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Pentecost and Musical Pluralism
purpose and diversity of expression. The author is Harold Best. PENTECOST AND MUSICAL PLURALISM Pentecost is Babel turned right side up: all speech is unified because it is God, no longer people, who is building toward the heavens. The story of Pentecost goes further than its historical reality. It is also a parable that urges us into the knowledge that the gospel is comfortable in any culture and its message finds easy residence in the languages, cultural ways and thought styles (but not thought systems) of countless societies. In other words, whoever seeks to move a culture towards transformation by Christ must join it, participating in the transformation from within. God is not Western; God is not Eastern; God is not exclusively the God of classical culture or primitive culture; God is the Lord of the plethora, the God of the diverse, the redeemer of the plural. Likewise, God calls for response in different languages, dialects, and idioms, accepting them through the Son. Pentecost tells us that one artistic tongue is only a start and a thousand will never suffice. There is no single chosen language or artistic or musical style that, better than others, can capture and repeat back the fullness of the glory of God. This truism cannot be avoided. Cultures are not infinite. No single one can hold the wholeness of praise and worship or the fullness of the counsel of God. - Harold Best, in MUSIC THROUGH THE EYES OF FAITH, Chapter 3, "Musical Pluralism and Diversity," Harper Collins, 1993, p. 66. ["O for a thousand tongues to sing my great redeemer's praise." Lord, show us our chains of linguistic and artistic elitism. Set us free to hear and respond - to know your ways and worship you in spirit and in truth. AMEN!] Have a great week, Chip Stam Pastor of Worship and Music Chapel Hill Bible Church Chapel Hill, North Carolina |