"A real leader faces the music,
even when he doesn't like the tune."
Anonymous
"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
Red Auerbach
I am prompted to talk to you today. The message on my heart is a decidedly unpopular tune but, since you and I have exhibited time and time again the courage to practice for extremely long hours when an upcoming concert is around the corner, let us likewise face the music:
Our purity matters.
It matters in
Every.
Single.
Area.
of our lives.
No.
Hear me well.
I am not asking us to hide in a nunnery or to join the priesthood.
I am not suggesting that we lose touch with our generation or the world.
I am saying that God saw fit to grant musicians to the world at large as a huge gift.
You and I have been granted a platform that invites us to remain untainted, unpolluted in every way.
You may not be primed (at this very moment) to answer questions but . . . do you remember what drew you to music when you got started? For me, I grew up in a family where music was played and heard all the time. My dad played the trumpet, sang, and directed the church choir. My mom sang to me and taught me numerous songs and choruses. My siblings and I sang in four-part harmony, my brothers played the guitar, my sisters sang beautifully. But, there was one specific singer from the church of my childhood who inspired me like no one else. Her contralto voice was like none other, possessing a dark and rich timbre and depths of passion I cannot begin to describe. I decided at the ripe old age of four that I would become a singer who would sing the praises of God . . .
just.
like.
her.
That singer went on to occupy a very important place in the Christian music industry in Haiti and she became the idol of many people in the Haitian church community. As it turns out, it is always a big mistake to put any one individual on a pedestal because Isaiah 2:22 cautions, "Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?" Idolizing proficient singers and instrumentalists is a dangerous practice because such pressure sets them up to fail one way or another.
Well, the day came when singing texts inspired by Scripture no longer suited her aspirations. The fact that she was my idol afforded me ample time to notice, to study really, the gradual change that took place in her. It all began with small compromises here and there -- a little sensual look here, an immodest outfit there; a questionable accompanist here, a gig in an overtly God-dishonoring place there. Soon, she started skipping worship gatherings altogether until she landed a job that paved the way for her to become an international songstress combining jazz, Haitian rhythms, and voodoo. She got married three times, each marriage ending in a divorce, but no one can fault her for not earning enough praise, fame, money, and connections as a singer. To the world, her story is a huge success but I cannot help thinking that her music fails to point people to Christ, which is the ultimate point of music making in the life of a Christian musician.
I know other musicians whose stories have gone a little differently. I remember this tenor who professed to be a Christian and held onto the core of his beliefs for a while. An unfortunate betrayal of his closest friend led him to lose focus. He then began a dangerous relationship with someone else and gradually slipped into a promiscuous lifestyle all the while singing in a traveling group praising God and representing his Christian college from church to church. After college, he lived a life of decadence and was brutally killed at a party. Just like that, his melodious voice was silenced.
Different still are the stories of some of us who are attracted to the glamour and power of music. Some of us simply can't wait to see our names in lights. We want the recognition, the awards and accolades, the empty praises of men, the flattery of women. We greedily guzzle down the ability to bring a whole congregation to its knees in broken surrender or conviction as well as the power to get it on its feet in jubilation. We pride ourselves with notions of grandeur by placing ourselves above all others. We are good at what we do -- really good. We know it and want to make sure that everybody else knows it too. We cannot wait to outplay, ousting, outperform, outshine those whom we consider our rivals. Living in that manner is like dancing with snakes or playing with fire. The time will come when Jesus will take that gift away from us.
I know yet others of us who are living lives of secrecy. We are fabulous musicians who leave people speechless by our skills and yet, deep within, there is a cancer that is ravaging our souls to the point of total despair. We indulge in all kinds of activities that satisfy the flesh but are painstakingly careful to leave no trace behind. We are greedy, jealous, conniving, disrespectful, slanderous, malicious. We are are gossips, embezzlers, liars, and thieves. We are the ones who commit adultery, who lie, who murder, who lust, and who are given to drunkenness and the influence of narcotics. We are the ones who claim to be pure but in the privacy of our homes are lulled to hours and hours of porn viewing, illicit affairs, fornication, and all forms of sensual indulgence. We are the ones who act, walk, speak provocatively outside the church environment but pretend to be the most pious bunch when in church.
Jesus says that He will come to His temple and He will wipe it clean.
Then, what is going to happen to . . . us?
You may read the pictorial stories I have just relayed and decide that, well, you don't see yourself in them. And yet, my question for you is this: Are you sure you understand what it means to live a pure life as a Christian musician? Another question might be this: Are you sure you understand the platform God has given you through music?
When it comes to the work of sanctification inherent in the gospel, God sees fit to assign to music an integral role in that holy endeavor. Surrendered to the hand of the Master Artist, music reflects and inspires the holiness God desires for His children in an unmistakably powerful way.
The Creator imbues nature with key musicians such as the ocean, the trees, the birds, the wind, etc. He also gives gifts of music to the heavenly hosts -- His angels sing, "Holy, holy, holy" day and night for all eternity. Still, He finds immense pleasure and glory when human beings partake in music (whether listening or performing). He has endowed specific individuals with unique musical abilities for His higher purposes and divine enjoyment.
In Old Testament times, trained musicians used to play and/or sing to alert the community of a special gathering or an imminent battle. Clear explanations are provided in Numbers 10:1-10 as to why the Israelite community needed silver trumpet players for those specific functions. In fact, verses 9-10 tell us a little more about those silver trumpets:
"When you go into battle in your own land
or against an enemy who is oppressing you,
sound a blast on the trumpets.
Then you will be remembered by the Lord your God
and rescued from your enemies.
Also at your times of rejoicing . . .
you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings,
and they will be a memorial for you before your God.
I am the Lord your God."
Hence, Satan works tirelessly to damage the effectiveness of Christ-following musicians by attacking our holy living, our purity. The prince of the air has a clear understanding of the purpose of music and musicians in the age-old battle between the forces of light and the powers of darkness and so, weakening our essence and efficacy is of utmost importance to him. After all, the devil was there when Moses and Miriam led the people to worship God after the Egyptian army perished in the Red Sea. He was there when God used the singing and playing of the Jewish people to crumble Jericho's walls and give Israel victory. He heard the song of Deborah and Barak when they lauded YHWH for saving Israel from the Canaanites. He was there when the music of David's harp soothed, refreshed, and relieved King Saul from the evil spirit that was tormenting him. He knows that genuine music gives God the central focus and if there is something that Satan despises more than anything else, it is when God obtains the worship of His people through sanctified and fruitful lives.
You've heard of King David. Here is a man who was a complete artist -- singer, speaker, dancer, poet, harpist, percussionist, and more. Do you remember what happened to him? The lust of his eyes led him to commit idolatry, adultery, murder, and cover-up. However, thanks be to God, the Lord's word came to him through the prophet Nathan. David confessed his sins in a penitential poem (Psalm 51) in which he promised, "I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will turn back to You" (Ps 51:13, NIV).
David's life teaches you and me, transgressors that we are, that we are nowhere near above temptation. Lust, idolatry, adultery, murder, embezzlement, greed, pride, impatience, entitlement, ingratitude, immorality, fornication, pornography, etc. -- it all lurks about waiting to jump on our hearts. So, David's "Create in me a pure heart" plea invites us to ponder the importance of our own purity.
Our purity is a "thank you" note to divine grace.
Our purity tells our Lord we are committed to worship.
Our purity lightens the load of congregational disinterest.
Our purity tells others that our God is worthy to be praised.
Our purity lessens the potential of others reviling God's name.
Our purity makes our music hearable and our message believable.
Our purity can be used by the Holy Spirit to activate an "audience lean."
Yes.
Our purity matters.
May you and I rest in the grace of Christ!
May you and I rest in the power and purity of His will!
May you and I rehearse the consequences of moral failure and the blessings of purity!
And may you and I remember that it is God's grace in us, through us, and over us that keeps us pure, as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, "May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it."
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