Foolishness

Earlier today Sarrah and I were listening to one of John Piper's sermons, titled Fearlessness as a Sign of Destruction and Salvation. In a couple of sentences, it's about how we Christians shouldn't be afraid of labels like extremist or irrational. Not that we should embody these traits; we just shouldn't be afraid of being labeled as such by unbelievers.

I was thinking about that. I don't always speak out about my faith. I tell people I'm Christian or that I go to church and whatnot, or that I'm going to a Bible study later in the day. I can do that like it's an everyday thing, which for me it is.

But then I suddenly thought of something. When I'm on the internet, I don't always speak out about my beliefs. I know a lot of guys who go way deep into theology and philosophy. I'm learning about theology and philosophy, which these guys are too. But I don't always join in on these conversations/arguments about beliefs. When I thought of this I initially said, I just don't want to misrepresent the Christian faith or teach people wrong.

Then I realized something.

That's not it at all.

What it really is, what really keeps me from talking about specifics about my beliefs to these other Christian guys is not my wanting to be absolutely sure I'm representing the Christian faith as best as a fallen sinner can, but my unwillingness to appear foolish to my peers.

Take, for example, infant baptism. I don't know much about it. Right now I'm not convinced of it. But I'm the last person in the world who would get into a conversation with people who are talking about it. It's not simply because I don't know how to back up my belief that it's not a valid Christian doctrine. It's because I don't know how to counter the argument for it. That lack of knowledge keeps me from bringing it up at all because I don't want to look like a fool to my brothers. Oh, how selfish I am!

I also, as I'm writing this, realized one other thing. I want to learn about the Bible. I've been reading it as best I can every day since just before August. Yes, it is about a desire to know what God says about Himself. Yes, I want to know where to stand in my beliefs and why. No, it is not totally and utterly motivated by that.

There is a small part of me - a foolish, evil, selfish, sinful part - that wants to be able to defend myself in a group of people who believe differently than I do. On one hand that's great. One should be able to argue for Christianity. But that's not all there is to it. On the other hand I want to not appear foolish when talking to the multitude of theological Christian guys I know who all know everything about eschatology (end times study), Christology (the study of Christ), ecclesiology (the study of the church and the spelling of which I just now looked up so I wouldn't get it wrong and thus appear foolish), soteriology (the study of salvation doctrine), theodicy (the study of how God either permits or causes evil), and so forth. For the record, I just now looked up several of those terms and what they mean. I'm not actually so deeply theological so as to know those terms and their meanings off the top of my head. Thank you, Wikipedia.

Oh, sinful, wicked man that I am! My studying and learning about God have taught me how much I need God, and I need Him far more than I'll ever understand.

Sing Praises to the Lord with Song and Music

Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!
        Praise befits the upright.
Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;
        make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
Sing to him a new song;
        play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
 (Psalm 33:1-3 ESV)

I used to be the lead guitarist in The Citadel back at Coram Deo. I once wondered what, if anything, was my real role. A worship song is supposed to be about praising God, and that usually means singing, using words. That may involve chords on a guitar or a piano, and maybe even drums. But a lead guitar is meant to add extra musical melody to the song, which is what I did (besides sing backup vocals). I often asked myself, “What the heck am I adding to this worship?” And I think here, in these three verses, I find, at least, the beginning of an answer. I sing too, and I think these verses are about singing too, but it’s clear how that is used in worship.

The part that stuck out to me was in verse 3: “Play skillfully.” The reason this stood out to me was because it reminds me of something in Exodus 35-38. I noticed how God said in Exodus 36:1, “Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the LORD has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the LORD has commanded.” God is the one who put the skill and knowledge in them to construct the temple! They were incredibly skilled architects because God gave them that gift. They used it for His glory. Not only that, but they followed God’s instructions perfectly to every measurement and little detail. And musicians, such as lead guitarists, are called to do the same thing. Everyone is.

Of course, there’s a difference between playing skillfully and playing for God. I think that that is a matter of the heart, not the fingers or the instrument. There are millions of extremely skilled musicians today (I personally think of Rush) who have God-given talents, but use them for much different reasons. These reasons range from money, to fame, to sex, to even the music itself, when they make music into a deity. But these are not God, the god of Israel, the Savior of the world and thus are improperly used gifts.

The Christian musician therefore needs his heart to be focused on God if he desires to “play skillfully on the strings” in a worshipful manner. What does this mean? I personally think it means playing not for one’s own glory or because one wants to be famous or well regarded. If one is truly focused on God while playing the music, if a guitar player truly desires to point to God with his music, if he or she is saying to the people “Worship God, not me”, then I believe they really are playing for the Lord with the right heart.

Beyond that, it’s up to the people to see that this gift, this music, exists only because God made it so. Verse 1 says “Shout for joy IN the Lord.” It doesn’t say “to the Lord”, although that is also a good thing and it probably also means that. It says “in.” I think it’s saying to worship in the power of the Holy Spirit, to long for and desire to be connected to God the Father and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And music and art are wonderful ways for one to see the beauty and greatness of God.