THANK THE LORD FOR SECULAR MUSIC!

If it were not for secular music, discerning music lovers would be condemned to a lifetime (but not an eternity- HALLELUJAH) of being told by a small ruling elite what “good music” has to sound like.

If you can just stray a little from the usual sources, you’ll find that the secular world produces an amazing variety of musical styles and genres, and is perpetually experimenting and pushing the boundaries.  Meanwhile the Christian world, I’m sorry to have to say, is trapped in a couple of little boxes, one of which is called “contemporary Christian music”. LORD DELIVER US!

Twenty to thirty years after a genre is created, the Christian world catches on, and then declares to itself that it is thoroughly modern. The secular world, if it notices at all, yawns and continues to go on ahead.

It hasn’t always been that way, of course. Men like Bach and some of the hymn writers of the past were pioneers, and glorified God greatly by stretching the imagination that the Lord had given them just as far as they could. God wants us to be creative! Us humans only use a small percentage of our brain capacity; its there for a reason. God didn’t make all cats or all dogs or even all cats and dogs: He made jellyfish, elephants, snails, octopi, eagles, spiders, peacocks, dinosaurs…and what an amazing variety of colors, habitats and characteristics!

It’s not just the genres which are lacking in Christian music: it’s the passion. Being a bass player myself, I recently watched John Patitucci, one of the world’s greatest bass players, with Chick Corea. His hands, fingers and arms twanged, slapped, thumped, glided and twiddled on the fingerboard, the result of which was an astounding display of passion and sound emanating from a mighty brain and talent – God given (whether he sees it that way or not). In contrast, as I sat and watched a Christian band one Sunday morning, I saw the bass player barely touching the strings, for fear of making a noise which might be noticed, or the wrong kind of noise, It was the ultimate compression, and after all, the “experts” in the sound booth and church leadership know that the bass should be seen and not heard, or else it should just be a woolly soft noise in the background.

What does the Bible have to say about passion in music?

 “Praise the Lord form the earth, you great sea creatures and all the ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding…” (Psalm 148).

 “Praise God in his sanctuary;

Praise him in his mighty heavens,

Praise him for his acts of power;

Praise him for his surpassing greatness.

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,

Praise him with the harp and lyre,

Praise him with the tambourine and dancing,

praise him with the strings and flute,

praise him with the clash of cymbals,

Praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

(Psalm 150).

 

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