their point and purpose are the same, just displayed in different ways. While I still search to find out what aspect of art/worship I belong in, I still feel that there're lots of things God still needs to do inside me and outside of me to feel raedy to take on the task of helping the spiritual growth of a church (or audience, or whatever). That's where God is also teaching me (and CAtherine) patience in all of this; one of the things I need to improve on if I want to move forward in this journey.
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