Amos - revised?

A friend of mine challenged the reference from Amos in my last post ("there is no such thing as Christian music"), and I thought it worth clarifying here as well. The more I learn about scripture, the more difficult and dangerous I find using it... too often we use passages out of context to make our point rather than God's. I hope this was not the result of my last post, it was certainly not my intent.  Let me know your thoughts as well - do you agree or disagree with me on this passage? 

My response below:

-------------------------

by the way - my apologies on Amos. I don't think my meaning came across very well and I need to be much clearer when using scripture. I am not for abolishing music and instruments, just the opposite... I love it loud and I love it big! However, if we are putting on a show for the sake of our selves, to bring attention to ourselves, then what are we doing? It is back to the heart of the artist... if my heart is about my self and not on God... then I am not making a joyful noise, I am just making noise. I believe this is what Amos is talking about here… a superficial heart in worship. He is telling the Israelites that God will not listen to our false worship. Worse yet, the word “hate” (english translations) is used for religious ceremonies conducted by those who live sinful lives but use these events to make themselves appear righteous. Curious - does this come closer to your thoughts on this scripture or am I still off base? Don't let up - keep me accountable! :)

Comments

[Kimberly]

Hmmm. Interesting discussion going on here for those reading.

I personally choose "music with Christian lyrics" to listen to most of the time. To me, my act of choosing this music is in and of itself an act of worship.

Just as I feel God is more pleased with me when I read the Bible and books that are spiritually uplifting, rather than books that are inarguably "trash", I think He sees the act of my choosing to put good thoughts of Him into my head with the music I choose as worship.

However, sometimes I listen to "Adult Contemporary"- like Celine Dion. Usually these are times of romance with my husband. I don't think this displeases God, because of the intent of the music.

Personally, I don't think God is pleased when we listen to musical lyrics that are, inarguably, inappropriate. I also think he would rather us read better books and watch less "trash" on tv. Bottom line, for me, is that how we conduct ourselves-every moment, every day- is in an of itself our act of worship... or not.

[mitch henson]

Great point Kimberly. What was it our mothers used to tell us... you are what you eat. So another piece to consider; listening to music with, I guess we'll call it "negative lyrics", can fill us with junk that can lead us directly or indirectly down the wrong path. This is similar to what Jim said on Sunday... while the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue may not technically be pornography, it certainly opens us (males) up to thoughts that we simply don't need.