THE "UNSAVED COMPOSERS" ARGUMENT
Written by brother James L. Melton
Christians who like classical music are sometimes criticized for listening to music composed by unsaved men. In addition to overlooking the fact that some of the composers were Christians, the critic also overlooks the fact that being saved has very little to do with the quality of music that one produces. Anyone who has attended a typical gospel singing in a country church has witnessed this truth first-hand, whether he realizes it or not.Written by brother James L. Melton
If I ever need open-heart surgery, I will be far more concerned with finding a SKILLED surgeon than with finding a spiritual one. In fact, if I am informed that the the surgeon and all his staff are Christians, yet they have never performed a surgery, then I shall look elsewhere for my surgeon. So it is with finding a good mechanic, a good plumber, a good bricklayer, or a good accountant. For that matter, some of the King James translators were probably lost. So what?
No one believes that a man is a good preacher or teacher just because he is saved, so why are the music people of modern Christianity given a pass just because they profess salvation and can carry a tune? The dirty little answer is that they oftentimes feed enough Laodicean flesh to keep the attendance and offerings up even though their musical SKILL is often found wanting or is terribly perverted.
The composers, on the other hand, were not from Laodicea at all. Being largely from the age of Philadelphia, they were into the classical ORDER of things, which enabled them to skillfully compose intelligent music rather than merely bellow out the whines and whims of the flesh. So, generally speaking, an appreciation for classical music amounts to an appreciation of PROFESSIONAL music, or an appreciation of REAL music. It is a music that moves the spiritual part of you that is SUPPOSED to be moved rather than moving the fleshy or emotional parts of you that the Laodicean devils like to move. Think of it this way: once you've experienced the authority of the King James Bible, you really aren't impressed with the NIV, the TEV, the NKJV, the ASV, or the any other modern perversion. Well, some of us have also experienced the authority of real music, and that's why we wouldn't attend a Gaither "homecoming," even if they were having it next door.