From the discovery and development of music by Jubal (Genesis 4:21)
and the psalms of David up until the modern time, music has been used to
worship, praise, and proclaim the majesty of God. Today, most of us think
of the hymns as holy songs - both the melody and lyrics written as a direct
inspiration from God. We think of the hymn as totally separate from secular
music, but in reality, when many of the traditional hymns were first
composed, they represented the sound of their day, just as "Jesus Rock"
might represent the sound of today.
In 1524, when Martin Luther borrowed popular drinking song melodies and grafted Christian lyrics onto them, he outraged his spiritual colleagues and no doubt gave new ammunition to his critics; but today these same songs, such as "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" and "Away In A Manger" are considered among the Christian classics.
A young boy complained to his father that most of the church hymns are boring to him because they are so far behind the times. His father becomes angry and states that "the hymns are good enough for your Grandfather and me, and they will serve you just as well." But the teenager says that not only are the tunes boring, but the words are meaningless...the songs are just too old-fashioned. Putting an end to the discussion, his father says to him, "Well, if you think you can write better hymns, then why don't you?" The son says that he will. He goes to his room and writes his first hymn.
The year was 1690, the teenager was Isaac Watts, and the hymn was "Behold The Glories Of The Lamb." During the next few years he wrote other songs. "We're Marching To Zion";"When I Survey The Wondrous Cross," and "Joy To The World" are among the almost 350 hymns he created. The lyrics were his own but sometimes the melodies were similar in origin to Luther's...seized from the streets or from popular theater.
A few centuries later, William Booth was moved to update the music of the church. Only, instead of writing all new songs, he rewove the fabric of religious music by discarding the organ and the piano, and in their place putting trombones, trumpets, tambourines, drums (drums??!!!), tubas, piccolos, clarinets, etc. and he took this menage a brass out into the streets. His marching Salvation Army Band disgusted and outraged many of the Christians in his day, but he was confident that Christian music should be taken where it was conspicuously absent...to the people...and played in a fashion that the non-Christians could understand.
Music is a powerful and spiritually persuasive art form. The young shepherd boy David soothed the tormented mind of King Saul with his songs, and his lyrical psalms are still among the most poetically uplifting that we have. The music of the teenager Isaac Watts supported the large evangelistic thrust of his day. William Booth took his band out into the streets and reached thousands that had been overlooked by the religious community. His music and message helped harvest the soul of many a businessman as well as the skid row mendicants. And these are but a few examples from Christian church history.
The lesson is clear, or should be. Continually embracing the current musical forms to present the Christian message, religious music has again and again become relevant to a contemporary world that would accuse it of being outdated. Today, the new Christian music (Jesus Music, Jesus Rock, etc.) is accessible common ground between the religious and secular world... Music has become the second language of the youth. It has the power to lead or mislead. Just as it once influenced the misdirection of the youth into drugs and campus revolution, it can be (and is being) used to proclaim in a modern tongue a message that is almost 2,000 years old.
Club Exit Web Radio & eZine |
All About The Solid Rock Crew |
CStone Festival Home Page |
Please Sign Our Guestbook! |
Return To Solid Rock Home Page |