I didn’t realize until I typed in the subject on my browser Search Bar that there were so many articles on this.

There are even some books written about it!

Much of the material says that musicians and singers are very sensitive people and that this is what makes them so good at what they do.

Writers are also known to be envious of other writers, especially if one has more success and gets more things published than their peers.

The material went on to say that being sensitive also means that you get hurt a lot.

Several articles pointed out that one of the easiest places to get hurt was in the Church.

It was interesting to read that one of the major causes of envy was bitterness. Bitterness over past hurts, that had not been resolved.

I was impressed that most agreed that envy in the church was the result of a spiritual problem.

It was not really eye-opening to learn that likely the greatest cause of this condition was the fact that many seemed to have lost any fear of just who God really is.

Another suggested that many church musicians and singers no longer realized that they were not to be singing or playing to the audience, but to God.

In other words, what they were doing was to honor God, not to please the people or to entertain them!

There were also references as to just how materialist professional Christian singers etc. had become and verifying the fact that Gospel or Sacred Music had become a huge money making industry.

Much emphasis was placed on the fact that many behind the industry were not spiritual at all, and their only goal was to make as much money as possible; hence, if you wanted to be successful, this was the type of people you would be rubbing shoulders with and the kind of crowd you must please.

The idea that many singers truly did not know the actual message of the song was startling to me.

The fact that they might be more interested in how well they could sing it, rather than the meaning of the words the writer intended was disappointing, but not totally surprising.

Why sing a song if you don’t wish to convey the message the person who wrote it wanted to give?

It was considered a slap in the face to the person who penned the words and the one who created the melody, to simply perform and not convey the true depth intended.

None of this was new to me. I’ve known this for years. In fact, most of my life, just as you have, but I had never heard anyone else put it into words on paper.

I’ve always known there were church musicians and singers who were like this, but I did not want to know. It just didn’t make any sense to me!

How could you sing about God or His Son, or anything about the moving of His Spirit, and care more about what you sounded like, or how well you could do, rather than honoring the One you were singing about?

One writer here was emphatic to point out that this spiritual condition of envy among church musicians and singers, was a Sin — and that it was rotten!

The scripture certainly teaches that envy is rotten — one of the worse conditions and attitudes anyone can have.

A call to task, suggested that since this spiritual condition is so prevalent, all musicians and singers should always be checking their attitudes and spirits to look for any traces of this disorder.

And it is a disorder, it’s spiritual disorder that harms everyone around it.

One conclusion drawn was that an envious person was going to harm somebody, no doubt about it.

The mandate given for these feelings was to confess it to another person, ask God for forgiveness and get it out of your heart before it did more damage to you and to others.

All contributors to this topic agreed that such people did great damage to the Church, to those around them and hindered the flow of the Spirit.

The lack of fear of who God really is, seems the most serious to me. Not such a feeling of being afraid of God, but a lack of reverence as to who the Creator and Master of this Universe truly is and who’s actually in charge here.

The fact that we are singing about His only begotten Son, the one He gave to be slaughtered in our steads, and we have the arrogance to be more concerned about out own triumphs and accomplishments, was thought to be insulting to God.

One contributor reminded us that God is a jealous God in that He doesn’t like it one bit that we are worshiping ourselves, or someone else, more than we are worshiping Him and using His Son — for our own selfish gain.

As I stated before, I was amazed to read and hear others state openly, the things I have observed and known most of my life singing in the Church.

I stated once before that a major overseer in the district I came from, stated in a general assembly before thousands of supposedly Spirit-filled people, that he was afraid many of our churches were full of jealousy and envy, especially in the Music Department.

It was apparent that many did not like me making that statement, even if it was true.

What I did not observe, or even hear of after that meeting, was if anything was ever done about it. There is no evidence that it was.

Our entire music operation has been changed in many places by people who seemed to have no spiritual foundation and should have never been allowed to do so.

You draw grave criticism on one hand, or absolute silence on the other, if you dare imply that much of our Pentecostal music today may not be anointed of the Spirit at all, and perhaps because the shift was gradual, many do not even recognize the difference.

There is no doubt that most do not realize what a strong hold these people have on the music and how powerful that spirit has become.

Another writer concluded that no matter whether the choir or soloist was perfect, or even beautiful sounding in its own right, if it was not done foremost to honor and please God, then it was spiritually worthless.

Beautiful choirs, gorgeous voices, skillful players of instruments were said to be “sounding brass and tinkling cymbals” to the ears of God if they did not foremost honor Him; that performance did not mean anything if He was not truly the center of attention.

What sounded good to us may indeed be unacceptable or unappreciated by the One who created the voices and the notes with which to make music for Him.

I could perhaps have listed all the writers on this topic and listed each of their articles by name and date in some kind of footnote, but I don’t think that is necessary.

Anyone can go to their own computer search engine and find all of it for themselves.

I am very sad at what I see and hear in many of our churches. Listening to some of the videos posted on the internet is a task and often I cannot listen to it all.

You see, I know very well what kind of music we once made and I know how anointed it was.

I learned first hand what singing in the Spirit truly is. I had some of the very best Teachers in the Movement.

Say what you will, too many agree that we do not have the anointed song writers we once had. There are some in our fellowships who have done a beautiful job composing in recent years, but nothing like we once had.

We closed the book in many of our churches on some of the most gifted, spiritual composers of the entire past century. In some areas we are almost borderline on New Age music and interpretation, promoting styles and artists that no more have the Spirit and are more focused on grandiosity and self-motivation.

If you don’t think so, I dare you to speak up about it. There is a force and spirit in many of our musicians and singers that wants to completely wipe out any trace of old fashioned hymns or songs dear to the hearts of our people, unless it glorifies them and their cohorts.

Even in some old standbys, there is such loud screaming and off-cantered voices that it’s almost like scratching your fingernails on a blackboard to spiritually trained ears.

It is a far cry from what we once had. Even in some of the perfect sounding groups, the lack of true anointing is almost deafening.

The Holy Spirit is grieved. So are many of His people.

First published December 4, 2011

~ Robert Blackburn

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Robert Blackburn

 

 

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