06 December 2021
A great many spiritually born people have no clue about the Covenant of Christ. It breaks my heart to see them wallow through a worldly existence, when the riches of their divine heritage sit unclaimed in the Devil's clutches. Walking in the Covenant is a privilege few ever claim.
Only the Spirit of God can convict people of this truth. Persuasive words of rhetoric cannot substitute for the living God. Only He can make His Word living and active, able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. I cannot, and would not, decide for you what constitutes faithful obedience to the Word. All I can do is share my own testimony and trust the Lord to make it a blessing to you.
But I know beyond all doubt where the boundaries of Covenant faith are drawn for me. I do not worship artistry. Sure, there are times I use recordings of well-performed music to help me worship. But the act of recording and publishing itself often brings massive moral compromise, since the music industry is so very worldly. I have my favorites, just like you, but I never forget that a recording contract can easily mean selling your soul. There is nothing particularly righteous about any record label or recording artist. The intentions of the folks involved does not wash away the evil of the contract system for entertainment in the USA. I can't forget that, the moment anyone signs a recording contract, Satan has seized a portion of their divine heritage.
Whether or not they still manage to please God is not for me to decide. All I can do is discern what I must do to please Him regarding my own life. But that applies only to those who claim Christ. The vast majority of recording artists make no such claim.
Reading my harsh words on this blog, you might think I have no social life, but I'm not a total recluse. I am circumspect, but I have family who simply cannot comprehend the Covenant message. If I'm to have any influence in their lives, I cannot cut them off. However, I never forget that they are not spiritual family in full, because their lives are not under the Covenant. Some of them go to church and send their kids to private religious schools. I attend some of their events. I may be disappointed at what I experience there, in moral terms, but I'm seldom surprised.
At one such event, the students did something artistic with background music from a Pentatonix recording of a Christmas song. I commented to a relative that they could have done better, but he defended their choice. He still doesn't get it, but then, neither does the school or the church supporting it. It's not that Pentatonix is on the wrong label; the same label carries a lot of serious Christian artists with a valid claim to faith. I wasn't talking about choosing a better recording artist. I was talking about how much better it would be if the students had worked with others in the school or church to have the music performed live. I'd have been willing to volunteer for something like that, and I'm not even a member of the church.
It's not merely that Pentatonix are sinners; they most certainly do invest their talent in moral evil. It's that the whole music industry is outside the Covenant. But then again, in order for the school to retain their legal status, the operation must stand outside the Covenant. And the church that hosts all of this must stand outside the Covenant in order to keep their tax exempt status. The whole thing is compromised from the start.
My objection is that the whole thing was merely cultural American evangelical religion. My relative can't hear that message. Jesus once said that His true family were those who lived by the will of His Father. That meant very specifically that they were the people living under the Covenant of His Kingdom. Much as I deeply care about my relatives, they live outside the Covenant, and they aren't my true family. Whether they are born-again isn't the question; it's the Covenant. I am spiritually closer to people I've never even met in the flesh, people who have convinced me via the Internet that they share my conviction and faith in the Covenant.
The Lord is shaking His Body. It's going to get very rough very soon. I'm not looking forward to watching the Lord's children suffer, especially my relatives. I'd much rather they claim their places inside the boundaries of His Covenant protection. It has not been delivered into my hands to compel them to listen. So I keep praying for them with an aching heart, hoping that somehow the coming tribulation will shake them loose from this world.
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