I appreciate your recent editorial regarding music in the church, "Music of the Church" in the Feb. 14 issue. Music is a universal language, communicating the same emotions to people of different languages and cultures. A lullaby’s sweetness conveys and evokes the same emotion from all, a march another, psychedelic another, riotous or rebellious another, sensuous rock another.
It has a universally common impact on people, separate from any words that may be attached. There always is a message in the music, regardless of the words. It is the nature of music. Music expressing God-honoring response to the revealed true character and attributes of the Lord is always appropriate in worship services. Music that expresses hopelessness, meaninglessness, rebellion, recklessness, wildness or appeals to base sensuality is always inappropriate, regardless of any attached words, because it conveys a message totally contrary to all that God is.
It is not a simple matter of personal likes and dislikes. It is a matter of spiritual and carnal, appropriate and inappropriate. To what nature do we want to appeal in our churches, or anywhere else for that matter, spiritual or carnal? Attaching a biblical message on the side of a skunk produces a generally adverse impact because the medium overwhelms the message and actually becomes the message.
I am grateful for the music in my own church, but I would like to encourage all Christian music folks to think about the goal. We are to be godly, not worldly. We can’t become godly by being worldly. Help us to be godly.
Bill Stubblefield
Mobile, Ala.
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