If you have followed this blog for any length of time, we have gone on a musical rollercoaster. I grew up on a steady diet of southern gospel, until I was exposed to the wonderful world of Bob Jones music. When you have grown up on something, you tend to think that is the ONLY way to go, so, my choir teacher challenged me to study out what I believe and why. My study tended to be a little one sided in an extremely conservative direction. With study on the science behind music, the Bible behind music, and the very nature of music, I eliminated anything but ultra conservative “Bob Jones” music from my diet. This lasted for about a year. Finally, I REALLY began to study music and why I believed what I believed. This study brought me to a very simple conclusion. God is so far above cultural preference.
I have sat in services where conservative groups have sung and preached, and watched the spirit of God descend upon that place. I’ve been in services and at camps where southern gospel music was sung, and YOUNG people, not just old, have been touched and brought to the altar. I have also been part of a church where contemporary worship was played and sung, and that SAME GOD has moved in the congregation.
The ultra conservative deem any other kind of music “contemporary” and ungodly.
The SG crowd as a majority looks down on those who prefer the contemporary or conservative flavor.
The contemporary crowd arrogantly deems anything preceding them “irrelevant.”
I can honestly say I have lived in all three of those camps. I have studied their ways, watched their methods, and I have come to the conclusion that they are ALL wrong and right simultaneously. I love relaxing to the sound of well trained choir, and appreciating the beauty and talent it takes to perform a worship song as a mass group. I love the energy and drive that powers praise and worship music. It’s great for getting people on their feet and really focusing on the message of a song. Southern gospel is such a wide genre that it covers nearly every area of music. SG is just a cover label for most all Christian music. So, if you are one of those people who has ruled out an entire genre based on your own personal preference – you are wrong! Something only becomes irrelevant when we SAY it does. Time does not determine a song’s value. For instance, Happy birthday has been around for DECADES! When was the last time you were at a birthday party and they said, “we aren’t going to sing that song because it’s old and outdated?” NEVER! The new generation of pastors and church workers strive to get us to “think outside the box.” In doing so they mock the older generation and their way of doing things, when in actuality the NEW generation are JUST AS GUILTY of placing God in a box as the older generation. You are just as wrong to assume a NEW way of doing things is the only way, just as the older generation says the OLD way of doing things is the only way. Whether it is contemporary worship or the “contemporvant” worship style, these are just a new repackaged form of modern legalism, just as the older generation dogmatically stood on methods and preference instead of scripture.
God has called me to the area of full time music ministry. Whether its preaching to the people through song, or using songs to prepare hearts to receive the word, music is a much-needed ministry. God would not call someone to a field that was irrelevant. It may be a hard road to travel, but it is one I will take confidently as God leads the way. The rollercoaster has finally found its end. I have a direction and a goal, and they are God given.
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