and television stations who see themselves as pri marily involved in communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the broadcast media may find the following observations interesting and helpful. In recognizing that there is a conflict of ideas and seeking some resolution, it must be acknowl edged that no one person has the final answer in the highly subjective field of musical taste. No single viewpoint is entirely right, while another is wrong. No type of music is necessarily more Biblical or more spiritual than another! Equally creditable Biblical arguments can be found to sup port all sides of the issue. It has been argued by some that we should seek to do exactly and only what the Bible says in Ephesians 5:19, “ Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” or, as Paul expresses it in Colossians 3:16 “ . . . sing ing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” There fore, it is suggested, we need sing only psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with an attitude of grace in our hearts to the Lord, rejecting all forms and styles which do not fit into our definitions of these categories. It is at this point that semantics presents some very serious problems. Singing “with grace in our hearts” may be engaged in within the context of a Southern camp meeting, an emotionally super charged Pentecostal or ethnic gathering or a sedate and ceremonial, formal church setting. It is quite possible also that the term “worship” may also be defined within these greatly differing contexts. It is likewise difficult, if not impossible, to agree on a definition of what Paul refers to when he speaks of “ psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” or “making melody” since the actual written musi cal forms have not been reliably preserved for us. Textually, the “ psalms” express varying shades and degrees of subjective emotional experience, as well as raptures of lofty praise and adoration which explore every facet of the nature of God. One thing on which there can be reasonable certainty is that first century believers sang psalms which were verbally transmitted to them from the Old Testament though the actual rhythms em ployed are open to much conjecture. The first century hymns and spiritual songs doubtless rep resent musical forms and styles which reflected and which communicated to their own generation. It would be unrealistic for twentieth century Christians to limit themselves to those forms and styles of music which communicated to the first century culture even if it were possible to dis cover what they actually were. Translating these verses into 1969, is it possi ble that the hymns, spiritual songs and melodies might correspond to the Southern gospel, ethnic, 17
Distinguished and respected musicians are to be found on both sides of the issue. Some credit Christian folk music, Ethnic music and Christian Folk Rock with a dynamic role to play in commu nicating the Gospel to our generation. Other equal ly distinguished and respected musicians consider themselves purists and fall into various shades of rage at the mere mention of certain musical styles. Caught in the very uncomfortable middle are many Christian radio stations who play large amounts o f sacred recorded music in their daily formats and who are endeavoring to use music as an in strument with which to attract and hold listeners for a favorable hearing o f the Gospel. Missionary radio stations, though usually far removed from the nebulous “ conservative Chris tian public” have not been immune to this con troversy. International stations which beam pro grams to largely separated target areas of the world are faced with the task of selecting and playing sacred recorded music that will communi cate to the listeners in these areas. This is complicated by the fact that the thresh old of tolerance for new trends in music greatly varies among the evangelicals from country to country. Sweden is well known for its. liberal in terests. Some of the most upbeat Gospel music today including religious rock and roll is emanat ing from Great Britain. In the Western Hemis phere, Latin America has lost none of its obses sion with the indigenous “Latin rhythm.” Suc cessful broadcasters to multi-target audiences find offerings from each area’s recording artists and companies -converging upon them in increasing volume. Christian radio stations and missionary radio
NOVEMBER, 1969
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