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TWO HEAVENS #10
TWO TENTS AT CAMP MEETING
If you’re out on the freeway during drive time here
on a Friday, I’ve got a spiritual stop sign to put in front of you. And
actually, these past two weeks I’ve kind of been driving along with you
in a mini-odyssey of self-examination. We’ve been thinking together about
the topic of worship music, and it’s no accident that we chose as a series
title: TWO HEAVENS. Will we split up in heaven over music, where traditional
worshipers will go over to the right, and those who want amplifiers and
64-channel sound boards and monitor speakers will be in their own soundproof
auditorium on the left? All across America — in my denomination and in
yours too, I’m sure — well-meaning people are splitting up. Some to the
right, others to the left, and a good number are now going across the
street. Or they’re NOT crossing the street; in fact, they’re not even
getting out of bed any longer. The music is so bad that they’ve decided
to worship at Mattress Metropolitan Church, or at the Chapel by the Sea.
But here’s the Friday question. The last time something happened at church
that you didn’t like . . . did you say anything? Did you vocalize your
frustration, your criticism? Grumble a bit? Keep one hand on the steering
wheel while you vote, and here in the studio I confess that my hand’s
up in the air too.
Question number two: the last time something GOOD happened at church —
excellent music, a thought-provoking sermon, special music that touched
you, a Sunday School class that was well-taught — did you say something
THEN? Did you write a note of thanks, or stay after church in order to
share with the person how grateful you were?
How many hands in the air now? You know, friend, I know that when it comes
to music, there IS a question of right and wrong. There IS music that
doesn’t belong in the holy sanctuary. There ARE trends that ought to concern
any thinking Christian. But at the same time, we need to look in the mirror
and realize how very much fun it is to criticize and complain. To look
at storm clouds instead of silver linings.
A couple of years back at one of the Christian summer retreats that a
few of us rotate around to each year, we happened to encounter a woman
in the cafeteria. And she was holding forth on the topic of the music
in the youth tent. Not maliciously, but just spreading the word about
the problems down there: loud music, strong beat, etc., etc.
Finally someone at the table spoke up. “You know,” he said, “that’s the
YOUTH tent. And, uh, you, uh . . . aren’t exactly in that age demographic.”
She was about 40 years past it, to be exact. And as it turns out, this
particular Christian — and she WAS a good, devout Christian woman — actually
was making her way from one camp meeting to another. And always going
over to the youth tent to “check things out.” Always with a little notepad
in her hand to record the transgressions. Well, maybe not, but certainly
with a MENTAL notepad. Over in such-and-such conference, it was all rock,
she reported. And then in the “X” conference . . . things were really
bad. The youth leaders THERE were a complete failure. And so on.
Well, friend, let me say again: I can sympathize and relate. I’m sure
there are some tent meetings where the music IS too loud, too rocky, too
driven by feelings and not by thought. There probably ARE youth leaders
who are abdicating instead of leading. And yet, when we fall into the
trap of making criticism our main purpose, and our main JOY as well .
. . we miss a great blessing. Here this woman was spending her entire
summer over at the youth tent. Not worshiping, but taking notes. All the
while, there was another tent or auditorium right on the same campus where
songs to her liking were being done. People were connecting with Christ;
they were approaching the throne room of heaven in that other auditorium.
But . . . she wasn’t there. She wasn’t worshiping, because she was too
busy taking notes and holding court in the cafeteria.
I guess there are two competing verses of Scripture that we ought to put
on our dashboards here on our closing Friday as we get close to the off-ramp
and go to other topics. One is so familiar, found in the Sermon on the
Mount by Jesus. Matthew 7:1:
“Judge not, that ye be not judged.”
But then just 19 verses later in the same sermon, the
same chapter, Jesus tells His followers:
“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
Meaning that it IS appropriate, especially in the church,
for evaluations to be made. No, we don’t know hearts. But we ARE responsible,
corporately, to look at where we are journeying together. And it is fair
to discuss as friends and as family the RESULT of what is happening in
the youth tent . . . and over in the senior citizens tent too. And it’s
fair and right to ask: What is happening in the lives of people who sing
songs THIS way or THAT way? Are lives being changed? As people sing about
Jesus Christ, are they getting to KNOW Jesus Christ? Are they beginning
to follow Him more closely? Does this music – in Tent A or Tent B — seem
to be making disciples? Is it creating devout Christians whose devotional
lives are growing stronger?
And it’s also fair to ask THESE questions. Where is the music being sung
with more intensity, more fervor? In which tent are there more people
just sitting there not moving their lips? Or allowing their minds to wander?
Or singing without passion, without the “good energy” we mentioned the
other day? Those are fair questions as we look for fruit.
If a young man with a ponytail is up front in the youth tent playing his
bass guitar, and we are tempted to criticize or wonder about fruit, it
is fair to ask: Under the former plan, or over in Tent B, did anyone make
an effort to get this kid involved? Was he invited to participate? Or
was his bass guitar talent the first one anyone noticed? Is it possible
that playing the bass guitar is his spiritual gift? And as he plays Christian
songs, and the words of Christian songs become embedded in his soul, and
as he strives for excellence doing something for Christ, what happens
inside? All fair questions.
In the Christianity Today article we’ve used as a resource, Michael Hamilton
writes about fruit inspections this way:
“Worship music ought to be judged not by the songs
themselves but by the people who sing them. . . . The job of the local
church is to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ, to draw people
into a living relationship with God, and to remold disciples of Jesus
into a Sermon-on-the-Mount shape.” Then he adds this: “Any worship music
that aids a church in these tasks is almost certainly a conduit of the
Holy Spirit. In light of this, maybe it is time to substitute charity
for condescension.”
I’m trying to find a bit of that charity in my own
heart right now. Are people being shaped into Sermon-on-the-Mount disciples?
Are they being drawn into a living relationship with God? If that kind
of fruit is growing, then I’m not eager to cut down the tree.
Michael Hamilton adds this closing thought:
“It is fruitless to search for a single musical style,
or even any blend of musical styles, that can assist all Christians with
true worship. The followers of Jesus are a far too diverse group of people
— which is exactly as it should be. We need, rather, to welcome any worship
music that helps churches produce disciples of Jesus Christ. We need to
welcome the experimental creativity that is always searching out new ways
of singing the gospel, and banish the fear that grips us when familiar
music passes away. For this kind of change is the mark of a living church
— the church of a LIVING God, who restlessly ranges back and forth across
the face of the earth seeking out ANY who would respond to His voice.”
That’s beautiful, isn’t it? And what about our imagery
regarding TWO HEAVENS? If we’ve got two tents at camp meeting here below,
will we keep splitting up in heaven too? And will saints up there wander
over to the contemporary service with little note pads?
Friend, I don’t know how God will resolve music questions up there. But
I know that Jesus is going to be there. Whatever service He is at . .
. I want to be there, and I believe you want to be there, and that bass-guitar
kid with the ponytail wants to be there. If we sing “Shine, Jesus, Shine,”
I want to be in the heaven where they sing it to the Jesus who is present.
If we sing “Fairest Lord Jesus” with a pipe organ and an angel choir,
and Jesus is THERE, then I want to be there too. Don’t you DESIRE to be
where Jesus is, and worshiping Him WHEREVER He can be found?
Closing metaphor. A person goes into a restaurant, let’s say. He sits
down, and proceeds to endlessly criticize everything. The service is bad,
the silverware isn’t properly cleaned, or lined up right according to
Emily Post. The parsley should be on the left, not on the right — everybody
knows that. The dressing should already be on the table; etc., etc., etc.
And finally someone concludes: a person that devoted to criticism rather
than eating . . . really isn’t very hungry. If you’re truly hungry, hungering
and thirsting for something, it doesn’t matter that much where the parsley
goes.
And if you’re intensely interested in worshiping Jesus, in praising His
wonderful name, you’re not going to insist upon a subdivided Heaven.
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