I hadn't listened to much music without interruption for a while, and I was reminded of the power it has on me. Music is one of the few, rare mediums that seems to awaken my soul. When I am listening to music, it arouses emotions that I don't experience very often. It makes me want to create. It causes me to wrestle with the past, helps me to think hopefully about the future, and it makes me feel more fully alive in the present. Music makes me more cognizant of the relationships I have in my life and I experience them more completely in the context of music. Some people may look at music as an escape; I find it causing me to go deeper into who I am and particularly who I am in Christ.
Does that mean that Christian music is the only venue through which God can awaken our souls through music? Not at all, although we certainly must be careful about what we listen to and what we allow to take root in our hearts. Proverbs tells us that whatever a man thinks about in his heart will be what defines who the man is. There is plenty of music that is filled with vulgarity and profanity and is a clear perversion of the creative drive that comes from the image of God in which we are created. Yet, there is soul-stirring music that boldly proclaims the glory of Christ and there is music that is subtle but speaks volumes about God's goodness through it's beauty and truth. Music is powerful because it originates from the one who is omnipotent. Music comes from God and is most fully perfect in His heavenly presence---right now, in this moment, music is being played and sung in the heavenlies that would blow us all away. Music we listen to now is our clumsy attempt to create or listen to something that is even a shadow of what many of us will experience one day. Music shows us just a shadow of God, and that fleeting image is enough to stir us to deep emotion.
As I've thought about this today, it has caused me to dwell on how music is handled in our churches and how it is often a source of contention and division. I've always kind of written off those splits as people either being selfish or simply having different tastes. I think that may be partially right. But I have been mostly wrong. The deepest longing in the heart of every person is to be connected to someone greater than ourselves, someone outside of mundane humanity---God. Music provides a bit of that connection. It causes our hearts to swell with longing for the One and we are willing to fight for that feeling. It's no wonder we will split churches over music---we think it is maybe the medium that will help to fill that ultimate longing for Christ.
Jesus desires that His children be one. That was His prayer for the disciples and His prayer for us. How can we reconcile that hope with the very personal way in which "our" music speaks to us of the love, beauty, and closeness of Christ? Is it simply a matter of humbly submitting ourselves to the Body and losing ourselves? Maybe, but there is no denying that some music stirs our soul more than others. I don't have an answer, but I'm up for having the discussion. What do you think? Even if you don't respond here, talk about this topic with others. Music is often the voice of God calling to us...let us embrace that and not let it divide us.
And fyi, here was my playlist artists today---Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, J.Tillman, Rocky Votolato, M.Ward, Denison Wittmer, Brandi Carlile, Jon Foreman, Pedro the Lion, John Mark McMillan, Gungor, Avett Brothers, Amos Lee, Ray LaMontagne, and The Civil Wars. Check them out for a really nice, laidback playlist of some solid music. And if you're listening to anything in this vein, let me know...I can add a million songs to my playlist, ya know.
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