Fall

17

A Christian Worldview in Music Education

Keegan Whitney

For Dr.Nassifs Introduction to Theology Class

 A Christian World View in Music Education

As a Christian, my Worldview affects the way I handle the fundamental questions of

studying and teaching Music to children. It has built through years of attending varying

churches, meeting people, and learning from others. But the main questions that are the

hardest for me to answer are: How do we integrate Christianity into a public school setting?

How do we write and create music that are both usable for worship and everyday

listening? These are the two main questions that face me as I enter the world of Music

Education.

The first question I need to answer is how can a Christian Music Educator teach kids

their religion without breaking any laws. In order to get more in touch with what laws and

regulations that are imposed on teachers I turned to the academic article In the World, But

Not of the World: Understanding Conservative Christianity and Its Relationship With

American Public Schools written by Benjamin J. Bindewald from Oklahoma State

University. Back in the day, so in the early 1900s, it used to be legal for teachers to lead

their students through bible readings and guided prayer. The only state that outlawed this

was Massachusetts (Bindewald, pg. 98). This was legal because the First Amendment was

treated as the separation of church and state was at the national level and not at the state

level (Bindewald, pg. 99). From there it became illegal to teach evolution in schools in the

early 1920s. The 1925 Scope vs. State trial found a teacher who taught evolution broke

the Anti-evolution law, but it showed the public how ridiculous this law and several

others were (Bindewald, pg. 97). It was not until 1958 that congress passes the National

Defense Education Act. The main point of this act was to make sure that America was

keeping up with the Soviets during the cold war. The NDEA called for a renewed math and
science education. This allowed textbook companies to take a direct look at evolution

(Bindewald, pg. 98). Later on, in 1962, the ruling of Engle vs. Vitale said that school wide

prayer and bible readings were unconstitutional. In 1963 a parallel case, School District vs

Schmepp the ruling was the same and the impact was more wide spread (Bindewald, pg.

99). However, in the southern states where they had a strong Christian view of the world

they ignored most of these rulings (Bindewald, pg. 99). Today religion is still a part of

public schools but its found in its deep roots. This is because public schools often represent

the culture they are built on and our culture is a Christian nation with deep protestant

roots (Bindewald, pg. 104).

In the academic journal titled the Stone-Campbell Journal. In 2009, there was a

published scholarly article written by Carrie Birmingham from the Pepperdine University.

In this article, titled Preparing the Soil: The Mission of Christina Teachers in Public Schools,

she addresses my first question head on. In my eyes the first issue with teaching in a public

school as a Christian is the First Amendment, which separates church and state.

Birmingham however has a different view; she says the following on page 194:

However, the First Amendment actually enables a specific Christian mission to public

school students. First, it requires public schools to accommodate the religious beliefs of

students and teachers in many ways. Christian teachers and students have the freedom to

be a part of public schools, and they have the freedom to speak about and act on their faith

in many situations.

Essentially she is saying the exact opposite of what I thought it would be like in a public

school. But as it turns out there is a draw back. The First Amendment stops Christian
teachers from preaching the gospel to their students (Birmingham, pg. 194). This still

doesnt stop public schools from being a great place for Christian teachers to be placed. A

lot of kids go to public schools and most are students who would otherwise not be exposed

to Christianity. Teachers in public schools have the rare ability to reach to these kids

(Birmingham, pg. 195). The trick is to not preach to them but to prepare them to hear and

understand the word of god (Birmingham, pg. 205). There are other ways to reach these

kids as well such as to model what a good Christian lives and looks like (Birmingham, pg.

202). In the bible, there are no direct Passages that discuss how to teach so the best a

teacher can do is live with biblically acceptable privileges (Birmingham, pg. 197).

The next question is how we write and create music in a way that is both useable for

a worship setting and everyday settings. In the book Mashup Religion written by John S.

McClure we find several ways that we can go about writing our lyrics. The first thing we

need to do is establish what type of faith we are coming from. The two main types that

McClore talks about Ontological faith and moral faith. Ontological faith focuses on the

beauty of the presence of god (McClure, pg. 149). Moral faith focuses on the goodness of

God (McClure, pg. 149). The next thing we need to explore are the components of writing

lyrics. There are six things that most songs will touch on. First is the human condition. This

is often established in talking about what is wrong. Secondly is the reason for the human

condition. This is behind the problem established in the human condition. The third thing

to write about is the thing most desired. This often leads to the place where a story is

heading. Another thing that writers will talk about is their belief. This is often about the

protagonists faithfulness and heroism in the story. The fifth thing to write about is the help

that the protagonist needs to succeed. Lastly, God is another component to write about and
is often the character that sees that the ultimate goal is met and gives redemption

(McClure, pg. 150-151). Ultimately each artist has their own worldview that often plays off

of a specific theology they hold close to their hearts. However, all artist need to offer up

what they create in order for their theology to actually mean something (McClure, pg. 155-

172).

The last area to be explored is how music and music making directly interacts with

faith. The best source that explores this area was a book titled Music through the Eyes of

Faith written by Harold M. Best. In this book we find several answers to our main

question. Firstly lets look at how the basics of music making and faith. The main thing that

often gets confused with music is that it is an offering to God. This means that it is an act of

worship (Best, pg. 15). Most of the time people who make music us their music to show

they are as a person, but this way of writing, enjoying, and playing music is wrong. We

should not need music to show who we are because God made us authentic in Him and not

ourselves. Therefore, the union with God is the only Authenticity we need (Best, pg. 14-

15). Best goes on to explain that God is not defined by his creation and we are not defined

by our music (Best, pg. 16). Now as we take a small step backwards from music to see all of

creation lets explore the idea that God created everything without any sort of muse or

object to copy. Best claims that we should do the same with our music. We should not try to

imitate another persons music or an object in our music but we should try to express our

own individuality in our music (Best, pg. 20-25). Finally, when making music we must

make sure that we are not just forcing out the music. It has to have a good quality and

integrity that would represents the quality and integrity of our gospel.
 Switching gears to focus on how Music and faith interact Best starts with Worship

is not possible without fait (pg. 153). As people worship they are expected to give

something back to God through an offering. Against popular belief that I personally have

seen in some of my churches, music is no more important than anything else that is offered

to God. But we need to make sure that when we are offering our music we need to make

sure that we are being active in the Spirit and not in our own music. (Best, pg. 153-155).

Another thing that Best says to keep in mind is that Music and Grace are the most

powerful at the point of redemption (pg. 157). This means that Music hits home the

hardest when people experience the redeeming qualities of Christ. There are examples of

this all through out the bible. It is often the redeemed singing songs from the bottom of

their heart that are often put there by the Grace of God (Best, pg. 157). Another form of

Music and Grace is scriptures that speak of God rejoicing over his children with singing.

Beset says that God is often said to be driven by his redeeming love so much that the Father

sings over and with us (Bes, pg. 157). The last two points about Grace are probably the

most important. Firstly, Grace will usher in the Music of the new Heaven and Earth. This

means that through Grace and Grace alone will we be able to experience the second coming

of Christ as he redeems us all. Secondly, we cannot keep Grace to ourselves we need to

share it with the world. The best ways to do this is through songs in church and using

music as its own kind of Grace (Best, pg. 157-158).

In conclusion, a Christian worldview affects the way I deal every aspect Music

education. It is intertwined in the way I share the word with future students, it impacts the

way I will right my songs in the future, and it impacts how I look at the power of music. All

of these things are a part of who I am and who I will become. I will continue to grow as my
worldview expands and the world changes, but I firmly believe that the findings in this

paper will provide me with a backbone of faith that will follow me through the rest of my

life.

Bibliography

Best, Harold M. Music through the eyes of faith. Harper San Francisco, 1993.

Birmingham, Carrie. Prepping the Soil: The Mission of Christian Teachers in Public
Schools. Stone-Campbell Journal, vol. 12, no. 2, 2009, pp. 193-20. Fall.
Bindewald, Benjamin J. In the World, But not of the World: Understanding Conservative
Christianity and Its Relationship with American Public Schools. Educational Studies,
pp. 93-111

McClure, John S. Mashup Religion: Pop Music and Theological Invention. Baylor University
Press, 2011.