All Nations
It is an immense honor to be a Fulbright scholar researching Mexican music, representing the U.S. abroad and being immersed in this vibrant culture. My faith adds meaning and dimension to my work. As a Christian, I believe that all people and cultures reflect the Imago Dei, or “image of God.” The last book of the Bible depicts God’s kingdom as a place enriched by the cultural treasures of all nations: “The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into [God’s kingdom]” (Revelation 21:26). As I study Mexican music, I am gazing at a portion of the beautiful and diverse tapestry of God’s kingdom!
This sentiment is especially poignant for me considering the fundamentalist Christian subculture I grew up in. In addition to teaching that going to movie theaters is sinful and women wearing pants is “worldly,” we had particular beliefs about what kind of music pleases God. Certain instruments, like guitars and drum sets, were completely forbidden. Some rhythms and harmonies were unacceptable, such as syncopated beats, dissonant chords, or anything reminiscent of “popular” music.
Inherent to these teachings was a belief that the three fundamental components of music - melody, harmony, and rhythm - must be kept “in balance.” In this system, the melody is supreme, with harmony below it and rhythm at the bottom. Thus, any music with predominant rhythm was problematic. Simply put: if a tune makes you want to dance or tap your foot, it is a bit too catchy.
When I started my undergraduate degree in piano performance at Portland State University, I began to notice something: those who taught these tenets of music most strongly typically had minimal to no musical training. As my musical training progressed, it became increasingly obvious that these teachings had no basis in either music theory or Scripture.
All of this came to a head during my freshman year at PSU. In a campus bible study group, I learned about an opportunity to volunteer alongside missionaries in Madrid, teaching a music and art camp for Moroccan immigrants on the outskirts of Spain’s capital. When I asked my pastor for a recommendation letter to apply to the summer program, he said he first needed to meet with me. At this meeting, he expressed that he felt uncomfortable supporting my summer mission trip with a non-denominational team, preferring that his congregation only do ministry through his denomination.
Even worse, the pastor made a deprecating comment about Spanish music: “it is hard to keep that music in balance.” I knew exactly what he meant: the catchy rhythms and guitar strums so typical of Hispanic music are displeasing to God. In this simplistic worldview, God only wants to be worshiped with hymns, thus eliminating the music of most cultures around the globe.
It so happened that that year, I was reading through the Psalms and prophets in the Bible. I began to notice a recurring theme that strongly contradicted my pastor’s sentiment about Spanish music - and global music in general. Here are just a few examples (with my own emphasis added):
Psalm 67:3-4 May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.
Psalm 47:1 – “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.”
Psalm 86:9 – “All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name.”
Psalm 96:1, 3 – “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.”
Isaiah 42:10 – “Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth…”
Isaiah 45:23 – “By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.”
Zephaniah 2:11 – “The LORD will be awesome to them when he destroys all the gods of the land. The nations on every shore will worship him, every one in its own land.”
Revelation 5:9 – “And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.'”
Revelation 7:9 – “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.”
Not only are the music teachings I was exposed to in my youth ethnocentric, they do not align with Christian scripture. Across the Old and New Testaments, we find consistent references to all nations worshiping God and forming part of Jesus’ kingdom. Will African people discard their percussion instruments at the threshold of God’s kingdom? Will Hispanic people abandon their guitars? These are the discriminatory beliefs you must cling to if you believe that only a sliver of Western European music pleases God. The sampling of scriptures above demonstrates that this belief did not originate from the Bible and is, in fact, antithetical to the gospel.
One of my favorite parts of living in Mexico City has been worshipping each week with a local Christian community. I believe it would be beneficial for all American Christians (in particular) to experience a worship service of a different culture. Worship in another language and musical style is a small taste of heaven, where all nations will gather to worship God. Revelation 21 describes God’s kingdom as a celestial city descending from heaven, shining like a jewel. This city reflects not only the glory and beauty of God but also the splendor of every nation:
The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it… the glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it, and nothing impure will ever enter it.
Revelation 21:24–27, NIV