Theology Thursday

In April of 2005, Dr. David Peterson spoke at my alma mater, Southern Seminary in Louisville. He is the author of ENGAGING WITH GOD, an excellent resource for understanding biblical worship. Today’s quote was transcribed (by Chip Stam) from the opening comments of his fascinating talk on musical styles in the service of the Christian community.

If you have time, listen to the lecture at:

http://www.sbts.edu/resources/lectures/gheens/psalms-hymns-and-spiritual-songs-does-the-bible-direct-us-in-the-choice-of-musical-styles/


MUSIC AND CHRISTIAN SNOBBERY
We all know that music is a great encouragement to snobbery. You can either be a classical snob, or a rock snob, or a folky snob. Basically, what we do with our music is we say, "I love this kind of music; this is what really excites me, and I can't bear that other stuff. I am not going to listen to your stuff."

The sad thing is that Christians fall into this same worldly trap. We become so familiar with and comfortable with our particular styles of music that we end up saying, maybe overtly sometimes, "I am not willing to listen to your kind of music. I am not willing to sing one of your silly songs." We get even more intense than that. We say, "Your music is not true worship. Your music is not honoring to God."

This is one of those areas where Christians feel at liberty to be quite unrestrained and quite ungodly in the way in which we position ourselves and talk to one another when it comes to music. So if music is going to be a meaningful and effective part of our church life, we need to submit it to the Scriptures. We need to apply the Scriptures in a very rigorous fashion from the pulpit about this subject. It is not just something for musicians to consider. I believe that as pastors of churches and as theological teachers, we have a responsibility to bring this, as with everything else, under the Word of God.

-- David Peterson, "Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs: Does the Bible Direct Us in the Choice of Musical Styles?" a lecture delivered at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on April 14, 2005, as part of the Institute for Christian Worship.