The Sunday News
I LISTENED with great expectation to the three CDs of the latest Joyous Celebration 19 with the motivation to listen to some inspiring lines from our very own Mkhululi Bhebhe, Eric Moyo and Takesure Zamar Ncube. To me it was an issue of patriotic bias and the thirst for a spiritual song. The three CDs set me thinking in line with my questioning of where Christianity in Africa will be in the next decades.
I was absolutely impressed with the depth of musicality, arrangement and cadence in expression. There was the usual picking of the hymns which were made catchy and modern. I was not only nodding my head but lost in dance and ecstasy. Today’s Christian especially the Pentecostal has been taken by the power of the song, its rhythm and ease of repeatability. The chorus has certainly taken centre stage.
The title and theme is ‘‘Back to the Cross’’ and that to me is very meaningful as it is the centre of the redemption story. It was picked clearly by some songs but not succinctly and unequivocally doctrinally. The songs that carried the faith were the hymns of the likes of John and Charles Wesley, coming closer home were the likes of Tiyo Soga, Enoch Sontonga, and Remington Mazabane to mention just a few that come to mind. Their songs had the teaching and the foundational truths about basic Christian doctrine.
I pressed the repeat button on the popular ‘‘Kuregerera in advance!’’ and wow I felt so thoroughly entertained and hilariously so without any redeeming truth from the content at all. The only scripture that could come to mind is the admonition of the Apostle Paul to the church in Rome on the grace of the Lord. Romans 6:1 does read clearly that we ought not to continue in sin in the pretext that grace will abound. No, may it never be! That song musically eloquent and enthrallingly entertaining nonetheless exhibits the paucity of doctrinal correctness and is a sample of what the song in the church has turned out to be.
The question that begs an answer is what song will carry the doctrine of the Christian faith in Africa for the next generations? What are we leaving in advance for those that are coming after us at least in song?
The demand placed on us by the scriptures is that the word should dwell in us richly and then overflow into the space of spiritual song, psalms and hymns as we address one another making melody in our hearts to the Lord! Colossians 3: 16 says. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.” On the other hand Ephesians 5: 18 through to 21 goes further to say “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” The essence in the above is the need for depth in the song as a vehicle of doctrinal truth. The song is a conveyor of that which is not only redemptive but sustaining the faith in an individual believer.
The Cross to the believer is very important symbol and that is what the Joyous Celebration 19 set out to do I would like to think but merely scrapes the surface!
Simply put, the meaning of the cross is death. In ancient times (ie, from about the 6th century BC until the 4th century AD), the cross was an instrument of capital punishment in the most torturous and painful of ways. Crucifixion was an ancient form of execution in which a person was either tied or nailed to a wooden cross and left to hang until dead. Death would be slow and excruciatingly painful; in fact, the word excruciating literally means “out of crucifying.” However, because of Christ and His death on the cross, the meaning of the cross today is completely different.
In Christianity, the cross is the intersection of God’s love and His justice. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1: 29). The reference to Jesus as the Lamb of God points back to the institution of the Jewish Passover in Exodus 12. The Israelites were commanded to sacrifice an unblemished lamb and smear the blood of that lamb on the doorposts of their homes. The blood would be the sign for the Angel of Death to “pass over” that house, leaving those covered by blood in safety. When Jesus came to John to the baptised, John recognised Him and cried, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29), thereby identifying Him and God’s plan for Him to be sacrificed for sin.
One might ask why Jesus had to die in the first place. This is the main story of redemption. It is then expected that the songs of the cross should then express this truth of redemption and help make the listener understand it better. There is no need for the song to just mention the cross but to actually speak of the cross and tell the redemption story.
In other words the cross is not just for good lyrics but has to give impetus to our faith and we need to see in it more meaning that is related to our walk in sacrifice and in the imitation of Christ. I could go on but the long and short of it is that within the whole set one will find that it is the selection of hymns that have the lasting redemptive message that we seek.
The choruses get us foot tapping and body swaying but leaving the heart in the same unchanging state at most times. There is more to the song that we need to take the faith to the next generation! The song should not be devoid of doctrinal truth. While I agree it should not be boring and dry it should not just be entertaining without being inspiring unto faith and good works.
Till next week, Shalom!
