Musing

Musing

Sunday, July 10, 2011

1 John 2:26-28

I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from Him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before Him at His coming. (NRSV)

It is possible to be deceived. To be honest, I think that it is very likely that many of Western societies are deceived for we live in cultures that deceive on a regular basis. Most of the focus of what we hear, read, and learn is for the purposes of deception.

Think about it.

We focus on looking and acting young in an effort to deceive ourselves that we are growing older and facing death.

We focus on entertainment (books, movies, TV, music, video games, the Internet), the vast majority of which is fiction, in order to forget our problems at least temporarily and believe that “someday” our lives might be like that.

And then there are those who actively deceive themselves: the men and women who pretend to be something they are not by falsifying their resumes, by cheating on tests, by presenting themselves as single on dating sites when they are actually married, by fantasizing and losing themselves in those fantasies rather than to face life as it actually is.

There are those who would deceive us and that deceit isn’t always going to be a frontal attack. It will come into the areas where we are weakest. (The enemy is smart!)

There is also deception within our churches, doctrine which is passed off as legitimate but is from the pits of hell. Some of this doctrine is obvious . . . and some is not!

We can be deceived.

Let me challenge you in one small area: church music. Music is the door to the soul. It can convict or it can debase. And music, unfortunately, seems to have taken over the church (and I am a musician and a worship leader). Churches, seminars, and retreats are advertising their musicians and music as if people will fail to come if the music isn’t up to a certain level. There are books, university courses, seminars, and websites claiming to be able to teach people how to be worship leaders. And yet, as I travel throughout the country, Christian music seems to be on a decline.

There are three aspects to Christian music: musicality, lyrics, and doctrine. Musicality is how well the song is written and, if it is to be sung by a congregation, how easily it can be learned and sung. Lyrics are, of course, the words which should easily fit into the melody and which should reflect our relationship with God. Doctrine is the spiritual lessons taught by the song.

Unfortunately, Christian composers (and publishers) have more sold out to “the hook” then anything else. And a hook is what makes a song catchy. If you find yourself singing it involuntarily, it may be because the song has a great hook. But is it truly a great song? Here are some questions to consider:

• What does the song say about God and our relationship to Him?
• Does the song properly honor and respect God?
• Do the music and lyrics show respect and honor or a more gross familiarity?
• When you sing the song, are you at the Throne of grace or simply feeling good about singing?
• What doctrine is the song teaching?
• When the song is sung in church is everyone singing and participating or has it become a performance? And if it is a performance, what is the purpose of the performance?

There are, of course, many other questions you can ask in order to evaluate whether or not a song is actually a Christian song or simply something the publisher is making money on.

Music isn’t the only place we can be deceived as Christians. We need to constantly be at the Throne asking the Spirit to reveal to us the areas in our lives where we need to turn away from deception.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

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