No… this post is not about the chain of local convenience stores that dot our landscape. Rather, I was looking for a catchy title that would allow me the chance to tell you about one of the oddest days that I had during all my years in seminary. I was reminded of this particular day when we were in church last week singing several contemporary hymns. I was getting tired of the repetition and couldn’t help but be reminded of a special time back in my seminary days.
As many of you know, I attended a conservative Baptist seminary and had several classes in common with the head of the choirs – a gentleman who also taught numerous classes. He had a doctorate in Music Education and I got to know him rather well in our classes, including Greek class. He happened to be a student in this class, there to learn the original language of the New Testament. Anyway, most of the seminary teachers and staff were VERY conservative and had specific ideas on what music was appropriate for church.
Most of the educators were against contemporary music. They defined it as “7-11” music. In other words, people just sang 7 words 11 times – over and over and over… Sometimes, their assessment was correct. I kind of chuckled but they went on to let me know that most of the music of today was not in keeping with the biblical mandates for praise worship to God. I had to think about that for a while one day while we were in Greek class. To a person, they believed that the psalms represented a description of how music was to be sung. Certain tempos, spacing, breathing, etc. In other words, they held to a very rigid formula, unlike most of the music sung today in church. Those worship songs didn’t fit their understanding of appropriate music for church. It probably doesn’t surprise you that I disagreed. I wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it, but then something happened that changed my mind. It was about to become a very serious conversation – one of the most confrontational discussions I can remember in all my days of seminary.
It just so happened that we were translating a verse from the book of Ephesians that had to do with music. Now I admit that I was a little mischievous sometimes (no surprise to you, I am sure) and so I asked my classmate what he thought it meant if I like contemporary music – you know, 7-11 songs… Without skipping a beat, he said that it meant that I wasn’t SAVED! Of course, I stopped dead in my tracks and the room went silent.
I asked Dr. Smith, our instructor and dean of the seminary, if we could follow this rabbit trail a bit. After all, I am a firm believer that the best education sometimes happens when you least expect it and his comment certainly came out of left field. I went on to ask him if he thought I had lost my salvation – can that happen short of blaspheming the Holy Spirit? He went on to say that if I liked contemporary music, I must never have been saved to begin with. I actually couldn’t believe my ears! The room was still silent but it was clear that I wasn’t done with this interaction.
Anyway, our class got into a deep discussion about being saved and whether or not we can lose our salvation. Clearly, short of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, as we are told in the Bible, our salvation is secure – once saved, always saved. The fear of losing one’s salvation just isn’t something to be concerned with once we have declared Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Our verse for tonight is the very verse that our class had to translate from the Greek that fateful day that I was told I wasn’t saved… It occurs in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Paul reminds us, in Ephesians 4:18-20, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
My encouragement this evening is that if you are a believer, your salvation is safe. I believe that God’s desire for us is to worship Him. Whether that includes contemporary songs or the more classic hymns and psalms as recorded in the Bible, I think we are good to go as long as we are sincere in our worship experience. Although even I have my limits with too many 7-11 songs! Unquestionably, last week’s music in church tested even my firm resolve to accept all kinds of music. My prayer is that however we choose to worship, our music is to be a tribute to our Lord and sung with reverence. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…