I have a habit of quoting scripture or a song in my blogs lately. I know that scripture is always profitable and relevant, however, in today's age many times the old hymns have taken a back seat to the newer music. I like a lot of new music, and am one that would argue that music is from God and a valid tool for worship and praise of the Lord.
The issue I have with more and more modern music, the "Christian rock" and "Christian contemporary" is that many of the songs don't actually talk about God at all. They talk about love and giving, helping people, etc. but they don't differ much from secular music. Some bands only sing songs about God, bringing every aspect of the Christian life into view, while others seem to be secular bands that couldn't make the cut, so they mention Jesus once or twice and therefore are labeled "Christian".
Another aspect that bothers me about much of this genre of music is that people seem to think that making a worldly lavish lifestyle for themselves by "selling God" is a good idea. When an artist calls their concert a "ministry" and then charges $50 to sing to you for a few hours, they are misusing the word "ministry". I see no scriptural basis for charging money to hear from God's servant.
Would we charge admission for a church service? No way, but it is accepted that we pay $100 or more for a seat to a conference featuring a nationally known speaker. Paul never demanded a set fee to speak about the Lord. The churches gave freely to him as they were led by God to do so. He did not, however, demand a 300 danarius speaking fee to the church at Corinth. The true servant of God's indeed knows that he is only a vessel chosen by God to speak the truth according to the Word of God. A worker truly is worthy of his wages, and a man who dedicates his life to serving the Lord does indeed have needs that must be met, but God promises that He will "supply all your needs according to His riches in glory". He doesn't promise new cars, fine clothes, and beautiful homes, indeed the only promise made to this type of servant in scripture is that he will have food and a roof over his head.
In my research as a Christian concert promoter, I realized that what I was doing was, I believe, wrong. I called one nationally known band and was given the figure of $25,000 for a 2 hour concert with the band. Another figure was actually much higher, starting price of $90,000. This has turned into a Hollywood style show, and has less and less to do with God, as far as I can see.
For the amount of money to put on SoulFest, I would dare say that you could supply a missionary family with everything they would need to complete their work in the farthest reaches of the earth for life. Would people line up in droves to give to the work of a missionary that was translating the Bible into a new language for the purpose of reaching a whole culture for Christ? Some would, and some would not, yet millions of dollars per year are spent in this country to line the pockets of rich singers.
Another aspect that bothers me about much of this genre of music is that people seem to think that making a worldly lavish lifestyle for themselves by "selling God" is a good idea. When an artist calls their concert a "ministry" and then charges $50 to sing to you for a few hours, they are misusing the word "ministry". I see no scriptural basis for charging money to hear from God's servant.
Would we charge admission for a church service? No way, but it is accepted that we pay $100 or more for a seat to a conference featuring a nationally known speaker. Paul never demanded a set fee to speak about the Lord. The churches gave freely to him as they were led by God to do so. He did not, however, demand a 300 danarius speaking fee to the church at Corinth. The true servant of God's indeed knows that he is only a vessel chosen by God to speak the truth according to the Word of God. A worker truly is worthy of his wages, and a man who dedicates his life to serving the Lord does indeed have needs that must be met, but God promises that He will "supply all your needs according to His riches in glory". He doesn't promise new cars, fine clothes, and beautiful homes, indeed the only promise made to this type of servant in scripture is that he will have food and a roof over his head.
In my research as a Christian concert promoter, I realized that what I was doing was, I believe, wrong. I called one nationally known band and was given the figure of $25,000 for a 2 hour concert with the band. Another figure was actually much higher, starting price of $90,000. This has turned into a Hollywood style show, and has less and less to do with God, as far as I can see.
For the amount of money to put on SoulFest, I would dare say that you could supply a missionary family with everything they would need to complete their work in the farthest reaches of the earth for life. Would people line up in droves to give to the work of a missionary that was translating the Bible into a new language for the purpose of reaching a whole culture for Christ? Some would, and some would not, yet millions of dollars per year are spent in this country to line the pockets of rich singers.
Most churches spend more money on furnishings and flowers then would be needed to solely support a full time church planter in any area of the world. Is this what God had in mind when talking about tithes and offerings? I doubt it.
I say we carefully pray over where we spend our money. We should be good stewards of the finances God has given us. We need to make sure that all the money spent is going to God, not for our own personal interests. I love flowers, but I won't spend $50 for a bouquet to sit in front of the church and then tell a missionary looking for support that we can't afford to help them in theLord's work.
Yet again, I was meaning to share one thing, and have wandered onto another subject. I will write a little later about the song that came to me when thinking about writing tonight. Please feel free to comment about this subject and any others. I appreciate insight and other points of view. Next time will be more scripture, and less "pet peeves"
Mark
