He reigns as Lord over all things, including music, and as witnesses to the risen and ascended King, we bear the responsibility of witnessing to this redemption of music.
Again, to define what this actually looks like is exceedingly difficult. Does it mean, as it has for many Christians, that we simply baptise existing forms of music by infusing them with Christian lyrics? Anyone familiar with the CCM movement or with many modern worship songs will know this has resulted, in many instances, in the production of a great deal of bad music.
We must acknowledge, then, that the call placed upon us goes much farther.
Christian musicians are called to produce music that strives not only to honor and glorify God through its lyrical content, but that also conforms to the creational norms of beauty. The degree to which a Christian will be successful in doing so, of course, is in many ways tempered by the sinfulness that remains in their hearts.
But as the Spirit works within their hearts to sanctify them, and as they pursue righteousness, all that they do, including writing music, will more and more be brought into conformity with God’s will.
Allow me to stress again that this is not in any way a black-and-white issue, and I do not intend to make any definitive statements on the matter. There are many more facets of this issue to consider.
For instance, we should note that, owing to God’s common grace at work in the world, those who do not worship and serve him are nevertheless capable of producing good and beautiful music. This is not in any way a simple topic, and it is worthy of a much more extensive conversation.
My point is that, I do think there is indeed something we can legitimately call “Christian music.” And it is part of our calling as subjects of our great King to make every effort to determine what that is, and to share it with the world around us, blessing the world with something truly good and beautiful.
And as we do so, we make known the One who created all that is, including the “stuff” with which we can make music, and who enables us to enjoy, appreciate and be moved by beauty.
