One of the beauties of liturgical worship is in the words given us to speak and words which God speaks to us through His called and ordained s servants, our pastors. When you depart from distinct, definitive, and concerete language present in the divine service and the daily offices, you are in danger of making worship in your own image.
Here’s an example of that. www.origenmusic.com/mp3.html
The music in that link promotes meditative contemplation. It sells our attempts at achieving some form of inner peace or connectednesss to God. What a concept! It’s popular today to keep searching for that one type of something or other to give us a link to the divine presence.
Well, thanks be to God, His Word invites us to stop searching. God in Christ created and recreated us in His image. He redeemed us apart from silver, gold, our efforts or merit, but with His own precious blood. (1 Peter 1:18-19) When He invites us to call upon Him in every time of need and promises us His deliverance (Ps. 50:15), He gives us the Name in which to call upon Him, the words to speak, and the needs He knows even before our askingg.
What then do we make of wordless encantations that sound more introspective than extra nos? We can appreciate their chordal progression. Some good progressive music is soothing to hear. Yet, when the disclaimer and sellling point is meditation on our inner peace or “higher self,” or emphasizing an ability to pray a guru,” we’d best leave it alone.
Now, what makes the difference between this stuff and the quality of a Bach chorale or prelude? One need only listen to the context of Bacha’s music to see from whence He draws even his instrumental compositions. They are meant for the unique setting of Christian worship. Even listening to them on a CD while driving around town, we rejoice in their drawing our attention to Christ Jesus our Lord. Bach’s prelude in E-minor, for instance, has no words. Yet, set in the liturgical life of the congregation, it’s intent drives us to some Psalm, Gospel reading, or so forth proclaiming our Savior. Can you think of seasons of the church year where such a piece might enrich the Divine Service?
With that said, can a nonChristian appreciate the artistry and chordal prgression with which Bach and others composed uniquely Christian music? Yes. They can marvel at the artistry and musical genius. Yet, until the Holy Spirit, perhaps through the music’s proclamation of the Word converts them, they cannot appreciate the full depth Bach’s music has.
How, then, apart from our liturgical usage of music, do we judge that which is salutary for our lives, entertainment, and listening edification? Music, after all, is just that, music when it is wordless and abstracted from any given context. It’s context can be twisted or missuesed. However, for the sake of our neighbor , let alone our conscience,
– Be wary of the New Age, dreamy meditative settings.
– Research the background and authorship of music you might deem questionable.
– Rjoice in those settings which you know to be God-glorifying, good Christian productions.
– Buy up all the choral music you can, especially from our Concordia seminaries and many of our colleges. There, you’ll find music that draws you to the cross in its every stanza.
– Enjoy good progressive music that isn’t explicitly used for self-meditation or attaining some altered state consciousness.
Some of my personal favorite composers include John Tesh, Yanni, and Kitarro. Believe me, those guys helped me stay appropriately distracted when on study breaks in college.
