"out with the old, in with the new"

Although I am only 21 and I haven't experienced nearly as much of the world as most people, I am old enough to have experienced at least part of the progression of society into one of the most innovative, rapidly changing periods of time in history. Within the last century, we have decreased travel time and increased the rate of production and communication. We have built highways, flown airplanes, developed computers and cell phones. As a business major, I have become very familiar with the pushing of our economy for effective and efficient products and services. Today, if you aren't adapting, rapidly changing and rapidly growing in an industry, you will not survive. If you aren't quick and productive at your job, you will probably be fired. If you don't go ten over the speed limit on the freeway, you will be run off the road.

It is not surprise that in the rapid pace of society, we run through ideas and services like a box of kleenex. Side ponies and fros were an 80's thing. Beanie Babies went from being worth hundreds of dollars to about $5 in just a few years. People laugh at the enormous computer you bought 10 years ago or the cell phones as big as your face used in the early 90s. In fact, if nearly any electronic appliance (computer, cell phone, ipod, etc.) is thicker than your fingernail, it is sooo like two years ago.

Although I am no expert by any means, I know enough about business and the economy to know that this is considered a very good thing. The faster we are able to produce, the easier our lives become. While our rapidly growing global market economy is using a large majority of the earth's resources, it is producing far more than it is exhuming and resulting in better lives and greater opportunities. In the academic world, the increase in communication is considered a good thing as well, allowing people to be exposed to more information and ideas and resulting in a well-rounded education.

While its hard to argue that NO good can come from this society, its easy to see that the quick pace of our society causes us to miss out on a great deal of things. Many families are suffering, largely because they don't have time to spend with each other. Children are sent to daycares for the majority of their childhood, families no longer eat dinner together every night, speeding leads to car accidents, traffic jams and road rage. People can easily become a means to end when the end is the primary concern. The rapid production of goods can cause people to value the goods far more than more important things, such as relationships.

And how are we to deal with our new society as Christians? God tells us to "be still and know that He is God." Jesus took the time aside when life God to crazy to be alone with God and pray. And obviously when relationships suffer, we are definitely missing the point, because Jesus said that's basically all Christianity is: our relationship with God, our relationships with each other. Are the development of new ideas and new products really necessary to Christianity when we were given the "truth" 2000 years ago and we are called to give everything away and follow God?

So, now we come to how worship music fits into all of this. For years, Christians compiled a collection of songs that were repeatedly sung and were "universally" known. Churches today still have access to songs that were sung hundreds of years ago by parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great grandparents, etc., and many still sing them. However, like the rest of the society, Christian music is beginning to go through different songs, artists, styles and trends like the fashion industry. As Christians we are supposed to separate ourselves from the world... is it wrong for the church to parallel the rapid progression of the outside world? Or are we supposed to remain exactly the same, as a body of Christ that continues to follow God exactly the same way, like generations and generations before us?

Well, first I have to say that I don't believe it is possible to completely avoid the change of society. We are always going to be influenced by the people around us unless we completely isolate ourselves, like the Amish. And I just don't believe that is what God wants from us. God wants us to be the salt of the world, to be an example to the world, and I think that in order to do this we HAVE to be in the world, just not OF it. Early Christians were especially wary of this, but while they remained in society and ministered to their Roman and Jewish neighbors, they were careful to remain obedient to God. Jesus told them to continue to pay taxes... giving to Caesar what is Caesar's and giving to God what is God's. Many people, after they were saved, gave up their lives and followed Jesus, but many continued to live similar lives with similar jobs, but were now obedient and Spirit-led. Daniel, when captured and forced to live in Babylon, lived the way the Babylonians did and spoke their language, but made sure He continued to pray and continued to follow God's commandments. Esther lived the life of a princess in order to save Israel and God blessed her. My point is, we can continue to follow the pattern of society, we just NEED to be able to discern what is sinful and always remain obedient to God.

I personally believe that this applies to Christian music today. While, with the rest of society, we are beginning to value innovative, new music, we first need to step back and discern whether or not what we are doing is sinful or harmful. But the act of following the trends of society in itself is not.

To be continued...