Sundae Conversations

On the topic of God and music, enjoy a piece of art painted by Sleeping at Last.  If you have yet to hear the passion that flows throughout their work, make sure you check out their latest album “Storyboards” as well as their prior albums.  Enjoy this song “Naive” by Sleeping at Last.  Really take time to listen to it and meditate on the words of the song and how they are sung.

Music has been important to humanity for as long as we have recorded history. From King David to Bob Dylan, music has affected the lives of the performer and the audience in deeply spiritual ways. But why? It almost seems impossible to explain why music is important and diverse. The United States itself has produced everything from ragtime, blues, jazz, rock, folk, soul, pop, rap, hip-hop, gospel and so many more genres with sub-genres of their own.

God made music, plain and simple. Though it may seem the majority of music on the radio today couldn’t be farther from God, just because man abuses music doesn’t destroy the validity of the vast collection of music.  This is music that is not only beautiful, but helps us admit our faults, relate to God, and more importantly glorify Him. If you walk into the average church in America there will undoubtedly be music playing before the sermon is presented and sometimes before the “worship set” even begins. We sing songs of praise to the One who blessed us with this melodic sound. Lifting our hands, humbling our hearts, and bearing our souls to our Father to show Him but a fraction of appreciation, gratitude, faith, and love compared to the abundant mercy, grace, and faithful love He has shown to us.

Music is this God-given expression of the soul, but like all things we’ve found a way to exploit and cheapen it. Why would we expect that the music we worship God through to be immune to the cheapening that occurs in the mainstream? Churches and the “Christian music” scene are just as much responsible for lowering the quality standard for music heard on a daily basis. Shouldn’t we offer God our best? Shouldn’t the instrumentation of a song be just as important as the lyrics, and vice versa? If music is stamped with the label “Christian” we automatically assume that it is divinely inspired by God. This seems to leave out the artists that carve their soul into every note and word, bringing glory to their Creator with their talents.  But these artists can be overlooked so easily by the eyes culture has crafted for us. Music is one way God’s light can shine in this world, but there must continue to be people to strive for the pureness in music were God is found. Then we need to stand up and claim that music as our own and not settle for a lesser quality inspired to fill the pockets of the rich.

One of the common arguments against God is:”how can a loving God allow disease, poverty, hunger, death, or send good people to a place like hell? I can’t believe in that God.” “Good people” is the basis and mistake of this entire argument. The truth is that “good people” are about as real as fairytales. We lost the ability to “be good” and walk with our creator at the beginning of time. He gave us the law, and at some point or another we all have broken it and fallen short of God’s perfection. But God has a plan. Christ came as a redeemer, a husband, and a sacrifice, paying the price for our brokenness. He tore the veil, yet mended us back to The Father, the way no other sacrifice could. God had to send His only Son to do this because of His very distinct nature.

LORD, God, King, Creator of everything. We must first understand that all creatures are under the rule of God. You cannot control God nor can you ignore Him. The fracture in humanity is the remnant of the first humans breaking the law. The consequence of breaking the law is permanent separation from the Lawmaker, as a statute of His law. God is actually limited as a flawless and perfect Being, and cannot be in the presence of evil. Just as He expelled Satan from heaven at the beginning of time when sin entered his heart, we too deserve an eternity in Hell and separation from a perfect God. But there is another part to God’s nature…

In the Old Testament, God gave the Jews a name for Himself in Exodus 34:5. It is YAHWEH. This name is so revered that Jews reading the Torah would replace the name YAHWEH with only the consonant letters meaning LORD, as a form of reverence. Rabbis would even wash their entire body before speaking the name Lord. When God gave the Jews His name, He also listed several characteristics of Himself. They range from gracious, slow to anger, and faithful. Yet, the very first trait mentioned is “compassionate”. We know that God is loving, but the word “compassionate” takes it a step beyond. Compassion is simply yet beautifully defined as “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.” We see this represented in the Old Testament as God justly punishes the disobedient people of Judah through their capture and exile to Babylon. Still, through His prophets, He promises to restore His people that he loves back to their land, alleviating their suffering. God’s love and compassion even burned so deeply for His people and all of humanity that he would willingly give up His son to be killed for our sake. Through Christ we could be made new and be able to be in communion with God.

The most pressing issue facing a man is the separation from God as a result of the weight of his sin. God used the sacrifice of His Son to relieve that weight to bring you back to Him, but He cannot help you if you do not allow Him to. Salvation is a choice that begins with recognizing why you needed Christ and then accepting Him as your Lord and Savior. There is a consequence to all action and inaction. That of denying Christ is the penalty of breaking the law. “But that’s not fair”, some may say. The only reason why this may not seem fair is because it doesn’t support the subjective idea of human goodness. The reality is, we shouldn’t be upset that a loving God would send people to Hell, because not even one of us deserves Heaven. But because God is love, which is only possible through Him being just, He created another way. The only way to walk with our creator once again.

*definition provided by dictionary.com