Always Abounding - Fall 2016_3

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MUSIC Who Rules My Music? Dr. Jeremiah Mitchell In the first couple of verses in Proverbs 23 the Bible says, “When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.” This is just simple advice about human interaction: in the presence of a ruler, you must curb your appetite–control it! Don’t be consumed with what you crave. Be alert to what the ruler wants and to what is going on in his court. Don’t be so concerned with what you want that you forget what the ruler wants. This reminds us of what we tell our children when we go to someone’s house, “Don’t you dare eat like you’ve never seen food before! Remember, tonight is not about you! We are going to be gracious to our hosts! Pay attention to what interests them!” So, how can this be applied to music? I believe there is a helpful principle here that can be applied in many areas, music included. It is human nature to defend what we like. The underlying reason people defend improper music is because they like it. They excuse it by thinking that God can enjoy the words while I enjoy the beat–we can both be happy! As we know from the Bible, we will either please God or self, not both. There must be a decision! Whom will I please? Revelation 4:11 makes it clear that I exist for His pleasure, not He for mine. Recently a fellow church member and I were doing a Bible study with some men at a correctional facility. Since there is no piano in the room where we meet, we often begin with a God-honoring chorus, sung without accompaniment, and then we spend time in the Scriptures. Other church groups also meet with the men. Some of these will bring quite an assortment of electronic musical gear in order to crank out some “Christian” rock. I knew the topic of Christian music needed addressing, so one night we began teaching on the “new song” that God gives believers and how it is set apart from the world. Since the men really liked the way the rock beat made them feel, we knew they wouldn’t like this topic, but we were still surprised by the amount of resistance we received. These men, with whom we had enjoyed fellowship around the Scriptures, turned on us in defense of the beat they craved. We couldn’t believe the Bible verses they had ready to defend their desires. One man said, “In John 4, Jesus said that God wants to be worshipped in truth, and this means that we must be true to ourselves as we come before Him in worship.” We explained to him that the Bible was saying nothing of the sort– that there is desperate wickedness in the heart of man (Jeremiah 17:9). From the Bible we learn that what God wants will be very different than what man wants and that the truth of God’s Word is the basis of proper worship. Another man assured us that in his studies he hadn’t found one place where the Bible prohibited the “rock” beat. We explained that since the Bible doesn’t expressly prohibit a number of things (such as heroin), we must learn to apply Bible principles to these areas. They were stunned for a moment as they thought this through. For a moment we thought we were getting somewhere, but in the end they decided that feeding fleshly cravings with drugs was nothing like feeding fleshly cravings with sound. They appeared desperate not to be reasonable, and it was this desperation that caught my attention. They were ready to rush headlong down any line of thought that 12 ‌‌‌‌│ ALWAYS ABOUNDING
protected their Christian contemporary music. You see, in prison men are cut off from many of the sinful addictions that “owned” them on the outside, but fleshly music was one addiction they could get plenty of access to, by means of “church” groups coming in. I saw it in their eyes– they were given to appetite. The Bible warns us not to be given to the wrong things. To be given is to be owned by that to which I am given. Paul explained that the one who desires the office of a bishop mustn’t be given to wine (I Timothy 3:3) or to filthy lucre (Titus 1:7). King Lemuel (probably Solomon) was urged not to give his strength to women (Proverbs 31:3). Solomon failed here, and so did Samson. Consider Samson. Every young man loves to hear of the exploits of “the strongest man ever.” But each of us remembers the sinking feeling we had when we learned that Samson was destroyed because he was given to appetite in the area of immoral lust–he could conquer anyone except himself. The Bible makes it clear that when we are given to sinful cravings, we give something precious away. We are rendered weak and sniveling. In Samson’s case, his addiction owned him. In applying Proverbs 23 to our lives, we must remember that if we are saved, we are always in the presence of a Ruler, the Lord Jesus Christ. The same principle applies—don’t be consumed with what you crave; be alert to the desires of your Ruler. Don’t be so concerned with what you want that you forget what the Ruler wants—don’t be given to appetite! Love God enough to be concerned only with what pleases Him. Never ask, “What do I get out of this music?” Instead, consider diligently, “What does He get out of it?” (Jeremiah Mitchell is the Dean of Music at Fairhaven Baptist College.) Fairhaven’s Newest Music Recording! Enjoy patriotic music and inspiring historical readings on this CD produced by the musicians of Fairhaven Baptist Church. Total Play Time 73:10 bookstore.fairhavenbaptist.org You will enjoy Fairhaven’s Christmas CDs, and they make excellent gifts for friends and family as well! Contact the bookstore for ordering information (1-800-SEE-FHBC or bookstore.fairhavenbaptist.org). www.fairhavenbaptist.org │ 13
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