Thought-provoking (provocative?) quote from James Smith, Professor of Philosophy at Calvin College: 

The Gospel is not a “content” that can be distilled and just dropped into any old “form” that seems hip or relevant or attractive. You can’t distill Jesus from Christian worship and then just drop him into the mall or the coffee shop or the concert: while you might think you’re “Jesu-fying” this medium, in fact you just end up commodifying Jesus. 

Read the rest here.

  • Billy Leonhart

    It seems as though there is an underlying assumption here. First, were certain genres of music to have been created by and for Christians, they would have still been sinful, because the arrangement itself is Satanic or worldly or fleshly. Second, all genres finding their origin outside of Christianity are intrinsically evil, commercial, worldly, tainted. One logical conclusion might then be that, when we go to tribes in Africa, or villages in Romania, or the countryside of China, we should teach new Christians to discard their cultural heritage, and sing and listen to only the hymns written by the Reformers and Puritans who were pure and undefiled by the musical tastes of their times. Oh how we sanctify our own mediums of worship and gospel proclamation in order to caste dark clouds over the mediums of others.

  • Mark Anderson

    Billy.I don’t read it like that at all. Rather than being guilty of unstated underlying assumptions, I think he is questioning underlying assumptions. Namely the underlying assumption that for some people (not all people) they appear to think that Jesus can be appended/inserted into any medium, situation or location without any attempt at carefully thinking through the implications.

  • Billy Leonhart

    Mark,All I am trying to assert is that we must hold all of the hymns and worship songs we hold precious and dear to the same standard. We must hold them to this standard not merely in our own time after they have become the tradition and the norm, but at the time that they were first penned. . . .at the time that they themselves were controversial and considered to be of ill-repute because of the medium that they assumed.Some would say, today, that Lecrae and Shai Linne’s songs belong in the club and not on the iPods of Christian youth. Likewise, some would say, in times past, that Martin Luther’s songs belonged in the taverns and not in the churches of Germania. I will merely point out that we are all too willing to call out the one while assuming there was no battle for the other.Finally, let us not forget that questions can be used to make statements. It is apparent to me that this is precisely the goal of the questions posed in this expose. They lead people down a path of questioning the viability of the musical choices of some Christians, without taking the same honest look at the musical choices made by those whom we respect. I would like for all of Christian music to be put under the microscope or none of it. That way we can see it for what it really is: a means of conveying mood and uniting souls toward the end of giving the “Amen!” to the Gospel message contained therein. If the music does not meet this criteria for any segment of the population, it is not worthy of our praise. If, however, it meets this criteria for even one segment of the population, I say Amen!

  • Cornelius VanKempen

    In all today we are trying to bring God down to the level of our own iidea of what we think is right or wrong. Lets use GOD’S WORD as the criteria for what is God honoring or not.

  • Billy Leonhart

    Cornelius,I don’t see how it is beneficial or consistent to accuse someone of going outside God’s word “to bring God down to the level of our own iidea of what we think is right or wrong” without at the very least providing an example of what the Bible has to say on the matter. Tell me. What does the Bible say about the use of different mediums (or genres) being used for the conveyance of the gospel? Does it forbid the use of certain mediums? Does it endorse them wholesale? What principles can we draw from this exegetical study that you’ve apparently already conducted? If I am going to be rebuked for deriving my reasoning from extra-biblical standards, I’d prefer to be rebuked by the word of God.Thank you,Billy

  • Cornelius VanKempen

    Dear Billy LeonHartThank you for the though provoking thoughts that you sent me. I can think of one text in God Holy Word that would answer your reasoning and we find it in Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.’ The context is the sermon on the mount as we mak things appear as if the are religious but are really serving self. I am sure there are other texts as wiell but let this suffice.To God be the glort Case VanKempen