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Musical Taste
worship? Today’s WORSHIP QUOTE is a fourth from the same new volume, WORSHIP BY THE BOOK. This excerpt is from Mark Ashton, vicar (pastor) of the Round Church at St. Andrew the Great, Cambridge, England. MUSICAL TASTE Wisdom will be needed to encourage a congregation to be united over the music it uses. One result of the power of music is that people become deeply wedded to their personal preferences and find it difficult to recognize that the STYLE of music is almost always a matter of no intrinsic theological importance. Training the congregation to recognize the difference between what is theological and what is cultural, and between where the Bible speaks clearly and where it does not, is an important part of training the congregation to be balanced in their biblical understanding. It has been wisely pointed out that many tussles over words and books are basically disputes about power in the life of a local church. Selfishness loves to dress itself in cultural clothes. Musical taste seems a lot more godly than self-interest, but all too often that is all a preference for one style of music over another amounts to! — Mark Ashton, "Following in Cranmer’s Footsteps," chapter two of WORSHIP BY THE BOOK, edited by D. A. Carson. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002, p. 91. ISBN 0-310-21625-7. Other chapters in this book are by D. A. Carson, Kent Hughes, and Timothy Keller. Very highly recommended! [Here’s one more great paragraph from the same section. Of course, when the author cites Cranmer, he is referring to Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the important figure in the English Reformation of the sixteenth century and author of the Church of England’s BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER.] The music services must be controlled by the three Cranmer tests (biblical, accessible, and balanced). Because we are serious about what we are doing at our services, we can never take lightly the words we sing. In THE BARBER OF SEVILLE, Figaro sings, "If a thing is too silly to be said, it can always be sung." As we know, some Christian songs merit that verdict. But John Wesley wrote (back in 1761), "Above all, sing spiritually; have an eye to God in every word you sing" (page 90). Have a great week, Chip Stam Director, Institute for Christian Worship School of Church Music and Worship Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Louisville, Kentucky www.carlstam.org www.sbts.edu |