i am seeing a trend in church music that both unnerves and comforts at the same time. words that assure me of god's soveriegnty and love. words that tell me how to live and why. words that simplify my faith and encourage me to run with the energy music generates in the soul.
but here is the problem
who knows the christmas story?
stable, 3 wise men, a donkey and no room in the inn.
i have read this story over and over in the gospels and find no clear evidence of a number of long held beliefs and i have wondered where they come from. it has been obvious in some ways but slippery in its subtlety. the christmas 'mythology' is perpetuated through song. don't believe me...read the gospel accounts of jesus birth (matthew and luke if your unsure where to find) and tell me how many wise men there were. not how many gifts! how many wise men. tell me about mary's donkey she supposedly rode. if you have a child tell me your reaction if no sound they make... (away in a manger)
and here is the kicker... find a mention of the stable...not the manger...a stable!
jesus name above all names, jesus lover of my soul,... jesus the name we call when we sing to our saviour. a teacher friend i know comfronted me with a dilemma when she taught an english second language course. on her roll were 6 Jesus'. they must be really flattered by the reverence their name is held in, in this great country of ours. or bemused by the amount of cursing they seem to find themselves unwittingly a part of.
if we base our beliefs on that which we find in music i suspect we are in great peril. the huge hillsong, vineyard and evangelical churches may need to check their theology as 'bible believing' christians if they are to continue singing some of these songs.
so i wonder...
when the 'negro' sang songs of a better tomorrow in heaven and gods great promise. what was their world like?
so i wonder...
how the 'middle class theology' of a better today sees god's fulfilment in the present. what is our world like in 1st world australia?
i wonder because thousands are dieing of hunger, treatable diseases and violence throughout the world which seems contrary to god's promises of the 'end time' and yet in 1st world countries we sing it like we mean it.
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What next you'll be telling me there was no inn keeper! I think everyone's theology is tainted by their circumstances. Which is why I get annoyed when people say things like "we meet just like early disciples did". I'm thinking I bet you didn't meet in a middle eastern country and discuss wether it was ok to Christian without being Jewish. I don't think we can transcend our circumstances, instead I try to be fully aware of them and know that I may not be aware of how my circumstances are shaping my theology.
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