What an interesting article! I did not know that there can be no such thing as Christian Rock music. This article, What’s Wrong With Christian Rock?, will explain why. When it comes to Christian music I stumble alot with discernment. Its tough, but its so very important to do it and after reading this article, I understand the importance more than ever.
To give an example of thinking of those who listen to “heavy metal,” I had a few email exchanges with a young man who emailed me asking why it was wrong for him to listen to Christian metal. He believed that he was helping people to be saved by Jesus Christ because he was relating to them with that music, and he used 1 Cor 9 as a reference to back up his claim (something his youth pastor probably taught him).
For though I be free from all [men], yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all [men], that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with [you].
-1 Corinthians 9:19-22
With this verse, the young man wrote to me, “Paul said that you have to become what you must to relate to people to enable them to be saved.”
I asked him a question to gauge who I was talking to, and whether or not he studied the Word of God to have a proper understand of what Paul was writing in 1 Corinthians, “Let’s assume your interpretation of this scripture for a moment. Does that mean if I want to reach pagans, I must start practicing witchcraft, and God approves of me practicing witchcraft?” (admin note: this sounds like those who say they celebrate X Mass, even knowing its pagan/papist roots, to spread the Gospel)
He responded, “If you consider the gospel put into a secular band to be witchcraft then yes and I’d also say God approves of that. I don’t know about you but I can’t see sin in that.”
(Read “Halloween: Are Christians Lovers of Death?” here at creationliberty.com for more details about the sin of witchcraft)
If Phil is saved (I don’t know him well enough to know if he is or isn’t), he obviously has no discernment of Scripture because even though witchcraft is labeled as abomination unto God, this young man believes that using sin will preach the Gospel. As I have written before in many articles, we cannot pick out one section of a verse and make an entire doctrine out of it when there are other correlating verses we must take into consideration to establish a proper interpretation of Scripture. We don’t become alcoholics to save drunkards, we don’t become slothful to save the lazy, and we don’t become witches to save pagans because we don’t use our liberty in Christ to satisfy our flesh. (bold mine)
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
-Galatians 5:13
A guy named Mike also wrote me with a similar argument, saying, “1 Cor 9:20 has been taken out of context many times, true. But if it doesn’t mean adapting who we are to the customs of those around you in order to win souls what does it mean?”
For example, money is not evil, but the love of money is evil. The Bible condemns the obsession over material things. Money does not have a conscience; good can be done with money, and evil can be done with money. The Bible tells us that one day, money is going to be converted into a system where the mark of the beast will be involved (Rev 13:17, and that is a spawn of Satan. When Satanism gets into our currency, what does the Bible say to do? DO NOT TAKE THAT MARK under any circumstance. (Rev 14:11) Will you be able to use money (buy/sell) if you don’t take the mark? Nope. God is showing us that when money goes Satanic, you should not have anything to do with it, and God takes it so seriously, that Revelation 14 describes people going directly to hell for taking that mark.
Likewise, music is not evil, but the obsession with music is evil. Music does not have a conscience; good can be done with music, and evil can be done with music. But when Satanism is poured into music, should we (as born-again Christians) turn around and use that music for God’s glory? Be careful how you answer that question, because to say ‘yes’ is the same as saying, “I will take the mark of the beast and use it for God’s glory.” There is a line God draws on what we do, but Christians today tend to take a lackluster approach to the devices of Satan.
I’m not saying a Christian isn’t saved because he/she listens to rock/metal music, but I am saying that many use that music to replace studying the Word of God, and what you listen to WILL affect your mind and heart. Many are addicted to the music, and in unrighteous fashion, end up using God’s Word as a justification for their carnal addiction. The young men who emailed me have spent so much time listening to the teaching of Christian rock, they have lost sight of what the Word of God teaches us. Though there may be Christians who listen to that type of music, it can destroy their discernment, and Satan will take advantage of them.
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
-2 Corinthians 2:11
Here is that article again: What’s Wrong With Christian Rock?
I made an error awhile back. I realize that will shock many of you. We were traveling to my son’s flag football game in a nearby small town. We turned right rather than turning left and proceeded several miles in the wrong direction. My wife had gotten on-line and printed out the directions; we diligently followed the direction but still ended up in making an error. The consequences of having bad directions was for us to get a little lost and either be late to the flag football game or to miss it entirely. I would argue that getting on-line and printing off the directions was probably a reasonable amount of effort given the potential consequences.
We need sweeping reformation. Let me give a definition of reformation as it is given in a religious dictionary: “Change by removal of faults or abuses, and a restoration to a former good estate.” Now that is not so bad. I do not know how anybody who believes he or she is a Christian could ever object to changing in the direction of the removal of faults and abuses toward the restoration to a former good estate. The problem is change, which disturbs many people. They have accepted the status quo as being the very tablets given by God on the mountain. Most people, if they happen to be in any church anywhere, accept the status quo without knowing or caring to inquire how it came to be. In other words, they do not ask, “Oh God, is this of You, is this divine, is this out of the Bible?” Because it was done and is being done, and because a lot of people are doing it, they assume it is all right. Then songs are written about it, and it gets into magazines. Pretty soon people are called to it, and the first thing we know we have gotten into a religious situation that is not of God. It is not according to Scripture, and God is not pleased with it at all. Rather, He is angry. Yet we do not know it because we do not like the word change. The change took place slowly, before we arrived on the scene, and we think because it is everywhere it is therefore right. We accept the status quo, the existing state of affairs, and say, “This is it,” forgetting that history demonstrates that religions invariably degenerate.
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