I am just blown away at your wisdom and gift of writing! I’m trying to apply what you have written to my own life. In our church, worship music is not much of an issue. They only use piano and only sing hymns. Some people sing with their own music, and if it has drums, or is too loud, then it becomes an issue. They say loud music takes away from being holy and being spiritual. Like, a Holy God cannot bless the service if the music would make someone want to dance. When I write this out, it seems so ridiculous, but this is the culture I grew up in and they take this very seriously. I don’t agree with it, but I also don’t now how to counter the argument. Like what does being holy and “spiritual” even look like in the new covenant. I’m still reading through the article you shared about music, so I’m not sure if any of this is answered in that article. Also, physical appearance is such a huge issue! Painting nails, wearing jewelry, modest dressing, etc. Are these elemental things? Would it be wrong to have painted nails if they have forbidden it at church even though my own conscience is clean?
I think the fruit of the spirit is a good rule of thumb for what it means to be “holy and spiritual” in the new covenant! So if we applied that to music, it should be joyful yet self-controlled.
Regarding appearance, I was addressing church leaders bringing things into the corporate gathering that everyone has to participate in for worship. Not really about what individuals choose to do personally. (Within reason obviously!) I don’t think it is really profitable for the church to forbid painted nails—that’s sort of getting into that asceticism I mentioned—but I think it would be worth abiding by the rule for an otherwise biblical church. However, I don’t know what the culture is there, so having a rule like that could be for good reason.
Thanks, that makes sense! I am happy that I am able to get a view of a different perspective from what I was taught. A lot of things my current church is doing may be biblically sound, but when questioned, a lot of the answers seem to be, this is what our forefathers did or we are making this rule to prevent a problem in the future.
I am just blown away at your wisdom and gift of writing! I’m trying to apply what you have written to my own life. In our church, worship music is not much of an issue. They only use piano and only sing hymns. Some people sing with their own music, and if it has drums, or is too loud, then it becomes an issue. They say loud music takes away from being holy and being spiritual. Like, a Holy God cannot bless the service if the music would make someone want to dance. When I write this out, it seems so ridiculous, but this is the culture I grew up in and they take this very seriously. I don’t agree with it, but I also don’t now how to counter the argument. Like what does being holy and “spiritual” even look like in the new covenant. I’m still reading through the article you shared about music, so I’m not sure if any of this is answered in that article. Also, physical appearance is such a huge issue! Painting nails, wearing jewelry, modest dressing, etc. Are these elemental things? Would it be wrong to have painted nails if they have forbidden it at church even though my own conscience is clean?
I think the fruit of the spirit is a good rule of thumb for what it means to be “holy and spiritual” in the new covenant! So if we applied that to music, it should be joyful yet self-controlled.
Regarding appearance, I was addressing church leaders bringing things into the corporate gathering that everyone has to participate in for worship. Not really about what individuals choose to do personally. (Within reason obviously!) I don’t think it is really profitable for the church to forbid painted nails—that’s sort of getting into that asceticism I mentioned—but I think it would be worth abiding by the rule for an otherwise biblical church. However, I don’t know what the culture is there, so having a rule like that could be for good reason.
Thanks, that makes sense! I am happy that I am able to get a view of a different perspective from what I was taught. A lot of things my current church is doing may be biblically sound, but when questioned, a lot of the answers seem to be, this is what our forefathers did or we are making this rule to prevent a problem in the future.