Monday, September 22, 2008

What makes sacred music, sacred?



1. The lyrics?

2. The music?

3. The composer?

4. The performer?

4 comments:

Cyrus Smith said...

acording to me # 4 the performer makes sacred music...

M. Steve Heartsill said...

I would say #1...the lyrics...that's not quite what I would say totally, but that's as close to it as I can get...

Bill (cycleguy) said...

It just dawned on me. Is Instant Karma sacred music? :) (Shoot first ask questions later)

Karma Shuford said...

The lyrics
Godly words could definitely make something sacred or not, but what if there are no words? Can it still be sacred? Can a piano concerto be sacred?

The music
Can a chord be inherently good or evil? Can a melody be "bad?" (Granted, I've heard some bad melodies, but I'm meaning bad as in "sinful" here).

The composer
What if the composer writes songs, wins awards, and people truly feel that his work is annointed -- and it would seem to be, and then years later, it is found out that he is a murderer? or theif? or adulterer? or even a non-Christian.

The performer
Ozzie Osbourne sings "Amazing Grace." Is the song still sacred? Should someone who is "living in sin" be allowed to sing a solo in the choir?


Honestly, I don't know that any ONE of them makes a song sacred. Is "sacredness" something we assign? Or is it something that is earned? Or, is it something we don't define except as "what it is not?" then use it to divide the church based on musical *preference.*



The questions aren't necessarily rhetorical, but it is something I'm wading through, right now.