Dancing with the Melody

Scriptures: To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to others: “’We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”’ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.” (Matthew 11:16-19)

In a company Christmas party, a musician was invited to sing a few songs. As he sang and played piano on the stage, people raised and waved their arms, singing along, and dancing to the melody. They felt like the lyrics and the melody spoke their hearts.

From classical to contemporary, from folk songs to pop music, every generation seems to have a unique way of expressing themselves through music. The powerful part in the use of music is that it seems to speak to the rhythm of life. Even without lyrics, the melody alone is more than capable of relinquishing the emotions and feelings deep down and creating an echoing response in hearts, as sometimes expressed through the dance and other bodily movements.

Knowing well what music can do to people, Jesus used it as an illustration to denounce a generation that rejected the good news of salvation from God and the messengers who delivered the good news. The Jewish society in Jesus time enjoyed a lot of material prosperity and some even embraced the philosophical ideas that came with Greek humanistic civilization. The majority of Jews at that time was deep into religiosity and missed the intended blessings from the truth of God.

They had their preconceived notion of what a prophet should be like. They certainly had it all figured out what the messiah should be like. As a result, when John the Baptist came, he was welcomed at first only to be rejected later because he did not conform to that generation. The same was for Jesus. Neither of them fit into the expected frame of thinking of their time. As a result, they were both rejected.

Well, 2000 years later, it’s not that different today. The material accomplishments we have today are probably unprecedented in human history. All kinds of thinking have been presented. From Capitalism to Socialism, to Communism, each of them offered its solutions to the problem this world faces. Many have responded to these thinking and the result is a world of mixed, and often contradictory, values we see today.

The same can be said of the spirituality of this world. Occults and cultic teaching are rampaging of which many claimed to be Christian. As a result, many are confused and find it impossible to discern what truth is. Even within Christian circle, self-centered experiential cognitive perspective has been exalted to such high place that truth of God has become relative.

Some consider the studies of Bible futile because Bible was written by people who lived thousands of years ago for people of their time. Therefore, there is no relevance to our lives. Others exalted their personal experiences so high that they almost demand that Bible says what they experience. In some sense, they sound like they are putting words into God’s mouth. It no longer matters what the Bible says, it matters what they want the Bible say.

We need to be careful. God is who He is. He does not change. He does not dance with the melody of the generation. His words in the pages of Bible came to us with His power and His promises to fulfill. As much as we need to be sensitive to the changes in our culture and the generation, our flexibility remains in the mechanism we choose to deliver the messages, not the messages. At the end, God Himself will show us that He meant what He said and, “wisdom is proved right by her actions.” (Matthew 11:19) He has promised, “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

Prayer Requests:
For musicians, especially Christian musicians

Prayer:
Our gracious Lord, thank You for the gift of music. We are especially thankful for empowering some of us to be musicians who bring comfort and excitements to our lives. We ask that You sanctify these musicians of Yours and their work so the music they share will indeed be used in Your hands as uplifting instruments that bring comforts, encouragements and reconciliations to our lives, especially to our relationship with You. In the precious name of our Lord Jesus we pray, Amen!