The Idol of Music

I have loved music since I was in elementary school. Second grade, best I recall.

By the time I got to high school I was hooked. Singing. Playing tuba. Singing. Trying to play guitar or piano. Singing. I loved it all!

So I went to college for music. Vocal performance, officially.

And then I went to graduate school for church music. I learned to stand before a choir and orchestra with a conductor's baton and lead reasonably well.

For years I read everything I could about how to hone my craft. I geeked out on professional journals, attended the finest conferences, and talked shop with some of the best in the field.

I really, really loved music. Maybe even more than Jesus. I don't think so, but maybe.

It's a good question to ask, especially in the church of our day: Do we love Jesus more than music?

Here are some ways we can examine our souls:

1. Invite God to do this with us. Psalm 139:23 gives us words to pray: "Search me O God, and know my heart."
2. Pay attention to your feelings when we are in worship. Does your heart light up more over a song than the name of Jesus? If so, music may have become an idol. Consider Deuteronomy 5:10, "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods." That's in the 2nd of the 10 commandments. Notice the word affection.
3. Consider the ways we spend time with Jesus daily. Are we more likely to pour our hearts out in song than in prayer? That may be a warning sign.
4. Have we ever considered leaving a worship gathering--or our churches--because of music? How good or bad, how old or new, etc.? Then perhaps our attention to music has become greater than our affection for Jesus. Perhaps. That's why we start with the prayer of David in Psalm 139. God is the one who knows our hearts better than we know ourselves.
5. Are we more likely to evaluate the worship music in our gatherings than to be evaluated by the word of God in those same meetings? I find, when I do this, that it is from a place of pride, not humility. Again, I don't know your heart--and sometimes you don't either--but God does.

Just to be clear, I'm not talking about musical style. Yet. That hot potato comes in two weeks. I'm just talking about music in general. Style may be an indication, but music itself can be an idol. God gave it to us as a gift, but we--according to Romans 1--all too often exchange the gift for the Giver. 

Let me close with good news. God has a very, very long and faithful track record of welcoming the smashing of idols. If music has become too important to you, confess and repent. God is eager to forgive and ready to help us change the way we think and act about music. About all of our idols.

When you smash the idol of music you will find something beautiful in the shards. The glory of God that has been bottled up will explode your heart with pure praise of Jesus in new and beautiful ways.