Pay Attention To What You Sing 🎶❗️

We usually are not so attentive to the sort of supposed Christian songs we listen to probably because in many ways we fail to realize that every song carries a certain level and sense of Theology. In less complicated terms,I mean that every Christian song is predicated on a certain type of theological conception or belief of the one who scripts and sings the song. Whether you are aware or not,every Christian operates & functions by some sort of theology either erroneously or in tandem with actual scripture.

Theology is really not a complicated term I must add. It simply refers to an understanding of God as perceived by humanity. I strongly maintain that every and any song that is meant to be sung by the Christian body or community can not in any way be disassociated from the prior theological formulations of the one who births or scripts the sound. Any sound for that matter is as potent in content and in biblical soundness as the theological accuracy of the one who is being used as a conduit.

A close examination of the text in Matthew 12:34 which explains that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks draws us into the thought that truly, it’s almost impossible to produce a sound as a supposed minister or minstrel from the depths of one’s heart without it being somewhat affected by your own theological presuppositions and beliefs whether founded on erroneous grounds or otherwise. It just isn’t possible.

It’s in this light that I seldom call just anybody who sings about God a gospel minister. I would rather prefer the term an artist. This is because, the moment we confer on you the responsibility of a minister, what we are in turn saying is that you have sustained the prerequisite stature in proper theological formulation and believe so much so that we can entrust you with the responsibility of making God known accurately through the avenue of sound and music. Sadly so, most of our congregations are being educated and influenced with wrong and inappropriate theological beliefs through the avenue of music and sound largely because even in our churches today we make more time for music and entertainment than we do for any other thing. And so every Tom, Dick and Harry is in a haste to make a name for themselves without paying any attention or whatsoever to forming beliefs and theologies consistent with the proper application of scripture.

Today’s gospel singers have become merely ministerial hirelings and contractors. Anybody who knows me closely would know that I’m not easily enticed or moved by songs that speak heftily about the ignorance and ineptitude of a person's idea of God no matter how vocally dexterous or gifted they may sound. As long as your perceptions and beliefs about God are far from any biblical or sound theological expression I count your work as dead works. Much of the sounds we hear today on our airwaves which are purported to be heavenly sounds are nothing but the sounds of carnal men trying to make themselves excited while making a buck.

A gospel minister is not called to be like the world, he or she is called to represent the truth of the gospel through sound and music. The emphasis here is 'the truth'. If what we sing about is not in any way consistent with the truth of God's word then we fail in representing the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A codicil to these submissions will be to remind us that hymns as sung and written by individuals like Charles and John Wesley were not powerful because they were slow paced. They have not traveled through centuries of time and through every age and dispensation just because they only probably just accompanied it with organs. No! Most of them have maintained their efficacy because they were founded on the right theology. They had a biblical basis. They were not self-serving. They touched on almost every aspect of the Christian faith. Those songs were not just interested in telling the grass to grace story like many singers do today. Those songs came out of a deep understanding and love for God and not just for what He could give. The next time you hear a song simply ask yourself is this song a representation of the truth of the gospel or it’s just a representation of my own carnal and ungodly desires.

Ernest Kobby Baah

D.V