Musical Interlude

I've been neglectful of my blog as I prepare for two upcoming conferences, the Fall Conference & Pastors' Day at Central Baptist Seminary in Plymouth, Minnesota (Oct 11-12) and the Mid-America Conference on Preaching here at Detroit Baptist Seminary (Oct 21-22). But I've found a little time to carve out time to report on an interesting read that I'm enjoying right now: Who Needs Classical Music? Cultural Choice and Musical Value by Julian Johnson.

It's a fascinating read in its own right but also because of its informing role in worship debates. Johnson begins with a very forceful "rejection of the supposed neutrality of music implied by an approach that deals with music only as an empty sign for other things," an approach that is not only "inadequate," but "perverse"--a matter of "ethics." It is no more a shoulder-shrugging matter of taste than the statement that "women are less intelligent than men." Yep, he actually says that on p. 11.

This premise is, of course, at the center of the worship debate, so it is interesting to see a secular writer argue this way. But what follows is where it gets interesting. Johnson argues that prior to the nineteenth century, music functioned primarily as an art form designed to create distance and foster reflection. The immediate might be in view, but never, ironically, immediately. Music served to promote a distant or detached contemplation of the immediate. The classical tradition, Johnson claims, continues this understanding.

Since the commercialization of music in the nineteenth century, music's value as an art has diminished. It has become a commodity. Its function has become more immediate and social. It has no standard for evaluation except the personal tastes of a million self-absorbed individuals. Johnson is quick to point out that this modern idea is not really true; instead it is just a popular perception. But laying aside his critique for the present, I find this a fascinating appraisal. If he's right, then music written in the era of classical hymnody was designed primarily as a vehicle for reflection, affection, and transcendence, and its excellence based on its success in achieving these. Gospel and contemporary music is designed as a vehicle of demonstration, emotion, and immanence, and its excellence based on its success in achieving these.

All this must, of course, be taken as so much generalization. But if it is even slightly true, is it any wonder that we have worship wars?

MAS

On Churches Burning Stuff

Well, it's unanimous: Terry Jones and his Dove World Outreach Center are wrong to stage a Koran burning on 9/11. And I agree with the majority...to a point. But here's the thing that bothers me. Back when I was a kid, I remember churches doing stuff like this regularly--except that then they were burning new age materials, romance novels, rock music, and playing cards. And the response of the broad church and community was mild amusement. So what's the big deal today? What makes Koran-burning different?

It could be that the media-burnings in 1985 were more in line with Acts 19. Maybe. True, the call back then was for Christians to root out false teaching, smut, and questionable entertainment from their own homes. But let's be honest--the real reason for the public burning was to publically declare war on the agents of sin: Bantam Books, Hoyle, and RCA Records.

It could be that we are concerned today about the effect of such a public display on our missionaries and, consequently, on the advance of the gospel. I'm there. I've got a lot of good friends out there in harm's way, and I do understand the effects that a Koran-burning could have on them.

But at the end of the day, I'm convinced that the ultimate difference between burning romance novels in 1985 and burning the Koran today, and the thing that gets the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, and others involved, is this: Americans are afraid of Islam. We were not afraid in 1985 that Bantam Books was going to scuttle the American economy or muster an army to start killing us. We weren't afraid that Ozzy Osbourne was going to graduate from biting heads off of bats to removing heads from the American population. But we are afraid of Islam. And that's why the majority are opposed to what Terry Jones and his Dove World Outreach Center are planning.

Now make no mistake. I think that Jones's response is naive. It's counter-productive. It lacks all biblical warrant. But at the end of the day, the thing that really bothers me is not that someone is burning copies of the Koran. In fact, I'd like to see America stiffen its collective spine to push back at the vicious threat of radical Islam. No, what bothers me is that a church is burning copies of the Koran. Jones and his "church" have slipped into a political/cultural arena that is outside the purview of the church. And when the church tries to overstep its God-given purview, it always does so poorly, and impugns the name of Christ.

That's my concern with churches burning stuff.

MAS