Did you know that in the Bible music appears as early as Genesis 4, introduced alongside such things as agriculture and manufacturing? Or did you know that the prophets tell of God Himself singing (Zephaniah 3:17) and playing the trumpet (Zechariah 9:14)?
In the Bible, music is used to worship God, to celebrate love & romance, to accompany work, to announce feast days, to call to battle, to celebrate following victory, to lament following bereavement or military defeat, in music therapy, and in celebrations of many kinds—coronations, dedications, weddings and funerals. And in the Psalms, Scripture has its very own songbook.
Music is not only central to the worship of the Lord, it comprises an inescapable and wonderful part of God’s world. Within God’s pattern for human society, it is both a noble enterprise and legitimate trade, something given for the enriching of life and culture.
Working for the wellbeing of creation
Music students sometimes face queries from parents or cheap jibes from peers about the usefulness or legitimacy of their degree, both of which boil down to the question, ‘Aren’t you just wasting your time?’ Yet as part of God’s good creation, music is most certainly a legitimate and beneficial part of human culture. Sure, it may be done selfishly and/or even used for evil purposes (see Amos 5:21-24), yet the very fact that God’s judgments sometimes involve the withdrawing of music (see Revelation 18:22) reveals clearly that music is intended to be a vibrant part of a God-honouring culture.
Indeed, God created our physical realm with acoustic properties – natural materials are designed to transmit vibrations. Furthermore, He made us with hands capable of playing, voices capable of singing, ears capable of hearing, and minds capable of imagining. These are no accidents. Such imaginative and sensory capabilities are integral to who we are as human beings, and mean we have the capacity to take properties such as wood and metal, and mould them and manipulate them in such a way that we can evoke emotion, assign meaning, draw comfort, inspire and more.
Moreover, we can do such things alongside others to create a sense of beauty, meaning and even community that is often difficult to put into words. Though analogies for the Trinity will always fall short in one way or other, the way in which notes co-inhere to create unified harmonies has been long been cherished by theologians as one of the better analogies for understanding something of the Triune relationships within the three Persons of the Godhead.
That we as musicians have the opportunity not merely to know these experiences firsthand, but to study and (in the case of composers) to create such experiences is a way in which we may benefit others as we give them a taste of a kind of goodness, beauty and freedom that ultimately points to One who is goodness and beauty and freedom itself.
Moreover, as you study the historical and socioeconomic contexts of musical works, you may also be able to contribute to academic discourse on such diverse things as power, identity, and politics – all of which are integral to our common life as human beings.
Given the near-ubiquity, in the world of music, of progressive liberal values and their accompanying suspicion of anything to do with faith perspectives, it should hopefully be obvious that a distinctly Christian take on such things will both enrich and challenge the received wisdom and interpretations that our unbelieving peers will espouse.
So, whether you’re an academic musicologist, a composer, or performer, you have a wonderful opportunity to work with the basic materials which God has given to us in creation, and to do so for the wellbeing of others such that life and culture are greatly enriched.
Worshipping the God we work for
When you hear the word ‘worship’, you can almost guarantee that what you think of is music! But for most Christian students, that music will likely bear very little resemblance to the kinds of music you study in your degree. And yet what a travesty it is to limit worship to just one genre of music! All music can be worship music.
That is not to say that all music should be included in your church’s Sunday service: not all music is suitable for congregational worship! However, it is to say that all music can be taken by a music student – whether playing in an ensemble, studying for an analysis essay, or simply listening for pleasure – and used as a platform from which to turn to praise and worship of our God.
Music moves us in so many ways and yet we rarely know what to do with those emotions. You listen to your favourite Mahler symphony and bask in its expansiveness and splendour, or you take a moment out of your busy schedule to detox with a gorgeous choral miniature by Eric Whitacre, or you once more find yourself totally floored by the climax of Barber’s Adagio for Strings, and each of these leaves you feeling utterly wrought with emotion and/or wonder at such beauty – but now what? What are you supposed to do with such feelings? Get up and carry on with your day?
It feels so inadequate: such emotions bespeak the ‘something-more’ to which these pieces seem to point. And that’s exactly it: they do point to something more. They point to the One of whose beauty these pieces are but a shadow. They point to Jesus our Saviour, the wonderful, beautiful Creator God of the Universe. And so the Christian music student can and should take these moments and turn them into moments of praise and worship of the One who made them and saved them! This is the right and proper outlet for such emotions.
It’s not only beauty for which this is the case. Angsty, angular music can point us to the brokenness of the world and should turn us to worship the One who saves and heals. Jazz music can bring great joy and a sense of community and should turn us to worship the One who has from eternity been a joy-filled Trinity of Persons! Traditional/folk music can evoke nostalgia and a sense of home and should turn us to worship the One who has gone to His Father’s house to prepare a room for us, a place we will one day go to be with Him face-to-face. And so on and so forth.
It should hopefully be clear how approaching music in this way, whereby you intentionally seek to engage with God in your musical encounters, noting your emotional responses and turning them into praise and worship, is not only right and good, but has the benefit of making your music-making far more enjoyable! No longer is God out of the picture when you make your music; rather He is the One to whom it all points, and it simply makes sense to worship Him as an overflow.
Witnessing to the world
If you do indeed start turning your music-making into occasions for worshipping God, people might begin to notice (depending on how extravert you are in your praise!) and ask questions, leading to God-given gospel opportunities. Indeed, such opportunities often present themselves, due to the very nature of music.
In terms of what you study, so much music has its roots in Scripture, it should be hard to escape! If you’re singing sacred music, can you use the words to raise interesting conversation, ask challenging questions and speak of what the words mean to you as a believer? Even if the music you’re studying isn’t explicitly rooted in Scripture, it will inevitably explore subjects that are part of the universal human experience. If you’re playing programmatic music, or singing in an opera, or a pop group, what themes does the piece explore? As you analyse pieces in your musicology degree, you’re bound to cover ideas of order, tension and resolution, all of which have their ultimate fulfilment in the gospel – so discuss these things with your peers!
It’s not just what you study, but how you study. Studying music is an intensively communal activity, because music-making generally involves being physically present with each other, doing a physical activity that requires all of you to play your part in order to create the end result, which is often a thing of great beauty! And so it’s unsurprising that musical ensembles can become very close-knit and musical friendships intense. This should be fertile soil for having deep and meaningful conversations about life and faith.
However, such friendships are also fragile. People move on quickly to the next project, the next show, the next ensemble etc. One thing that is almost unique to music students is the fact that your peers are also your competitors: there are only so many places in the orchestra, and there are more people than available spaces. In such a competitive context, insecurity will flourish, and gossip, slander and backbiting will abound. Ultimately, being a musician can end up being a lonely experience. The challenge – and opportunity – is to buck the trend, intentionally foster friendships for the long term and invest in others, getting to know them outside the rehearsal, sharing your life with them and being around when other folk drop off. If you resist the temptation to join in the gossip, but rather use your lips truly to affirm, celebrate and rejoice in another’s success, and to remain joyful even when things don’t go your way, you will shine like a star, hopefully yielding opportunities to speak of Jesus, who alone gives real security, significance and value.
A choice
Whether you’ve enjoyed an awesome band rehearsal where everything went brilliantly, are part-way through a particularly arduous harmony exercise, or have just endured a horribly bad gig in which loads went wrong, it remains the case that it is an utter privilege and joy to be able to give three or more years of your life to focus exclusively on studying God’s good gift of music.
But you have a choice: either you can separate your music-making from God, or you can involve Him intensely in it. If you choose the former, your music-making will be more insipid and self-centred – yielding a far greater likelihood of insecurity and neurosis – and God will seem far more two-dimensional and less interesting to you.
If you choose the latter, then both your faith and your music-making will be enriched and flourish. Your music-making will have real significance and value and will continually point you beyond itself to the One who made it all, and you will delight in Him all the more, as you are continually reminded of who He is – our Maker and Redeemer.
The result? You will speak of Him all the more, introducing other musicians to Him alone who gives life: life to the full!
Reflect and discuss
Think: Think back over what you have studied so far in your degree. Where have you seen God's fingerprints? Where have ideas presented to you challenged what you believed to be true?
Live: What do you think your coursemates would know about what is important to you from the way you live? Is there anything you want to change here?
Speak: Are there topics in your subject that are closer to talking about your outlook on life, God or the gospel? Pray for people on your course and for opportunities to share about Jesus with them this term.
Taking it further
- UCCF Music Network resources
- Book: Resounding Truth, Jeremy Begbie
