There are plenty of different music types in the world today, now more than ever. One in particular, Christian, has a large variety of music genres underneath it. So really what is Christian music?
Let’s think about what it means to be a Christian before we think about Christian music. As a Christian, people judge you by your attitude and your actions (your outward appearance, how you speak, and how you act). So being a Christian, shouldn’t that imply that we reflect Christ somehow with the fact that his name is in our title? In Galations 5, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Bands speak through their lyrics. If their lyrics don’t line up with what the word of God says, then what business do bands have calling themselves Christian?
A number of years ago I was on vacation, visiting some family in the northeast U.S. when my cousin and I went into town to run a few errands. We stopped at a bookstore for a while. I was sitting down reading through an issue of Alternative Press when I came across an article featuring a Christian rock band. My interest rose as I read on. I had not heard too much about this particular band and I was curious about what they had to offer. So I continued reading about what the lead singer of this band had to say. Suddenly he uttered a curse word in one of the quotes. Immediately I stopped reading and closed the magazine, somewhat shocked. Since then, I have not taken much time to discover what that band was about.
Think about this: if the words that we think are profane, actually aren’t, then why are people still stunned when any of those words are uttered? Because they are in fact curse words. Regardless of the direction society is shifting…we all know that entertainment is only going to get worse…regardless of what’s being accepted more…God’s word is unchanging. What that text says is wrong isn’t going to be right tomorrow, or only on Tuesdays and not Thursdays, or ever. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words are forever.” It’s our own desensitizing that changes our feelings. Don’t get me wrong, I can handle profane language if I have to, that’s not what bothers me. It’s just disappointing to see bands that some of us look up to give in to the ways of the world.
A couple of times a year, a number of radio stations ask their listeners to give money to help stay on the airways. Depending on the size of the listener area, the amount of money needed can be anywhere from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions. This pledge allows the stations to continually play music without the responsibility of running commercials. In the big picture, the listener supported stations actually play an additional two and a half months more of music throughout the year. In my search for listener supported radio stations, most, but not all, of the stations I came across were Christian music stations. Now, if these funded stations weren’t able to get money, they would be forced to get sponsors and have to play commercials. Unfortunately, the relevant message would be drowned out by those advertisements. To me this shows that people care about the message of the church.
The major issue of appeal is the fan base. Bands who aren’t labeled Christian can appeal to a larger audience while those who are automatically catch the attention of the church. Usually record companies can govern the message that their bands put out. Anyway, the ones that tend to run in Christian music circles are often stereotyped in a certain way such as Gospel music is, which there is nothing wrong. Many people see this type of music as always being under the praise and worship umbrella and that’s not entirely true. Like I said in the beginning, in nearly any genre of music, there are those that associate themselves with the church. But again, parts of society look over the ones who are labeled Christian thus taking away from the growth of the fan base. Thus being the reason why some Christian bands don’t like to label themselves as so.
In August 2009, Christian hardcore/metal quintet Oh, Sleeper released their sophomore album entitled Son of the Morning. On the cover, a symbol that, at first glance, sets its onlookers back, is pictured. It is the original symbol of a pentagram with two arms less. Originally this symbol was for Christians as God being over creation. Over time, it was altered and the two arms were added to make a five point star now associating itself with Satan. This is just another example that has been reoccurring over time. In the beginning, Satan didn’t have anything of his own besides followers. Throughout time, he has taken what God made for good and perverted it and used it for evil. That includes music involving the things that Paul mentioned in Galatians.
Not too long ago in an interview with Jesusfreakhideout.com, Ben Crist, front man of The Glorious Unseen, had the following to say: “When you’re out here doing ministry like this – you know, we are out here doing what God has called us to do. This isn’t a money-making scheme; this is because this is our hearts. And when you do something like this, you get out here and travel around and do this so much, you’re on the frontlines of a spiritual battle. We are impacting people in ways that would turn their hearts toward God and we are impacting a scene of people who previously may have not been so passionate about God. And when we do that, the enemy would basically wanna take us out cause we’re doing something that he does not want to happen. It’s a battlefield out here.”
In Matthew 7, Jesus said, “By their fruit you will recognize them.” He knew that there would be those who would try to deceive us, and to watch their actions. For bands, we only see them for a limited time, so in addition to watching how they live, we have to look at their lyrics. If it’s a band that labels itself Christian, then there should be some difference between it’s message and a secular band’s. Jesus also said: “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart. You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit.” (Matthew 7:15-16 NLT) Though the Lord was referring to false prophets here, the principle is the same for others who would attempt to mislead God’s people. Jesus continues on to say: “Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to Me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21 NLT). I said all that to say this: If you’re a secular band calling yourself Christian only to further fame, eventually what’s inside will come out.
(Disclaimer: I’m not saying that non-Christian music is bad. I’m only addressing the topic of Christian music.)
This blog was encouraged to write by my wonderful friend, Shelby Fontenot.
If you have any comments or controversy, please respond below!
No comments:
Post a Comment