The past seven days I've been thinking a good bit about music and theology, which is no surprise to anyone who knows me. These are two of my greatest passions. Last Sunday our choir performed one of the most beautiful arrangements of Christmas music I've ever heard. For most of the performance I was able to simply sit back and enjoy worshiping God through listening. One particular piece, sung in Latin, was especially meaningful.
I know that choir music is, for the most part, no longer in vogue in popular church culture, but I'm so grateful that our church preserves this amazing picture of the unity of the body of Christ through music. When I heard that Latin piece, I could not help but think to myself, "There is another place... a better place... than this busted old world," and through music I really believe we got to glimpse into that new creation which is coming.
As the concert ended and the week moved on, my thoughts kept going back there; and I think it was yesterday that I realized how music and theology share some very important characteristics.
First of all, as I mentioned above, music offers an opportunity to gaze into the beauty and majesty of God. Theology, at its best, does the very same thing, for theology is simply the study of God and His ways.
The coolest thing to me though is that you do not have to have a trained ear to stand in awe of beautifully performed music that is glorifying to God. In fact, at times those with "naked" ears may be at an advantage because they are so easily caught up into its beauty. The same holds true for theology. When an untrained eye looks into the heavens or into a microscope and marvels and gives glory to God for His creation, good theology happens.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who devote their entire lives to the study of the intricate details of music and theology. Sadly, though, many in both fields lose their sense of wonder as they dig deeper and deeper into the minutia.
Speaking from the vantage point of one who loves theology... we must hold in delicate balance our quest to "figure out" God and His ways and the amazement that a starry night should always cause in us. If ever my examination of details hinders my worship of His Great Mystery, I pray that His Spirit will correct me.
The world needs articulate theologians, and the world needs excellent musicians. As these explorers discover new and exciting terrain, it should lead the whole church to worship and stand in awe. This is the goal after all - that our hearts would be lifted to that new and better place where the Holy One abides.
"How we fail to understand when we think that the task of theology is to solve the mystery of God, to drag it down to the flat, ordinary wisdom of human experience and reason! Its sole office is to preserve the miracle as miracle, to comprehend, defend, and glorify God's mystery precisely as mystery." -Bonhoeffer
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