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The Best of Both Worlds?
01/24/2005

As contemporary Christian musicians, we seem to “want our cake and eat it, too.” We want to say we’re a ministry while enjoying the benefits of being a “rock star.” We want the advantages of both without the responsibility assumed with traditional ministries. We call ourselves a ministry so that we can justify what we do to ourselves and the Christian community but whenever anyone questions our methods or motives or holds us responsible for what we teach and how we conduct ourselves then we fall back on the ol’ “we’re just a bunch of musicians who love God” ploy. Every other ministry in the world has to conform to the Bible’s standards for how to operate, but since we’re “just a bunch of musicians who love God” we can just “wing it” and follow “the Spirit’s leading.”

Unfortunately, in much of Christian culture “following the Spirit’s leading” is synonymous with “do what feels right.” If we no longer had to contend with the flesh and we were already with Jesus (i.e., we were dead physically) then we could rest assured that the leadings of our spirit would be the same as that of the Holy Spirit. But that is simply not the state in which we find ourselves while on this earth:

Galatians 5:17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”

Of course, the Holy Spirit can and does guide us (John 16:13). But He will NEVER guide us to disregard the Word of God or go against its precepts. You see, the voice of the Holy Spirit is NOT the only voice calling to us. There’s the voice of our own desires and lusts (James 1:14), the voice of the world (1 John 2:15), and the voice of Satan and his minions (2 Corinthians 11:14). I think we would be surprised to find out how many of us are actually seeking to build-up our own egos in the name of “ministry.” It requires a broken will and a willingness to obey in order to discern which is the voice of the Holy Spirit (John 10:5, Hebrews 5:14, 1 John 4:1, 2 Corinthians 13:5, Romans 12:2).

The way most of us contemporary Christian musicians operate today, you would think that every thought that pops into our heads is the Holy Spirit guiding us. In fact, we could totally do away with the Bible and there wouldn’t be any change in our decision-making process concerning how we function as a group. Doesn’t that tell you something?

So what do we do? First, we need to find out what the Bible says and how it applies to what we do. That’s why I wrote the book “Contemporary Christian Musician's Survival Manual: Biblical Principles Applied to Common Issues Facing Contemporary Christian Musicians." The Bible doesn’t just have principles which we are to apply to our personal lives but principles which apply to organizations (such as a Christian artist or band) who seek to promote the gospel. We’re a ministry just like any other and we need to conduct ourselves by the same guidelines. And if that rubs you the wrong way, then you should evaluate why you’re doing what you’re doing. We can’t continue to try and have the best of both worlds and none of the responsibility. No one can serve two masters (Matt 6:24).