Wendell Boertje, Minister of
Music, Central Baptist Church Bearden, Knoxville,
Tennessee
[This article was written as
introduction the the theme that Dr. Reggie Kidd
addressed at our 2007 conference.]
“But you, O Lord, will rule
forever.
Your fame will endure to every
generation.”
Psalm 102:12 (NLT)
“Let the words of Christ, in all
their richness,
live in your hearts and make you
wise. Use his
words to teach and counsel each
other. Sing psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs to
God with
thankful hearts.”
Colossians 3:15 (NLT)
“We are called to do the best we
can with the
musical idioms we have inherited so
we can help
the next generation hear the
Savior’s song and
take up their own voices in
response.
Reggie Kidd, With One Voice
Discovering Christ’s Song In Our Worship
The
scriptures and quote above make it clear that God’s
renown will stand firm from one generation to the next.
However, we are called as mediums to express the praise
of God not only to our generation but also to the next.
To do so we are encouraged to allow the words of Christ
to fill us and make us wise. We are to use His words to
lead and counsel. Musical idioms (languages) are
available to us for the conveyance of the wisdom of God
and the words of Christ. We have inherited idioms useful
to our generation and we are now challenged both to
preserve them for use by the next generation and to
welcome the idioms (languages) that are the expression
of a new generation of worshipers. In as much as we are
receptive, the next generation should be encouraged to
share their voice with us.
What musical idioms have we
inherited? How can we help the next generation to hear
the Savior’s song through those idioms? How shall we
teach and admonish one another so that the next
generation will take up their own psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs?
The textual and musical
idioms inherited by the early church were psalms, hymns
and spiritual songs. Psalms were likely the ancient Old
Testament songs and New Testament canticles. Hymns were
probably songs of praise in a style chosen to codify the
emerging theology and Christology of the early church.
Spiritual songs were “songs upon the breath or from the
spirit.” They often had no words and resembled alleluias
and chants of an ecstatic nature.
We have inherited our own
expressions of texts and music in an expanded context.
We know these three expressions as classical, folk and
popular music. Classical music and traditional church
music is a highly developed music. Folk music is
characteristic of a particular society or ethnic group
and is understood by a large number of the people.
Popular music appeals to the greatest segment of the
populace.
If we are to be good stewards
of the idioms we have inherited and help the next
generation to take up their own voice, then we must
understand the nature and purpose of psalms, hymns and
spirituals songs. We must hold a credo in regard to
classical (traditional) folk and contemporary church
music.
Kenneth Myers in All
God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes says that
classical music encourages reflection, appeals to
appropriate emotions and is capable of repeated, careful
attention. Traditional church music shares the strength
of classical music but is more simple and understandable
by a larger number of people. Traditional implies a
perpetuation from one generation to the next.
Folk music preserves the
best of a culture. It is a good resource for bringing
fresh and familiar sounds to our music. Popular
(contemporary) church music has the capability of
meeting the need for a common worship experience
especially in times of spiritual fervor. We are called
to do the best we can with this language of music that
speaks loudly but is always changing.
Reggie Kidd suggests in his
book With One Voice that we find Christ’s voice
in all three idioms of music: psalms, hymns, spiritual
songs, or classical (traditional), folk and
contemporary. The shorthand he uses to reference those
three idioms is Bach, Bubba and the Blues Brothers.
The Bach voice of Jesus is
His voice of refinement and sophistication in the city
of God. The Bubba voice of the Savior is heard in the
family of God. Here Jesus sings with a simplicity. His
voice among the friends of God is a Blues Brothers
voice. Jesus sings here with a contemporaneity of
popular culture.
Kidd believes that Christ is
fond of classical music because it is true to His
majesty and grandeur. It is the stage upon which the
“true” and “beautiful” are displayed. He also argues
that Bubba music is also the music of Christ. Jesus came
in lowly fashion. At the center of God’s love are the
“lowly and despised things of this world.” The Bubba
songs of the Savior teach the grace of humility. Singing
the Blues Brothers song involves caring about the world
in which we live and singing the redemption song in our
own way in our own day.
In truth, Christ stands
above classical culture, above folk culture and above
pop culture. Yet He sings with Bach’s voice as he
teaches us the greatness of our souls, with Bubba’s
voice as he teaches us humility of heart and with the
Blues Brothers as he teaches us generosity of spirit.
Let us be open to planning
and offering music with all three voices, doing the best
we can with the idioms we have inherited so that future
generations may praise the Lord with their own voices:
Bach, Bubba, or Blues Brothers, in classical,
traditional, folk, or pop style, using psalms, hymns and
spiritual songs.
“But you, O Lord, sit enthroned
forever;
Your renown endures through all
generations.”
Psalm 102:12 (NIV)
“Let this be written for future
generations,
that a people not yet created may
praise the Lord.”
Psalm 102:18 (NIV)
