- Apr 26, 2020
- 315
- 296
- 41
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Non-Denom
- Marital Status
- Single
The line between the sacred and the profane is virtually non-existent in mainstream "Protestant" Christianity today.
As far as "worship" is concerned, pretty much anything goes: If you want rock and roll, you can find it. Theatrical special effects? Lattes and snacks during the service? Wear what ever you please? Comedy? You got it. God doesn't care, as long as your intentions are good, right? And the end justifies the means.
Does it?
Contemporary Christian music sounds identical to secular music: Rap, rock, pop, R&B, country; even death metal. If you don't pay attention to the lyrics (and sometimes even if you do) you can't tell whether the song is Christian or secular. And that is the intention of the musicians who produce it.
Is there any form of music that wouldn't be an appropriate medium for worshiping or praising God? The apparent answer for most Christians is, No. You can put the lyrics of the hymn "Amazing Grace" to the tune of the rock song "House of the Rising Sun" (which is a song about a whorehouse), and Christians will not only accept it but praise it.
Once upon a time, Christians used to actually have reverence for God and made a distinction between the holy and the profane, to not mix them.
But today, no such distinction is made. Anything goes if the motives are sincere; or if the people want it.
Does God approve of this? Do the Scriptures support His approving of what so many Christians think is acceptable to Him?
Clubbing with Jesus? Rocking out in the Holy Spirit? Doing the Holy Spirit hokey pokey or electric slide?
We seem to have forgotten that we worship the very same holy God whose glory filled the temple of Solomon, and before whose throne the cherubim and all the host of heaven cry, "Holy! Holy! Holy!"
What happened to our reverence for Him? I don't mean in the form of religious rituals and ceremonies, or temples built by human hands, but in terms of the attitude toward God that David had according to the depth of the knowledge of Him that David had?
The covenant has changed, but God's holiness has not. Where is the reverence due Him of whom we say, "Hallowed be Thy name?"
Yes, David danced before the LORD with all of his might, but I can guarantee you that he wasn't busting club moves or doing the hokey pokey before the ark. The idea is ludicrous and appalling. (At least it should be.)
The cavalier modern attitude toward the profaning of the holy goes hand in hand with the adulterous and rebellious spirit of the churches in the last days, when God's people will no longer endure sound doctrine but, having itching ears, will gather to themselves teachers to tell them what they want to hear. (2 Timothy 4:3,4)
Rather than coming out of the world and being consecrated to God in mind and behavior, many Christians seem to want to be as much like the world as much as possible and to be as separate from it as little as possible; and they've fashioned a God in their minds who is like themselves, conforming God to their own ways and desires, rather than conforming to His.
"Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things; they not not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean..." (Ezekiel 22:26)
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:28,29)
As far as "worship" is concerned, pretty much anything goes: If you want rock and roll, you can find it. Theatrical special effects? Lattes and snacks during the service? Wear what ever you please? Comedy? You got it. God doesn't care, as long as your intentions are good, right? And the end justifies the means.
Does it?
Contemporary Christian music sounds identical to secular music: Rap, rock, pop, R&B, country; even death metal. If you don't pay attention to the lyrics (and sometimes even if you do) you can't tell whether the song is Christian or secular. And that is the intention of the musicians who produce it.
Is there any form of music that wouldn't be an appropriate medium for worshiping or praising God? The apparent answer for most Christians is, No. You can put the lyrics of the hymn "Amazing Grace" to the tune of the rock song "House of the Rising Sun" (which is a song about a whorehouse), and Christians will not only accept it but praise it.
Once upon a time, Christians used to actually have reverence for God and made a distinction between the holy and the profane, to not mix them.
But today, no such distinction is made. Anything goes if the motives are sincere; or if the people want it.
Does God approve of this? Do the Scriptures support His approving of what so many Christians think is acceptable to Him?
Clubbing with Jesus? Rocking out in the Holy Spirit? Doing the Holy Spirit hokey pokey or electric slide?
We seem to have forgotten that we worship the very same holy God whose glory filled the temple of Solomon, and before whose throne the cherubim and all the host of heaven cry, "Holy! Holy! Holy!"
What happened to our reverence for Him? I don't mean in the form of religious rituals and ceremonies, or temples built by human hands, but in terms of the attitude toward God that David had according to the depth of the knowledge of Him that David had?
The covenant has changed, but God's holiness has not. Where is the reverence due Him of whom we say, "Hallowed be Thy name?"
Yes, David danced before the LORD with all of his might, but I can guarantee you that he wasn't busting club moves or doing the hokey pokey before the ark. The idea is ludicrous and appalling. (At least it should be.)
The cavalier modern attitude toward the profaning of the holy goes hand in hand with the adulterous and rebellious spirit of the churches in the last days, when God's people will no longer endure sound doctrine but, having itching ears, will gather to themselves teachers to tell them what they want to hear. (2 Timothy 4:3,4)
Rather than coming out of the world and being consecrated to God in mind and behavior, many Christians seem to want to be as much like the world as much as possible and to be as separate from it as little as possible; and they've fashioned a God in their minds who is like themselves, conforming God to their own ways and desires, rather than conforming to His.
"Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things; they not not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean..." (Ezekiel 22:26)
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:28,29)