I have said for a long time that the future belongs to musical theologians; not only the trained theologian or the gifted musician but the ordinary human being who loves theology in all its musicality. Theology that is sung is theology that is lived out. In fact, the best theology is the one that produces faithful voices in the congregation. I have always been skeptical of those who view theology divorced from its musical realm. God created a world with rhythm and patterns that inform our sharp notes, major and minor chords. In God’s world, even the rocks sing.
This is the reality because faithful music brings us immediately into the realm of war in environments that are not friendly to the Gospel. It gives the boldness to fight when our hearts are not eager to do so because music stands as its own instrument, the Christian’s resistance to tyranny; the voice of hope in a culture that sings to the tune of death.
As the Gospel shapes more and more cultures, one of the powerful effects it will have is the creation of more and more choirs shaped not by professionals, but by ordinary men and women, young men and maidens. The call to warfare, the banner of contra Mundum, is a festive call to sing heartily the songs of imprecation and joyfully the songs of Zion as if it’s the sole duty of every saint.
The center of resistance is not in the protests at D.C. or the political opinations on social media, but in the church being the church; singing her songs with zeal.
So, we carry on with the vigor of sons and daughters ready to follow in the train of Messiah Jesus.
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