I first posted this in 2013 when the popularity of the Piano Guys first showed up. Take no offense to my re-posting this today. This is not a statement about ones talent and musical skill. The physical ears like the sound of these skilled musicians. But what about the spiritual ears?
NOTE: the new website of the Piano Guys has removed any connection to their Mormon connection (as far as I can find).
This only adds to the complexity of what to do with their “religious” music when they are not willing to be public with their belief. My original post included their original statement of faith. (see below, and notice the broken link to their statement.)
_______________________
Originally posted in 2013:
Tis the season for video posting of the extremely talented and fun to watch videos of the Piano Guys. If you’ve never heard of the Piano Guys you must still be accessing the internet with dial-up access (is that even still possible to do?).
Out of curiosity, a few years ago, I decided to do a little background research on the Piano Guys. Where there is no mistaking, they are talented and have engineered new ways of playing instruments (they usually don’t play the piano), but the platform of their faith is the reason for this caution.
Most don’t know that the Piano Guys are on public record as stating their faith. They offer full statement of belief on their website, it is as follows…
“We believe the purpose of life is to be happy.
We believe the best way to be happy is to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and to love others more than yourself.We believe family is most important.
We believe we are all children of a God who loves us dearly.
We believe that good music can be a source of joy, inspiration, and fulfillment.
We believe as Bobby McFerrin once said, listening to only one kind of music is like insisting on living in only one room of
your home your entire life.We believe in as much laughter in life as possible.
We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as “LDS” or “Mormons”) to learn more about this church please visit mormon.org”
Why is this important for me? Why should you find it a significant thing to think through?
Learning that the Piano Guys are LDS did not change the fact that these [piano] guys are talented. They are. What changed is the origin of their faith. When a Mormon speaks of the birth of Christ, sings of the birth of Christ, or even plays music [without words] of the birth of Christ I’m in a different place of critique. I’m no longer simply enjoying music, I’m in doctrinal conflicted with the musician. When a Mormon sings of the birth of Jesus, he means a god left heaven, came and had sexual relations with a woman, and she gave birth to a child. There are some similar words (except for the sexual relationship) an orthodox Christian may sing but the teaching behind those similar words are radically different.
I can still respect the talent of the Piano Guys, but I can’t experience worship as a result of their music. I might feel emotion that their music creates but I can’t trust my emotions to lead me to worship. I must give direction to my emotions. It’s possible that many will disagree with me on this. I welcome the disagreement, I’m only stating my observation from comparing the doctrines of the Book of Mormon and the Bible.
What do followers of Christ (defined by the Bible) have in common with Mormons? There is no place where the two are the same. The two doctrines are at conflict with each other, they have two different masters. The Bible teaches that “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24)
Can a follower of Christ enjoy the talent of the Piano Guys? I think that’s clearly possible. Can the Piano Guys lead a follower of Christ (defined by the Bible) to worship? The answer, in my observation, gets sticky. Because the Piano Guys state their beliefs on their website as clearly Mormon, and because I believe the Bible to be a sufficient rule for my life, I say no; they can only lead someone to worship their god, and clearly they want listeners to worship their god because they invite visitors of their website to check out Mormonism.
I might listen to music from the Piano Guys but I will direct my spirit to not be carried away with emotion. If I’m not careful, my emotion will deceive me and lure me into idolatry. Giving my emotions to another god must be guarded always. Clearly there is a secular product that is enjoyable by the Piano Guys, but just as clearly there is a spiritual component that must not be ignored. If I’m not careful, I can let the familiarity of the music played by the Piano Guys to eventually weaken my heart as to considering that ‘maybe we do worship the same deity.’ We don’t worship the same, so I’ll guard my heart
Be on guard. Guard your heart Christian.
Offered for consideration
*