COPYRIGHTS OF HYMNS AND CHRISTIAN SONGS

BẢN QUYỀN CÁC BÀI THÁNH CA

Kinh thánh: 1Cô-rinh-tô 3: 16-22

Câu gốc: 1CÔ-RINH-TÔ 3: 22 phần B – Hết thảy mọi sự đều thuộc về anh em, anh em thuộc về Đấng Christ, Đấng Christ thuộc về Đức Chúa Trời.

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COPYRIGHTS OF HYMNS AND CHRISTIAN SONGS

Bible: 1Corinthians 3: 16-22

Main verse: 1CORINTHIANS 3: 22 part B – All are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

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– Some of us know about the copyright’s law and heard of intellectual theft, and it’s what we are taling today, relating the copyrights of hymns and Christian’ songs.

– In a simple term, copyright is the way to recognize the ownership of intellectual properties and to prevent theft, including altering, editing or performing them without permission. This kind of law is common in Western countries, but it’s not recognized in other nations, especially in many Asian countries.

– For hymns and Christians, the matter should be looked at differently and should be based on what the Bible says. Many Christian authors have not thought about it. They just follow the human laws without checking the Bible or recognizing its authority over matters relating to hymns and Christian songs.

– Firstly, we should ask ourselves this basic question: When a Christian artist or musician writes a song praising God and His love, who did he writes the song for and who did he dedicate it to? If he used the Lord’s name to write a song for himself, to show off his talent instead of glorifying God, he committed a sin similar to what Satan did. But we don’t think any Christian artist ever did that or had the intention to do that.

– If he wrote the song to dedicate to anyone different than the Lord, that song could not be used in churches and it’s a fake Christian song although he mentioned the word God in it. There are thousands of hymns and Christian songs, why we have to use the one that not dedicated to Him? Did all of other hymms and Christian songs are so ill written that we have to use the song not dedicated to Him in His churches?

– There were some occasions in which Christians brought some songs of the outside world into churches and sang during the Lord’s services. They did that because they liked those songs so much. But were there no Christian musicians talented enoug that they need to bring unbelievers’ songs into His house and sing for Him? Or they rather sang the songs for their enjoyment instead of worshipping Him? It’s the sad truth that some Christians nowadays don’t know what they are doing.

– But if a song was written for the Lord and dedicated to Him, then it belongs to Him and to all of His children, as it is the principle that was recorded in the Bible:

1CORINTHIANS 3: 22 part B – All are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

1CÔ-RINH-TÔ 3: 22 phần B – Hết thảy mọi sự đều thuộc về anh em, anh em thuộc về Đấng Christ, Đấng Christ thuộc về Đức Chúa Trời.

– The Bible firmly establishes that every thing in this world, or even in the whole universe, is belong to God, because He is the Creator of all:

JOB 41: 11 – Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.

GIÓP 41: 2 – Ai ban cho ta trước đã, mà ta phải trả lại cho? Phàm vật chi ở dưới trời đều thuộc về ta.

– But, because God is the Almighty so He does not want things that not dedicated to Him. As His children, we act in the same manner, that we will not use any song that not dedicated to the Lord.

– In the ancient time, the Lord did not care of the Israelites’ precious and expensive offerings brought in from afar when they lived opposite to His standards instructed in the law, then today He also does not need to be praised by songs that not dedicated to Him:

JEREMIAH 6: 20 – What do I care about incense from Sheba or sweet calamus from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please me.

GIÊ-RÊ-MI 6: 20 – Nào ta có cần gì nhũ hương đến từ Sê-ba, xương bồ đến từ xứ xa mà dâng cho ta? Của lễ thiêu của các ngươi chẳng đẹp lòng ta, ta chẳng lấy tế lễ của các ngươi làm vừa ý.

– The Bible instructs us Christians that whatever we do, we should do it to golyfy the Lord, as it was written in 1Corinthians:

1CORINTHIANS 10: 31 – So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

1CÔ-RINH-TÔ 10: 31 – Vậy, anh em hoặc ăn, hoặc uống, hay là làm sự chi khác, hãy vì sự vinh hiển Đức Chúa Trời mà làm.

– Therefore, as Christian artists and musicians write their songs, they all should dedicated them to the Lord and His glory, because it is a right thing to do. As the Lord said that all souls belong to Him, why not all the songs they have written belong to Him, too?

EZEKIEL 18: 4 – For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child, both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die.

Ê-XÊ-CHI-ÊN 18: 4 – Nầy, mọi linh hồn đều thuộc về ta; linh hồn của cha cũng như linh hồn của con, đều thuộc về ta; linh hồn nào phạm tội thì sẽ chết.

– As a song was dedicated to Him, then it belongs to all Christians and in some cases, it could be altered or edited to suit the occasions that it would be sang.

– Christian authors have to understand that if their songs were altered, edited or added in, that made them being better than before, then they should rejoy with their Christian brothers and sisters who did it, because they were used for God’s glory, the heavenly Father of them all. Even unbelieving authors rejoyed when their songs were edited by publishers or other performers, why Christian authors cannot react better than them?

– And if after editing or altering a particular song that was not good like its original state, the author should not be quick to upset, because other Christian brothers and sisters will surely judge it and return to the original one. Does the author really think that there is nobody among his brothers and sisters who can distinghuish between good and bad versions?

– Thus, as we are sons and daughters of the Light, so we should know what to do properly with the copyrights for hymns and Christian songs, both in the church and the outside world. We should not follow the way of unbelievers without checking with principles in the Bible relating to any particular matter.

. May God bless us with wisdom and understanding to live wisely among unbelievers so that we can be excellent witnesses to the Lord and having good effect on others. Amen.