jc-servant,
We have hijacked this thread? Speaking as an ex-evangelical Protestant, I would disagree with you.
I don’t know what the current religious or church background of the OP is. ** But if he or she is evangelical, fundamental, or charismatic Protestant, the idea of music being appropriate for private use but not for church use is a completely foreign notion.**
In the evangelical Protestant world, the “church service” is not a mystery or a liturgy, but simply a gathering of Christians to hear the preaching of the Word of God and to exhort and encourage each other through the exercising of various gifts and talents. One of these talents is music.
So what is appropriate outside of the church is equally appropriate INSIDE the church during a worship service.
And if something is inappropriate OUTSIDE the church, it is also inappropriate inside the church.
To the Protestant, good music is good music, and if it glorifies the Lord, then it is good music.
**Therefore if CCM is appropriate, it is appropriate for both PRIVATE and CHURCH use. But if it is inappropriate for Church use, then it would also be inappropriate for PRIVATE use **
I have no idea if this is an issue for OP. But it is certainly an issue for many Protestants, who don’t necessarily understand that the mass is NOT a church service, and that there are things that are appropriate outside of mass that aren’t appropriate in the mass.
The development of the Protestant (usually non-denominational) megachurches and their offspring has further blurred the line between what is appropriate in a “church” and what is inappropriate.
At the megachurch in my city, people sit at tables eating and sipping latte DURING the “worship experience.” (Not church service.) They can stroll up and down the church (a former mall) and listen to the “speaker” on overhead monitors. They can dress any which way they please; in fact, they are encouraged to “come as they are.” And they can talk throughout the presentation if they wish, since they are sitting at tables. They could even play a game of cards while they’re eating and drinking and listening to the speaker.
The only inappropriate behavior that I can think of would be to commit a crime or have sex publicly during the “worship experience.”
The idea of inappropriateness doesn’t make any sense when you have churches like this. What you do in your “non-church life” is the same as what you do in your “church life.”
It occurs to me that this mindset of black and white “good” or “bad” could be one explanation as to why many Protestant sects do not drink or tolerate drinking alcohol. There is no such thing as “appropriate drinking.” It is simply not ever appropriate.
In the same way, there is no such thing as “church appropriate” and private appropriate" music. It’s either good or bad ALL the time. At least, that’s how many Protestants see it.
