Good Music!

I have been requested to do the following opinion paper and thesis by a couple friends and a cousin. So here it goes! Please forgive any grammer, spelling and puctuation mistakes.

These are my opinions based on what I have learned from the Bible and what little knowledge of music that I have. I am human so there will be some error and I am sure some contradiction somewhere. But please try and read this with an attitude of wanting God to improve your walk with Him. Don’t view this as an attack but rather as a brother explaining his concerns and viewpoints in areas which he thinks one can improve how they serve a holy and righteous God. Hopefully it will cause you to at least think.

The topic of what music a Christian should listen to is without a doubt one of the most debated topics of the past 2 decades. This is a very tricky topic to discuss as music covers a broad range of areas and touches almost every part of our lives. Because music is so much a part of our life it is very necessary that we look at it with seriousness and concern.

I will start out with my foundational presupposition.

Music (the arrangement of diverse tones with various lengths. In other words the adding of notes together in a melodic fashion) is NOT amoral. This means music has moral qualities before you add words. The idea or concept of music is amoral and single notes are amoral. But as soon as you start putting notes together the arrangement of those notes has a moral or immoral quality. Music is a communication device. Whenever you communicate a message whether it be for entertainment, teaching or worship, that message has a moral quality, either moral or immoral.

In regards to morality. I believe that if something is immoral it is because it damages your character, defames God or promotes evil and sin in some way. If it is moral I do not believe that it has to have a significant message that promotes good character and moral. This area would be what some people would call neutral. She’ll be Coming Around the Mountain would fall into this category. This song neither promotes bad morals nor does it significantly uplift good morals, I hope you all see what I am trying to say. Maybe to clarify lets have 3 catagories. Immoral (i.e. Death Metal), Moral (i.e. most folk tunes) and Ultra Moral (i.e. Amazing Grace)

When deciding whether a song is good or bad you have multiple components that you have to consider. You have to consider the situation. For instance it would be wrong to sing “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” at your aunts funeral, but it would be right to sing it if you are in the Wizard of Oz provided you sing it at the time you should be singing it. You have to consider Time and Place. Next what message needs to be conveyed if you are trying to convey a solemn moment you would not use the song Roll Out the Barrels.

All the examples I have given are regarding the proper use of a song. Time and place and what message is supposed to be conveyed all play into whether a song is good or bad.

Next question you need to ask is, “is the musical genre, style or melody itself moral or immoral?” Now this is where the debate starts most frequently. My opinion is in order to judge this you have to look at multiple components.

Most music is mult-media. It had three parts that all convey a message.

You have the words, the melody, and the beat or rhythm. Oftentimes the rhythm is a big part of the melody and the two are inseparable and sometimes they aren’t. Sometime you have melody and words, sometimes you have just melody and rhythm, and sometimes you have just words and rhythm. Quite frequently you have all three together.

• The words communicate emotions, pictures, and facts or logic.
• The melody communicates pictures and emotions
• The rhythm almost always only communicates emotions

Like in math you add a negative anywhere in there and the whole thing goes negative.

Now comes the fun part!

After having mulled it over for hours and hours I have figured out that the music debate breaks down into three areas of argument which overlap profusely. The 3 areas are:

The Worship Value of the Music

The Aesthetic Value of the Music

The Evangelism Value of the Music.

The Worship Value of Music

“I think we ought to worship God anyway we like. After all it the heart that matters”

“…people worship differently, and praise the lord all in their own way. i believe god loves worship so much, he doesn't care how it's done, and the lord has never spoken to me and told me that any type of worship is wrong.”

“I've been to a few Christian Rock concerts, and every one of them started with a prayer. That is definately a sign of worship to me.”

“And Not all people who like rock dress in all black and act like gothics...
I LOVE CHRISTIAN ROCK I LOVE I LOVE I LOVE IT!
That is how I worship. IF it touches my soul, then why should it be wronge?
And Honestly, I hang out with people who dress in all black and are gothic? IS that a sin?”

“So I think my analogy to the terrorists is CORRECT. NOW you see the true spirit behind the fanatics who hate Christian rock. It is the desire to take away your freedom to worship God in your own way. The desire to take away your individuality, your freedom of thought. It is the desire to destroy every single recording of Christian rock, the desire to ban it from the airwaves, to stop its performance. It is the desire to FORCE uniformity in worship across the board in Christian churches. It is a hatred of YOUTH, a hatred of new and creative ideas, a hatred of change - a completely SELF-CENTERED desire to be in ultimate control - to be a religious dictator and voice of the "truth" - a desire to legislate out of existance anybody who wants to worship in a different way. It is the spirit of MURDER, according to scripture. And I am OUTRAGED, with a righteous, holy anger on your behalf.”

The above are all quotes from people on a Christian forum debating CCM as a worship and evangelism tool. I have not edited them in any way.

In the Old Testament you had three categories for almost everything in life. You had the “profane” that, which no man should handle, touch, eat, or wear let alone offer to God. Then you had the “common”. That which was okay to handle, touch, eat, and wear but not offer to God as a sacrifice. Then you had the “Holy” That which was to be handled, touched, eaten and offered as worship to God. There were items which overlapped all three categories but I think you get the general idea. I think as Christians we need to recognize these three categories with our music. I think that there is music which we should not listen to, music we can listen to but not offer as worship, and music which is suitable for the Worship of God.

Now if you go to any college class on the history of rock you will find that the whole rock genre was born out of the celebration of free sex and drugs. There is no denying it you tell any music professor that rock is not and they will laugh you out of class. I personally don’t think we should offer a genre of music which has that history to God as worship. Rock is the world’s music. God is Holy and hates the world. Don’t offer the world’s music to him as worship. It’s using a pagan ritual to worship God.

“…people worship differently, and praise the lord all in their own way. i believe god loves worship so much, he doesn't care how it's done, and the lord has never spoken to me and told me that any type of worship is wrong.”

I would like to ask this person if they ever read about Nadab and Abihu and when they wanted to worship God by offering the particular fire they liked! If God loves worship so much He doesn’t care how its done, how come He specified everything in the Old Testament worship service down to literally the priest’s underwear? That which you love most you protect and have very specific preferences about! This quote would also allow for stripping while quoting verses as worship.

“I've been to a few Christian Rock concerts, and every one of them started with a prayer. That is definitely a sign of worship to me.”

I saw the opening of a Madonna music video once. Guess what? she opened it in prayer. I guess all of her music is worship to God.

“That is how I worship. IF it touches my soul, then why should it be wronge?

What if my soul is touched by worshiping while high on pot? After all I am sure I would get a good feeling out of the whole experience.

The Aesthetic Value of Music

I already have covered this somewhat in my earlier Music is not amoral statement. Another aspect Christians need to realize is that Art (which music is a big part of) is NOT relative. Just like there is bad art (Jackson Pollack comes to mind as well as most “refrigerator” art) there is good art or fine art (Rembrandt anyone?). So it’s the same with music. There is bad music and good music. There are preferences but just because you like something better does not mean that makes it better though. Just because you like to listen to the chorus Lord I Lift Your Name on High more then you like to listen to Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto’s does not mean that Lord I Lift Your Name on High is higher and better art then Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto’s. Aesthetics are not relative. If you ask almost any person who has their masters in music what is technically better and finer art Rock or Sacred Music (hymns) almost all will tell you Sacred Music is aesthetically better. God wants the best. Give it to Him.

The Evangelism Value of the Music

If I have not already stepped on some toes I will probably now. When ever I discuss the CCM music topic I almost always get this from someone “But I use the music to help witness” or “But hymns just don’t work anymore” or “Hymns aren’t jumpy enough to attract people to church.”

I have some questions!

Since when is the morning worship service supposed to be an evangelism tool?

Where in the bible does is say you shall witness by playing music with Christian lyrics to people or that music is meant to be an evangelism tool?

Evangelism is supposed to be done by “going out” to the people and preaching (not singing) the Gospel or by one on one witnessing. If we were supposed to uses music to spread the gospel how come we don’t see Christ getting up and singing a few choruses or Paul hosting a rock concert? The only time you find Christ singing is with the disciples after the last supper. After Judas had left! So it was all believers.

Church is primarily for the edification and building up of believers so that the congregation can go out and worship. If an unsaved person comes to church it should be by chance and the witnessing to him should be by your character and how you treat one another.

Since when should anything about Christians other then the fruits of the spirit appeal to un-believers and the world? Look at Hebrews 10. The World is supposed to hate us! See John 15. We are supposed to be mocked. The world should hate our music because it embodies Christ. The world hates Christ and hates you. Get used to it. What ever happened to being mocked, humiliated, scorned and laughed at for Christ’s sake? When you are using the world’s music to evangelize you are saying two things.

1. I don’t have faith that God can call and bring those he wants saved without catering to the world and…
2. I don’t want to be rejected by the world because I make them feel uncomfortable. I just want to fit in.

Rock music is the WORLD’s music pure and simple if there is anything not worldly about a style of music created to celebrate Sex and Drugs then I must be crazy. God says “know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” James 4:4.

Closing Comments and Points to Ponder!

Every comment I hear about using rock in a worship service involves one person. The person making the comment.

“I think we ought to worship God anyway we like.”

“I just don’t get as good a feeling when I worship that way.”

“I don’t feel the spirit as much whenever I worship that way.”

“I don’t like that style of worship.”

They sound as if worship were solely designed for their personal benefit. Worship is for GOD not us. It is to glorify GOD not us. It is for HIS benefit not us. If you look at the first to references to worship in the Old Testament you will find they involve the prostrating and humbling of oneself in fear or honor. Not a very feel good position. The first time the word worship is used in a liturgical sense is when Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac. Once again a very happy and feel good time for the worshiper. I am not saying we should be miserable every time we worship, only that we enter worship thinking only about God and coming before Him with a clean heart and to benefit only Him. Whatever we get out of it is bonus. Worship is all about Glorifying God and nothing about us!

Rock is the worlds music. It belongs solely to the world had has no place in the worship of God. I am totally fine with people who listen to it for personal entertainment but don’t offer a pagan sacrifice to God and call it good worship.

You need to ask yourself if I dress completely like the world and act like the world and talk like the world and listen to the same music but without curse words how do I expect people to come to Christ when there is no difference between how I live and act and how they live and act? If I am like the world in order to “befriend it and bring it to Christ” and God hates the world, how then could He like and bless what I am doing?

Should we offer to God as worship a genre of music that was created to perpetuate free sex and drugs?

Art and Music is not relative or left only to ones preferences. There is fundamental truths which have to govern both. Preference does come into play but there is bad music and good music just like there is bad art and good art!

This debate is not only about music. At the heart you will find the timeless debate of serving self, not wanting to be ridiculed for Christ's sake, and not wanting to whole heartedly serve God and give Him everything including your music, your good feelings and emotions and your reputation.

I share this not to make people mad but to encourage in love brothers in Christ so that they may serve him more effectively. The only addiction one should have is an addiction to Christ and His word! If you don't think Rock Music is an addiction please try and go on a music fast and try and listen to music for a whole month that does not have a Rock beat. This would include not making your own rock music by beat boxing around the house and drumming on everything with your figures.

But as always it comes down to having a heart that is 100% sold out to Christ and serving Him in order to bring Him glory. I am nothing so that Christ can be everything! God Bless and thank you for reading!