GLORY APOLOGETICS

Music and The Church
हिंदी के लिए यहां क्लिक करें

Today many Churches, Pastors, Believers, Worship Leaders & their followers emphasize that the Christian Music & Songs should adapt to the current trends of the society in order to attract more people & youths in to the Church.....

What should be our response?

Secular music will always reflect the culture and the trend of the society. That's why secular music is made and therefore it keeps changing according to the taste and demand of the particular generation and the society which come in that generation. The Bible teaches that the world has been corrupted by sin (Romans 5:12, 8:7) and is controlled for a time being by the prince of the world (Ephesians 2:2, 2 Corinthians 4:4) and Satan is polluting people by making them love the world and the things of the world by the attraction and lust that Satan provides (1 John 2:16). This is displayed in the music of the world which is the secular music.

In contrast, Born Again People (the redeemed people of Christ) are different because we belong to a different kingdom; The Kingdom of God (John 3:3,5) and we are now the citizens of a different kingdom (Philippians 3:20).

Since we are commanded to live like aliens and strangers in this world avoiding the lusts of the flesh (1 Peter 2:11), we are commanded to partake in Christ's divine nature (2 Peter 2:4), it is a logical and reasonable teaching that Worship pattern of the Church can't resemble & reflect the pattern of the World. How can we who have been redeemed by the precious & undefiled blood of the lamb (1 Peter 1:18-19) can even imagine to make music and sing music and worship which resembles the pattern of the world?

Our music, therefore, should reflect the Ultimate Truth, the Unchanging Truth; which is Christ and He never changes because He is the same yesterday, today and forevermore (Hebrews 13:8). Our music and worship should therefore be consistent to with the nature of God, it should reflect the nature of God, it should teach us the nature of God.

Anything apart from this is simply a mockery of God and an insult to His perfect Holiness.

Dancing

​The ancient Jewish/Biblical dance in Old Testament is very different from that we see today in Christian Music Concerts, Christian Music Videos in YouTube, Churches etc.

Bollywood and other forms of dance serve the purpose of the fallen mankind's sensual worldly entertainment and appeals to the eyes & flesh of the sinful man. Unfortunately, today in Christian Music Concerts, Christian Music Videos in YouTube, Churches etc we see the same dance movements and rhythms in the name of worship and such worship programs are just as worldly in nature and style as any pagan worship style. It's hard to differentiate whether it's a worship concert or a musical event in a pub/disco.

There are also many defenders of such worship leaders, worship bands and they justify such dance styles by quoting verses from Psalms where dance is allowed, they quote David & Miriam. The phrase "A little learning is a dangerous thing" suits such people the best.

The Hebrews had their sacred dances expressive of joy and thanksgiving, when the performers were usually females (Exodus 15:20, Judges 11:34, 21:23, 1 Samuel 18:6, Jeremiah 31:3). Therefore David's conduct in dancing before the ark of the Lord seemed peculiar to Michal in 2 Samuel 6:14,20. Michal should, in accordance with the example of Miriam and others, have herself led the female choir, instead of keeping aloof on the occasion and "looking through the window." David led the choir "uncovered", i.e., wearing only the ephod or linen tunic. He thought only of the honour of God, and forgot himself.

Psalms 30:11, 149:3, 150:4 also talk about the dance in worship.

At the same time we see some negative and disappointing examples in Exodus 32:6, 19-25. This is a disappointing part of Israel's history. While Moses was up on the mountain talking to God, the Israelites built an idol. In the process of the idol worship, they began to dance. This ended up in "revelry" (v. 6) and being "out of control" (v.25 says "naked" in some translations). In this case, dancing led to very sinful activity.

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 should be the rule of thumb for us if we're not sure that a dancing situation/situation, or a certain worship style is acceptable or not. "Avoid every kind of evil." If it even looks like it could be sinful, don't do it. Rock Music Worship, Rapper Style Worship, DJ Style Worship etc are some trending styles of worship today which has to be examined very carefully and thoroughly by every believer instead of just blindly endorsing it just because it seems trendy and effective and acceptable by today's generation. Let's not forget that God & His nature is unchanging (Hebrews 13:8). Let's not play with His holiness just because we think we are theological intellectuals. God is self sufficient and self sustaining. He doesn't need us; rather we need Him.

The Hebrew/Jewish dance in Old Testament denote the rendering of a word (rakad') which means to skip or leap for joy (Eccl. 3:4 ; Job 21:11, Isaiah 13:21). The dance in the Old Testament were never the Bollywood and Cultural style dances. Let's not forget that some Indian cultural style dance have a religious significance.

In the New Testament we also find about dance. The study of the word dance in the original New Testament language tells us about dance in a circular motion - Luke 15:25, dance by leaping up & down - Matthew 11:17, dance by individuals - Matthew 14:6.

The Bible acknowledges that we can dance, but it should be in a way that does not tempt others, does not tempt ourselves, and brings glory to God.

- By Pastor Monish Mitra