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Naivity Scene
If my life was on display this Christmas, I'm sure some would call it a naievity play. I've swung from one form of naiveity to another, gradually learning to keep my eyes and ears open for what could be true.
Paul writes:
Don't suppress the Spirit, and don't stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don't be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what's good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 The Message
My first take on these words was to throw out everything in my record collection that wasn't obviously God-focused. Over time I started learning to hear the wisdom of the Spirit in the voices I'd previously rejected. I've learned that evil can sometimes be found within as much as without. I've learned that suppression and stifling can be done in the name of purity.
So with that in mind, I'm keeping an open mind this Christmas about what God is doing in my community, in and beyond the Christian community.
posted by Duncan at 12/07/2005
1 Comments:
A group of us worship team musician were kind of talking about a similar subject last Sunday after church. A couple of us older guys (in our 40's) shared how we pitched all our "worldly" records back in the '70s when became Christians -- and it wasn't a bad thing to do. But now, we're listening to a lot of the same music again - especially in light of the fact that much of today's "Christian" music isn't really worth listening to anyway.
We all agreed that just because a song isn't overtly Christian oriented, or as you put it so well "obviously God-focused," that didn't mean it wasn't something we could not listen to because it would compromise our faith. Personally, I think art is art. Many people (i.e. pastors) think that musical art is somehow different than other forms of art. They tend to get all worked up about contemporary music being "of the devil," and I'll be the first to say, some of it is. But so are some compositions created by other composers. (Ragtime music, for example, was looked down upon by many Christians at the beginning of the 20th Century. I wonder how many people today would equate Scott Joplin's wonderful "Maple Leaf Rag" with evil.)
I think the key to this scripture is realizing that Paul is not saying that anything that is obviously God-focused is evil. We need to avoid putting our own biases into the equation. He said what he meant: "Check out everything..." OK, we can do that. "Keep only what's good" and "throw out anything tainted with evil." That's where we need to avoid snap judgements. Some things are obviously evil, but other things are more personal, and dare I say it, more objective.
God is a big enough to deal with our frailties and cover us with His grace until we come around. Amen?
11:58 PM
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