WORSHIP: COLOR CRAZY

Friends, I feel compelled to alert us all to a most serious issue lurking beneath the surface of our current apparent tranquility. I refer, of course, to the issue of color. This potential crisis can perhaps be best described by examining some of my hypothetical friends, each a mostly normal individual, but within each is a certain quirk. Now each of these hypothetical friends is a Christian – seeking first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, growing in grace and knowledge, but …



For example, take Pat, who is passionate about greens. In Pat’s residence only green is seen. Pat’s car, work place – both green. Nongreen gifts are exchanged, dyed or painted. Pat even has special spectacles so that, when outside the controlled environments, the entire universe is perceived to be green.

Terry is equally fervent about blues.

Alex approaches Terry’s affinity for blues, but allows yellow in some places.

Chris, more or less equally, likes greens and blues, but only if from organic dyes.

Then there is Jamie, who seeks to live in the ultraviolet.

It is interesting to see these Christians together when the subject of color comes up. Pat can wax on how life is so wonderful in the world of green: it sets the stage for a truly Christian existence, God is near, light is widely spread. If only the others could see what Pat sees. Terry doesn’t exactly appreciate the interest Pat shows in making a change in Terry’s color preference. Life is going along just fine in the blue world and Terry can tell you of many good things happening there; though Terry isn’t above trying to get Alex, the fellow blue-lover to “grow” out of liking yellow. Chris, because of a two-color taste, gets along, to a degree, with both Pat and Terry, through they both have reservations about his sincerity. After all, Chris likes “that other color.” Chris reciprocates this attitude since the other two, while each liking one of the two colors, sometimes get them from questionable sources. Everyone agrees that Jamie, in the ultraviolet world, is really off the deep end.

Can you see the problem here? If each makes taste in color the dominant factor in determining the quality of relationships, divisions will come! Well, this is the time to nip this situation in the bud, before the passions that may be in some of us go too far. Let us all accept now that God created all the colors; that one’s like or dislike of a particular segment of the spectrum does not make one Christian or unchristian. Some colors inspire some, other colors inspire others. Let us tolerate different tastes in color and rejoice that across this wide diversity Jesus is finishing a work in all of us. I am glad that I could address this vital subject before things get out of hand.

Relevant to music?
You know, it just occurs to me that this issue of color could be applied also to MUSIC. Friends, it has been claimed by some that there are divisions among us: Some say, “I’m of Handel.” Some say, “I’m of Maranatha!.” Others, “I’m of Jars of Clay,” or “I’m of Gospel.” Some will even say, very profoundly, “I’m of chant.” Is Christ divided? Over music?

I would like to approach the subject of music and the part it plays in worship from the perspective of balance, borrowing a formula from the book Music and Worship in the Church by Austin Lovelace and William Rice (Abingdon, 1987). The authors contend that balance is a resolution of tension between contrasting extremes. Here’s an example of balance:

Old – new
Here’s an extreme: “I sing and listen to only that one hymn played the day I was baptized, 35 years ago.” Contrasted with that is the Athenian philosopher’s credo: “New, new, always something new.”

Balance would suggest that something may be gained from hearing music that I am already somewhat familiar with and music that is new – both new within my areas of taste and, from time to time, from outside my areas of preference. Exposure to a new style does not mean that I must now “make it