It was one of those curveballs that Scripture throws at you.
The prophet Elijah, bold and fearsome, is described in later parts of Scripture in much more tender terms as the one who ‘turned the hearts of the fathers to their children and the children to their fathers’ (Mal. 4 and Luke 1). Elijah, the Baal-destroyer on Mount Carmel, has a pastoral side? Well, it’s surprising, but if you declare ‘The Lord, He is God’, a change of heart is bound to be the fruit. And how we need the spirit of Elijah today.
What has this to do with music in church? Everything, for worship wars between people are often expressed in generational terms (but not always age related) and can provoke a grumbling spirit and disheartened believers. Just imagine if things were different.
Turn to the children
Imagine the hearts of the fathers turning to the children. They would not be worshipping youth – that’s unhelpful – but they would be encouraging young songwriters and musicians to serve in their unique way, making allowances for difference in style. I love how teenager Skye Peterson’s song I Am Not My Own has been promoted through Getty ministries. It deserves to be on many playlists as a testimony by her generation.
The problem for us older ones is often literally between our ears. One common complaint is that ‘the music is too loud’! But there is a more matter-of-fact explanation. An audiologist friend described how our hearing is affected by age: ‘It’s changes to the nonlinearity of the basilar membrane’, she smilingly said or, – in my layman’s terms – ageing inner ears become less flexible so that sudden loud sounds, like a snare drum, actually cause pain!
Turn to the elders
An awareness of this would be a way the hearts of the children could turn to their elders. But there is a yet more creative approach. Why not refresh older material so that we hear them as new? Isaac Watt’s Alas and did my Saviour bleed, put to a traditional Irish tune, is one stunning example. Find it on the Keswick CD The Transforming Trinity, sung by Jayne Lewis, and be enraptured.
The heart of the issue is this. Conflict comes because, in Tim Keller’s phrase, we are ministry consumers with regard to our music preference, rather than ministry providers seeking to serve each other. Someone larger than our own world must capture our hearts. ‘The Lord, He is God’! How we need the spirit of Elijah today. Steve James is a song and hymn writer and was rector of Holy Trinity Platt Church.
