Music is Art

I don't pretend to know a lot about music, or about art. I do know, however, that I have some artistic tendencies. I don't paint or sketch. I don't write short fictional stories or wear thick-rimmed glasses and tight jeans. But I can sing and kinda play a few instruments, at least well enough to get me into trouble. And I think a lot about things and try to put them into words that capture their essence. In prose, that is.

Anyways, I've been lucky or unlucky enough (depends on how you look at it) to be tapped as the interim musical worship leader (long story) at church. Here's what I've come to realize about why music is such a hot button in churches.

An aside before I continue: I firmly believe that the terms "music" and "worship" are not at all interchangeable, and must be kept distinct from each other in order to retain their respective meanings. Worship is living life sacrificially because of Christ's sacrifice (Rom. 12:1); music is an artistic form that churches use to depict that life. Of course, I can worship through music... but I can not allow myself to use the verb "worship" to simply mean "sing" or "play an instrument." I could go on and on and on about this, but I do not wish to focus this particular entry on the subject. Nevertheless, this distinction is relevant to the rest of the entry. Aside completed. Now back to where I was initially headed...

Music is such a hot button in churches because it is an art form, and art is not meant to hide things. It is meant to reveal or depict. It brings to light what is hidden, and draws attention to what our eyes have trained themselves to filter out or pass over as insignificant. Consequently, the music that is selected and sung at a particular church reveals... well, it reveals everything about us musicians that we desire to keep hidden, and reveals all of what is hidden about us to everyone in attendance. It does this whether we realize it or not, and it does this whether we want it to or not. It does this by its very nature, apart from our will, our crafting, or our intentions.

If worshiping means living life sacrificially because of Jesus' sacrifice, then we should expect our music to reveal whether or not we are really worshiping in our lives. That's what art does, remember? It reveals. In other words, by participating on stage in musical worship in front of hundreds of people, we should anticipate being laid bare for who we really are--either as people living sacrificially because of Jesus and with Jesus... or as people who are not.

And this is shaky, scary territory, isn't it? I mean, where I am going to go with this? Am I about to state that I always know if someone is a true worshiper by simply looking at them while they sing or play? Am I going to try and establish that one musical style is a better depiction of a sacrificial life than another style? Should I make a push for the theological content of hymns as a better depiction than those blasted repetitive praise choruses? Am I about to open the Pandora's box of guitar vs. piano? I mean, the guitar kinda looks a little more like a "cross" than a piano, and what's more sacrificial than a cross, right? (I trust that you are picking up on the increased level of sarcasm in the preceding paragraph.)

But these avenues, as well as the fears, insecurities, and often selfish agendas associated with them simply illustrate my point. All of these and anything else competing with Christ for control over a musical worshiper's life will be revealed for all to see when the aspiring musical worshiper goes to sing or to play. The most flawless and grandest of performances can not hide someone's heart. I would even go as far as to say that such performances move only those seeking to consume or to be entertained... and move them somewhere that is not toward the cross. Sure, talent and technical excellence can misdirect for a time, maybe. But for those who are living sacrificially, very little remains hidden from sight. And nothing remains hidden from the One Who Sees All, the Light Himself.

And just to be clear: talent and technical excellence are necessary, but only to the degree that they allow for a faithful depiction of God, his sacrifice in Jesus, and what life is like with him. The point where our talent and excellence either fail to depict these ends (because we don't have enough of them!) or compete with these ends (because we are controlled by them!) is the point where we become depicted through our music as the frauds we really are.

Musical worship sets are not performed; they are created and set on display, just like God did the earth and its inhabitants. Likewise, musical worshippers do not perform; they willingly set themselves on display as a depiction of a sacrificed life. Musical worshipers should therefore be both excited and warned.