Recently I have been in discussion with a guy from the church we previously attended about music. He was concerned that the music that my family was listening to was not pleasing to God. I disagreed with him based on the absence of Scriptural evidence for his claim. We weren’t talking about hard sinful lyrics, but music with Christian lyrics. You see, his position has nothing to do with the actual type of music, or even the lyrics, but his claim is that any music which resembles ‘worldly’ music is sinful. His stated position is that of the following quote by Robet Berglund:
“If any style of music–in its embodied or designed meaning–creates feelings, ideas, emotions, values, or moods that are of, by, or for the unchanged way of life, such music is out of place in the changed life experience.”
I obviously disagree with this position. Using this logic no music should be listened to by a Christian, and that includes the old hymns which we sing in church. It is my position that it is only what we associate the music with which causes individual listeners problems. I see this as an issue of Christian liberty, and not something dealt with in the Scriptures, thus it must be individually discerned.
I asked for Scriptural support for his position and these are the verses which he gave me. As you look at them, does it seem as if any of these verses declare a particular style of music?
Eph 5:10 or I Peter 1:14-15, or I Thes 5:21-22…many more. The Bible does speak of music in Col 3:16, Eph 5:18-19, II Chron 29:27, 30, Ps 89:1, Ps 119:54, Ps 104:33, Ps 59:16-17, Ps 96:1, Ps 40:3, Ps 7:17, Isa 24:14, Isa 42:10, Isa 49:13, I Sam 16:23, Job 35:10, Rev 5:9, Rev 14:3
I didn’t think so.
He admitted to me that the Bible makes no statement condemning a style of music, yet he went on to talk about how a particular type of music has the ability to influence us to act a certain way. He referenced 1 Sam 16:23 to show how David’s playing of the harp to Saul was able to refresh Saul and caused the demon to depart. Somehow he sees this as an example of the power of music to call in, or cast out demons. He even goes on to quote some guy called Simon Frith as saying: “The sexuality of music is usually referred to in terms of its rhythm–it is the beat that commands a directly physical response.” This is somehow proof that music will cause us to commit sin or something. Is music really what leads people to sin? The Bible sure doesn’t seem to make that claim.
The most difficult part of his argument was his explanation of how the elements of music must work together. Melody, harmony, and rhythm. He says that harmony is the intellectual part of music. Harmony is the part that our mind responds to. And that a correct, good sounding, mood producing harmony can only be arranged and effectively written by a trained musician. If that is true, I have no way to discern what good harmony is, because I know nothing of music. Then he said that rhythm is the pulse of music, and when it is overbearing, thats when your body responds negatively.
I have heard a lot of music, and I can honestly say that music does not make me want to sin. The only thing music does make me want to do is smash a speaker, or a CD player when it is playing something that I really don’t like. Well, I guess that might be considered sin.
This next reason really seems to explain why some people are against modern music. He gave the following quote, apparently from Rick Warren. “We use the style of music the majority of people in our church listen to on the radio. They like bright, happy, cheerful music with a strong beat. Their ears are accustomed to music with a strong bass line and rhythm.” Apparently being associated with a church such as Warren’s is so bad, that we must not do anything which those type churches do. Now, I don’t agree with everything that Warren teaches, but how is playing music which a particular people enjoy wrong? Especially if you can associate the Gospel with the music? There is nothing wrong with enjoying the music you listen to as long as you can glorify God while doing so. So far, I have seen nothing that proves that modern music cannot glorify God.
And finally he said, ” Music with a strong back beat and/or rhythm has no place in a Christian’s life.”
I really don’t like a lot of the rock style music. It doesn’t sound any better to me when it has Christian lyrics. I am still hesitant about embracing all types of Christian music, but I realize it is not because of a Biblical conviction, but because of my personal preference. For the record, I can’t stand a lot of the traditional music which I hear in some conservative churches. Some of it makes me want to throw a song book at the lady singing it. This isn’t because the music is drawing evil spirits which are negatively influencing me, but because I think that style of music (this spot formerly contained a word that some find offensive). I don’t prefer that sound.
Anyway, I found this article which goes along with this topic: How Bach Used the “Devil’s Music
I like how he shows that men like Luther, who were considered the progressives of the day pushed for the new music standards which were being popularized by Bach and others. At the same time, the conservatives like Calvin were against any modern music, even the use of instruments. It just seems funny that what once was called the “Devil’s Music” is now what is called great Christian hymns. And the arguments which the conservatives had then
- The use of specific instruments
- Polyphony. Polyphony refers to music that has two or more separate melodic lines (voices). Before polyphony, music was monophonic (consisting of only a single voice or melody line and no harmony).
- Dissonance in music
- Questionable rhythms
- Excessive technical ornamentation (referring to musicians who showed off their ability a little too much)
in many ways parallel the arguments of the musical conservatives today. Hopefully one day we can get away from all this and start focusing on the Word of God.
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