Christian rockers: ministry, vocation, or both? plus poll

[farouk]

Hi questdriven:

I'll have to listen to these some time.

At the moment my head feels a bit challenged; maybe I'll just listen to silence for a while...

Blessings.

 

[evenifigoalone]

Hi questdriven:

I'll have to listen to these some time.

At the moment my head feel a bit challenged; maybe I'll just listen to silence for a while...

Blessings.

Okiedokie.

Out of what I posted there, I really love that song "Someday". Man, I need to check out more of Disciple's stuff.

 

[farouk]

Okiedokie.

Out of what I posted there, I really love that song "Someday". Man, I need to check out more of Disciple's stuff.

questdriven:

So any further thoughts on the thing about whether it's ministry or vocation?

Blessings.

 

[Obadiah]

Thanks for all the songs. Since I'm a sound tech, I'm going to steal them and put them on the background mix I use for the after service fellowship time.

 

[evenifigoalone]

questdriven:

So any further thoughts on the thing about whether it's ministry or vocation?

Blessings.

I guess a bit of both. For some it may be their life work, but I'd hope they also consider it a ministry.
Like me with my art. I want to become a professional artist (because art is what I love to do), but ultimately I want my art to minister to people in some way. Earlier today someone favorited one of my uploads on dA and put in a collection titled "inspired me". (Although it was a free style poem rather than a drawing.) Made me smile.

 

[farouk]

I guess a bit of both. For some it may be their life work, but I'd hope they also consider it a ministry.
Like me with my art. I want to become a professional artist (because art is what I love to do), but ultimately I want my art to minister to people in some way. Earlier today someone favorited one of my uploads on dA and put in a collection titled "inspired me". (Although it was a free style poem rather than a drawing.) Made me smile.

questdriven:

Ty; I guess a number of people have responded similarly, really. In the end it's the content of the lyrics that counts, and this is not with significance with regard to the motivation of those who are in the field. There is a sense in which someone who wears a tuxedo or an off the shoulder gown when performing at a classical music concert, is stylistically different from a Christian rock musician, but really the apparent difference is more superficial than profound, I guess. Maybe we can say that neither classical nor rock is inherently spiritual, but it's how they are used to convey Christian lyrics with a message that really count, from a testimony perspective. (I suppose by way of comparison a similar comment could be made for a Christian tattoo artist who, while often does tattoos that are not specifically Christian in content, yet if s/he has also done many Bible references and verses over a long period of time and feels a sense of fulfilment in having done so, s/he might well see it as having both elements of vocation and ministry, too.)

So there is a lot that is unChristian in the arts fields, but it's how they are used that count for testimony, I reckon.

Blessings.

 

[evenifigoalone]

questdriven:

Ty; I guess a number of people have responded similarly, really. In the end it's the content of the lyrics that counts, and this is not with significance with regard to the motivation of those who are in the field. There is a sense in which someone who wears a tuxedo or an off the shoulder gown when performing at a classical music concert, is stylistically different from a Christian rock musician, but really the apparent difference is more superficial than profound, I guess. Maybe we can say that neither classical nor rock is inherently spiritual, but it's how they are used to convey Christian lyrics with a message that really count, from a testimony perspective. (I suppose by way of comparison a similar comment could be made for a Christian tattoo artist who, while often does tattoos that are not specifically Christian in content, yet if s/he has also done many Bible references and verses over a long period of time and feels a sense of fulfilment in having done so, s/he might well see it as having both elements of vocation and ministry, too.)

So there is a lot that is unChristian in the arts fields, but it's how they are used that count for testimony, I reckon.

Blessings.

Yeah.
We were reading about Jonah at a Bible study, and the leader pointed out that Jonah was rebelling against God, yet it would seem that God still used Him to speak to the fishermen on the boat he tried to run away on. God can use someone who maybe even doesn't have the right motives, because He's God.

 

[farouk]

Yeah.
We were reading about Jonah at a Bible study, and the leader pointed out that Jonah was rebelling against God, yet it would seem that God still used Him to speak to the fishermen on the boat he tried to run away on. God can use someone who maybe even doesn't have the right motives, because He's God.

questdriven:

Very true. Or, as has been stated differently, God can use croocked sticks to draw straight lines.

Sounds like your weeknight Bible studies are going well, too, which is good.

Re. what you just said about having the wrong motives, I know this applies to Jonah, of course. You weren't referring to Christian rock muscians or tattoo artists having basically wrong motives but God can still use them, were you? or maybe you were; which is fine.

Anyway, I think for some Christian rock musicians there might be wrong motives there in some circumstances, but not necessarily. The same comment can apply to other fields of endeavor such as tattoo artists, etc.

Blessings.

 

[evenifigoalone]

questdriven:

Very true. Or, as has been stated differently, God can use croocked sticks to draw straight lines.

Sounds like your weeknight Bible studies are going well, too, which is good.

Re. what you just said about having the wrong motives, I know this applies to Jonah, of course. You weren't referring to Christian rock muscians or tattoo artists having basically wrong motives but God can still use them, were you? or maybe you were; which is fine.

Anyway, I think for some Christian rock musicians there might be wrong motives there in some circumstances, but not necessarily. The same comment can apply to other fields of endeavor such as tattoo artists, etc.

Blessings.

No, not necessarily. Some might be driven by selfish motives, but that doesn't mean they all automatically are.

 

[farouk]

No, not necessarily. Some might be driven by selfish motives, but that doesn't mean they all automatically are.

questdriven:

It's interesting and quite complex, really. If someone tries to earn one's living as a rock musician, a classical musician, a tattoo artist, etc., such a motive isn't necessarily selfish, I would say. After all, what about other vocations that Christians follow? it could be asked.

In the end the Lord knows the heart (which kind of brings us back to chapters such as Isaiah 55, I guess).

Blessings.

 

[evenifigoalone]

questdriven:

It's interesting and quite complex, really. If someone tries to earn one's living as a rock musician, a classical musician, a tattoo artisit, etc., such a motive isn't necessarily selfish, I wouldn't say. After all, what about other vocations that Christians follow? it could be asked.

In the end the Lord knows the heart (which kind of brings us back to chapters such as Isaiah 55, I guess).

Blessings.

Well, yeah, I don't think earning money to live on off of it is a bad thing. I'm hoping to be able to earn money off of art one day. (Although money isn't my main motive. It's just something I'd like to do, my dream.)
God gave us talents and we need to be able to make money, so I see nothing wrong with using those talents to earn money if you can, in and of itself. I'd say it shouldn't be the main motive.

 

[farouk]

Well, yeah, I don't think earning money to live on off of it is a bad thing. I'm hoping to be able to earn money off of art one day. (Although money isn't my main motive. It's just something I'd like to do, my dream.)
God gave us talents and we need to be able to make money, so I see nothing wrong with using those talents to earn money if you can, in and of itself. I'd say it shouldn't be the main motive.

questdriven:

Kind of a difference between the style of the music and the medium and canvas of the art on the one hand, and the content and doctrinal references of the art on the other, I guess.

Like, can one really argue that classical is 'right' and rock is 'wrong', that Pre-Raephelite or Impressionist is 'right' but skin as canvas is 'wrong'? Some Christians would argue this way, I suppose, but I don't know.

From a commercial perspective, the particular medium has its importance, of course.

Blessings.

 

[evenifigoalone]

I personally don't think medium for music or art makes any difference from a doctrinal standpoint. There will always be people who disagree, though, and that's fine.

 

[farouk]

I personally don't think medium for music or art makes any difference from a doctrinal standpoint. There will always be people who disagree, though, and that's fine.

questdriven:

Oh, there's bound to be, yes.

Blessings.

 

[farouk]

Well, yeah, I don't think earning money to live on off of it is a bad thing. I'm hoping to be able to earn money off of art one day. (Although money isn't my main motive. It's just something I'd like to do, my dream.)
God gave us talents and we need to be able to make money, so I see nothing wrong with using those talents to earn money if you can, in and of itself. I'd say it shouldn't be the main motive.

PS: questdriven:

Wanted to say, when it comes to motive, the Lord sees our motive anyway, right?

One person's conviction might not be another person's, and one person's grey area might be another person's clear cut one.

Blessings.

 

[farouk]

Back a bit,

Like me with my art. I want to become a professional artist (because art is what I love to do), but ultimately I want my art to minister to people in some way.

PS:

questdriven:

I think that in the end when someone has a career vocation, for a believer this sense of purpose can sometimes have a higher, spiritual dimension, if it's linked with Biblical lyrics.

For those who know they appreciate the hard rock aesthetic, really getting into it is all part of that sense of vocation, I suppose.

Just like all the practice at drawing and art.

(Further two cents'.)

Blessings.

 

[farouk]

Hi guys; so Skillet and Disciple have put out some great tracks in recent times, with good Biblical lyrics.

I wonder if this forms a basis for contributions to this discssion? certainly the lyrics are very challenging, such as 'Battle Lines' by Disciple.

Blessings.