- FILE
The St. Catherine Federation Choir sings praises to the Lord at the JCDC Gospel roadshow at the Portmore Heart Academy recently.
Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter
Someone asked a question
Why do we sing
And when we lift our hands to Jesus
What do we really mean?
Why We Sing, Kirk Franklin and Family
THE HOLY Bible is silent concerning the use of music as an evangelical tool. This silence opens a can of canker worms, since gospel singers are hailed as musical evangelists to the displeasure of some in 'Zion'.
While those who are not pleased with this label base their position on music being used as a tool of worship, others argue that evangelising through music is an act of wisdom and a means of thinking outside the box. This, they say, especially considering the tremendous impact that music has on people, spiritually, psychologically and physically.
Reverend John Wong, one of the pastors at Faith Chapel United Pentecostal at 1 2 Renfield Avenue (off Washington Boulevard), St. Andrew agreed that the Bible does not say anything about evangelising through song. Nonetheless, he said that this is not an acceptable premise on which to 'write off' the idea of music being used as an evangelical tool. Reverend Wong said the Bible does not explicitly state that the New Testament Church should have Sunday Schools, however it is uncontested that good Sunday Schools build great churches.
"I personally believe that music can be used to evangelise if it has the Word of God in it. Look at the Psalms it attests to the fact that music can be used as an evangelical tool. Some of them are songs and they can be used to minister to individuals as well as evangelise," reasoned Reverend Wong.
GIFT OF SONG
Notwithstanding, the Reverend said that those blessed with the gift of song or the aptitude to play an instrument should not label themselves musical evangelists.
Bishop Everton Thomas, the pastor of Emmanuel Apostolic Portmore, who is also a singer, concurred with Pastor Wong. The Bishop argued that the music ministry is a powerful companion ministry to that of the preaching of the Word.
"Jesus told us to go in all the world and preach the gospel. He never told us how, I think He left it to our creative ingenuity in terms of the method that we would use," opined Bishop Thomas.
Howbeit, Bishop Thomas emphasised that the music ministry should not be seen as equivalent to the preaching of the Word. "Music sets the pace, singing actually opens the heart to receive the Word. I think it is a better approach to couple the music ministry with the preaching of the Word," he said.
The term 'musical evangelist' actually implies that one is singing to save souls. However, many argue that this should not be the mindset of singers or musicians sinceas in the Bible music is almost exclusively used to worship God.
BIRTHPLACE
In an effort to validate their claim, those who support this school of thought will take you on a pilgrimage. It is widely believed that music's birthplace is in Heaven and the angelic chorale of Heaven, for which Lucifer (now Satan) was the maestro, were the first practitioners of the ageless art form, as they used it to worship and pay homage to the 'Great I Am' (Job 38: 7).
According to advocates of this 'praise and worship' only school of thought, those endowed with the gift of song should approach the bench with the mindset to lift up Jesus Christ and then, by extension, souls will be saved. This, they say, is in line with the scripture that states: 'If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me.'
Now come back to the present, where former secular musician and producer Danny Brownie speaks about the issue at hand. Brownie, one of the pioneers who took reggae gospel to the masses, said that he never gave much thought to the concept. However, after doing so he concluded that he and his team of artistes are indeed musical evangelists. Danny debated that differentiating between a musical evangelist and the conventional type of evangelist is mere semantics. "There is no difference between bringing the Word in a spoken way or singing the Word. However, when the Word is presented in music it attracts an emotional response," reasoned Brownie.
Although not seeing eye to eye on the use of the term musical evangelist with Reverend Wong, Brownie also referred to the Psalms. He said that many of the chapters are actually songs that King David used as a means of praising God. "But these same Psalms are being used as evangelical tool by many preachers today," he said.
One of the island's leading gospel singers, Sandra Brooks, who also preaches, told The Sunday Gleaner that she staunchly supports the notion that most gospel singers are evangelists in their own right. As for those who suggest otherwise, Ms. Brooks says: "I disagree with them totally. They don't know what they are talking about. Whether you speak or sing, it is still the Word."
Obviously feeling very strongly about the matter, Ms Brooks reminisced on the many 'souls' that have approached her and told her that they got saved as a result of her ministry. Is that evangelism? "God has given me a voice to sing and win souls for him for me it is all about ministry. There is power in the message that gospel singers bring across," noted Ms Brooks.
ADRENALINE
The campaign launched by those who propose the validity of musical evangelists received a dose of adrenaline with the input of gospel instrumentalist extraordinaire, Dennis 'Den Rush' Rushton.
Mr. Rushton argued that although the Bible does not say verbatim that the saints entrusted with the Word of reconciliation should go forth and evangelise to the nations through song, it does not mean that doing so is not plausible.
"Usually you end up winning people to Christ by way of the music unsaved people have come to the Lord and saints have been strengthened," Mr. Rushton reasoned. Additionally, while not condoning sleeping during the preaching of the Word, he pointed out that people are less likely to snooze when a song is being ministered.
However, those who deny the validity of musical evangelists will argue that it is easier for people to turn their focus on the singer rather than the Word being ministered, due to the flair associated with music. The detractors believe that when some of these proposed musical evangelists are performing, the song's message is neither here nor there since the attention is solely on the performer and his or her vocal or instrumental prowess.
While the matter remains unresolved, gospel artistes are still the most prominent members of the Christian ministry.
