I had confined Him to a little corner of my world. Why do we recoil at the thought that God could communicate His truth through the creativity and the talents of unbelievers? That was my error, and perhaps the error of many. If God is capable of eliciting praise from inanimate objects, then why are we so convinced that He can’t be glorified by the tongues of sinners whether they intend it or not. God’s glory is proclaimed by the sun and stars, their unspoken truth is being revealed to the world. Scripture tells us that if mankind fails to praise Him like we should then nature itself will cry out. He excels in working with the everyday and the commonplace. God lives in the mundane in the boring details. True worship is uncomplicated and many times unremarkable. It comes from the most basic and elemental parts of our souls. Worship is the very nuts and bolts of our lives. Real worship does not come about if we say “Holy” or “Jesus” or “Praise” enough times. It does not need a quota of religious terminology and expressions. Worship goes beyond words and catch phrases. Perhaps even more significantly I had failed to comprehend true worship and it was in that failing that my mind and my motives went astray. What benefit could songs like The Beatles’ All You Need Is Love offer me? I had fallen prey to the faulty thinking that has trapped so many Christians throughout time: God is too small to operate outside of the creativity and the machinations of believers. I had convinced myself that unless the songs I listened to were clearly and without prevarication speaking about or to God, then they were useless to me. ![]() And even though their music was really good and a lot of fun to listen to, I would turn my back on them so that I could continue down the straight and the narrow. They were devoid of all honesty and truth. From my superior vantage point, secular bands had nothing to offer Christians. In fact, what they said would have the opposite effect. These bands were comprised of sinners and that meant that nothing they could say would help me in my spiritual journey. No more would I listen to the likes of Nirvana, Collective Soul, Pearl Jam, and most definitely not The Beatles. That music was causing me to sin, backslide, and abandon the faith (once again – speaking poetically). No more of that terrible secular music that was birthed in the very pits of hell. ![]() Through much study, prayer, and fasting (I’m using poetic license here) I decided that I would only listen to Christian music. One of the main areas of my life where I was resolute in my beliefs was in regards to the music I listened to. I knew what I believed and nothing would dissuade me from my convictions. Or at least all the answers that really mattered in my life. I’ve known a lot of people that have gone down that road. When I was in my early twenties, back in my college days, I was confident, sure of myself, and completely convinced I had all the big and important things in life figured out. )įinally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. (An edited version of this article originally appeared in The Brink Magazine, published by Randall House Publications.
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