“A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” (Galatians 5:9)
A Sacred Harp friend of mine asked, “How can we win others to Christ if we do not allow them to join us in worship?” I don’t doubt his basic sincerity, but I do doubt his biblical skill. I would simply reply, “Look in the Bible and learn how to win others to Christ.” Is it go and preach the gospel, or invite them to come worship with us?[i]
The right biblical stance does not depend on success or the lack thereof. Nevertheless, as far as the success of this proposed method, I have to generally agree with what a fellow singer posted in a Facebook group, “I want to believe that it can happen, but I have seen exactly zero converts so far.”[ii]
In addition to this, in the current climate of Sacred Harp in its broader new context, we must ask, “Who is winning whom?” I’d say the win goes to the unbelievers winning converts to their side. My mind can wander to several individuals I know who have wandered down the broad way proposed by the woke folk.
An article by National Public Radio about the recent United singing in Atlanta (September 12-13) helps make the point.[iii] Journalist Lucy Grindon tells the story of a composer of a new song added to The Sacred Harp 2025 Edition published by the Sacred Harp Publishing Company:
“He grew up in a Pentecostal church that did not accept LGBTQ+ people, and he was surprised to meet so many at his first singings at age 19. Eventually, he said, he started to feel that Sacred Harp people only cared about the music, not other singers’ sexual orientations. It gave him the courage to come out.”
Notice that this person met “so many” LGBTQ+ people through Sacred Harp that it “gave him the courage to come out.” Through the influence of other Sacred Harp singers, he said, “Ok, let’s rip the band-aid off. I can be who I want to be — who I am, and stop hiding myself.” Now this man is “engaged to marry a man.” Who is winning whom?
The NPR journalist also notes, “As the pool of singers shifts younger, it also contains more people of color, LGBTQ+ people and non-religious people.”[iv] Who is winning whom?[v]
There are the cases of specific singers raised under a Christian worldview who have chucked it for a Leftist worldview, under the new influence of other singers. Not only this, there is the conversion of Sacred Harp itself. As the unbelievers, woke folk, and gender confused singers invite their friends, Sacred Harp is being converted from what was a primarily Christian body of singers, to a group whose unity is based on enjoying a secular musical experience. Yes, the texts are still Christian, but their experience is not! Who is winning whom?
I fear that much of the process, for Christian singers, is not about speaking to unbelievers for and about Christ. Rather, it boils down to the optimistic wish “I’m being a good influence on them.”[vi] Bread usually isn’t a good influence on leaven, however, and a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
[ii] I hear Christians defending and encouraging the acceptance all kinds of people into the singing family so we can “win them to Christ.” In this context, I take notice of several things. 1. Singings have always been publicly announced events to which “All are welcome.” Today, however, there is a developing notion that we should make certain kinds of people “more welcome.” 2. There is much talk of winning others to Christ, but little talking to these others about Christ being the only way of salvation. 3. The “conversion stories” related by Christian usually boil down to “I had an opportunity to talk to someone about spiritual matters” or “this unbeliever is having some kind of ‘spiritual experience’ while singing Sacred Harp. Of the former, so far, I have heard a testimony of the end being conversion. Of the latter, some Christian singers interpret that “spiritual experience” as some sort of conversion, even though the words can just as easily be understood as fitting most any kind of generic belief, not necessarily even Christian ones. Who is winning whom? Adieu ye proud, ye light and gay; I’ll seek the broken hearted—who weep when they of Zion say, her glory is departed. “…ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned…Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump…” 1 Corinthians 5:2, 5-6.
[iii] Latest update of 1844 American songbook reflects new generation of ‘Sacred Harp’ singers
[iv] Winning youth and people of color to or back to Sacred Harp is a good thing. It is wrong to characterize the trait of skin color and the state of life in the same way as lifestyle choices such as sexual orientation and religious affiliation.
[v] One of the singular composers mentioned in the story uses the plural “their” pronoun. A revision committee member stated, “The new composers simply reflect the current community.” Sadly, the new composers as a whole go a long way in reflecting what the Sacred Harp community has become. “The people who submitted songs are the people who sing out in the world. They’re pretty markedly different even from who sang in 1991.” Who is winning whom?
[vi] This makes me think of the singer who wrote that she was “Having a rough time as a gender non-conforming person.” I feel sympathy for your plight. Of course, you are having a rough time. You are denying the truth, denying who God made you, and must live in that continual state of denial as long as you remain “gender non-conforming.” Yes, you are going to have a rough time, but none of your “welcoming and affirming” friends are going to tell you that. And your Christian Sacred Harp friends apparently cannot or will not tell you either. But there is hope and help with the God who made you. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God: which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever Psalm 146:5-6. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Romans 5:1.
No comments:
Post a Comment