Into Rock or On the Rock

Text: Eph. 5:19

Introduction:

  1. Controversial nature of the subject
  2. Watershed sermon that will take this church in a different direction from the past.
  3. 1,2, and 5 year plan. This is part of the 2nd year plan. First year was to lay a foundation, build a base of trust, and to repair damage. 2nd year is to lead in a new direction, one that I trust you will find to be more biblical and aligned with Scripture. Part of this is moving from more of an evangelical position to a fundamentalist position.
  4. Christian labels (on music) don’t guarantee that the goods are present.
  5. Spurgeon: "This is the suggestion of the present hour: if the world will not come to Jesus…shall not the church go down to the world? Instead of bidding men to be converted, and come out from among sinners, and be separate from then, let us join with the ungodly world, enter into union with it, and so pervade it with our influence by allowing it to influence us. Let us have a Christian world…
  6. Certain ministers…are treacherously betraying our holy religion under pretense of adapting it to this present age. The new plan is to assimilate the church to the world….By semidramatic performances they make houses of prayer to approximate to the theatre; they turn their services into musical displays…in fact, they exchange the temple for the Theatre, and turn the ministers of God into actors, whose business it is to amuse men…This, then, is the proposal. In order to win the world, the Lord Jesus must conform himself, his people, and His Word to the world. I will not dwell on so loathsome a proposal.
  7. My dear hearers, how much I long to see you saved! But I would not belie my Lord, even to win your souls, if they could be so won. The true servant of God is not responsible for success or non-success. Results are in God’s hands."
  8. As pastor, I am to guard the purity of the church! Amen?
  9. As pastor, I am to give direction to the church! Amen?
  10. As pastor, I am to guard the testimony of the church! Amen?
  11. As pastor, I am responsible for your spiritual well-being! Amen?
  12. As pastor, I am responsible for the philosophy of this church! Amen?
  13. Therefore, I am responsible to make sure that the music of the church maintains doctrinal purity, keeps the church in the proper direction, upholds the testimony of the church, help edify your spiritual well-being, stays within the biblical philosophy of the church.

  1. Importance of Music
    1. Scriptures
      1. 500 references to music in the Bible
      2. "New Song"
        1. New birth = new creature = new music
        2. Ps. 33:3, 40:3, 96:1, 98:1, 144:9, 149:1, IS. 42:10, Rev. 5:9, 14:3
        3. Not just new "words," but a new "song."
      3. Praise
        1. Over 30 references in Psalms alone
        2. Psalms were to be sung
    2. Power of Music
  1. Ingredients (Elements) of Good Music
    1. Must have beauty of design and coherence of form
    2. Must have discipline, originality, variety while communicating to the hearer
        1. Melody
          1. Volume Changes
          2. Tempo changes
          3. Rhythmic changes

            4. Note: There is a difference between rhythm and beat. All music must have rhythm, while some forms of music emphasize the rhythm producing what is called "beat."

          4. Modulation
    1. Balance with respect to
      1. Intellect and emotion
      2. Tension and relaxation
      3. Dissonance and consonance
      4. Motion and repose
    2. Effects of Music
      1. Physical
    • Parade Magazine article on the behavior at discos in England. "Eight young people have been killed and countless others injured in bloody brawls in London’s estimated 1000 discos. Teenagers wielding knives, razors, clubs, bricks and Afro combs with sharpened teeth have become so widespread that city officials have issued a tough new code of regulations for disco owners."
      1. Mental
      1. Emotional
        1. Can lead to suicide
        1. Illus. David playing before Saul (1 Sam. 16:14-23)
          1. Soothed his tormented spirit
          2. Certain types of music can calm. Conversely, certain types actually accentuate the nerves. If some music drives away evil feelings and evil spirits, then it stands to reason that some music can promote evil.
          3. This is referring to music, not words.
      1. Spiritual
    1. Why Rock Music (not just the words) is wrong
      1. Amoral vs. Moral in music
        1. View that it is Amoral
    • Petra has the following song:

God gave rock 'n' roll to you,

Put it in the soul of everyone,

If you love the sound,

And don't forget the Source,

You can turn-a-round,

You can change your course.
        1. Moral Argument View
      1. Illus.
    • John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas: "By carefully controlling the sequences of the rhythms any pop performer can create audience hysteria. We know how to do it." They created a riot in Phoenix as an experiment.
    • Frank Zappa: "Rock music is sex. The big beat matches the body’s rhythm."
    • Manager of the Rolling Stones: "Pop music is sex and you have to hit them in the face with it."
    • John Kay of Steppenwolf: "One of the reasons we’re successful is that we’re able to keep the music hard and direct so that it communicates directly with the body."
    • Frank Zappa: "The loud sounds and bright lights of today are tremendous indoctrination tools." He asks, "Is it possible to modify the human chemical structure with the right combination of frequencies? If the right kind of beat makes you tap your foot, what kind of beat makes you curl your fist and strike?"
    • God’s music will last and will be sung in heaven for eternity. Satan’s music will cease. Rev. 18:22 states that the world’s "harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard…any longer."
    • African music’s pulsating rhythms mimic the restless, superstitious passions of their culture. Oriental music is dissonant and unresolved because they have no answers and their religions go from cycle to cycle without resolution. Western music is sensual, suggestive, and lewd dittoing the culture.
    • John MacArthur: "Rock music, with its bombastic atonality and dissonance, is the musical mirror of hopeless, standardless, purposeless philosophy that rejects God and reason and floats without orientation in a sea of relativity and unrestrained self-expression. The music has no logical progression because it comes from a philosophy that renounces logic. It violates the brain because its philosophy violates reason. It violates the spirit, because its philosophy violates truth and goodness. And it violates God, because its philosophy violates all authority outside of self."
    • MacArthur: "Putting a Christian message in such a musical form [rock style] does not elevate the form but degrades the message to the level already established in the culture by that form."
    • Letter from a Russian Pastor:

"For thirty years we have suffered intense persecution. Now freedom is bringing another great harm to our churches. This damage is coming from Christians in America who are sending rock music and evangelists accompanied by rock bands. Our young people do not attend those meetings because we have all committed not to participate in secular entertainment.

This is a great burden to our hearts. Many come with Bible in hand and rock music. We are embarrassed by this image of Christianity. We do not know what words to use in urging that this be stopped. We abhor all Christian rock music coming to our country.

Rock music has nothing in common with ministry or the service to God. We are very much against Christian Americans bringing to our country this false image of "ministry" to God. We need spiritual bread... not false cakes. It is true that rock music attracts people to the church, but not to Godly living.

We were in prison for fifteen years for Christ's sake. We were not allowed to have Christian music, but ROCK MUSIC was used as a weapon against us day and night to destroy our souls.

We could only resist with much prayer.

Now, we have a time of more openness. We are no longer taken to prison. However, now it is Christians from America who damage our souls. We do not allow this music in our church, but these "evangelists" rent big stadiums and infect teenagers and adults with their rock music. We, the leadership and congregations of the Unregistered churches urge you to join with us, and we advise you to remove rock music from America.

Do not desecrate our teenagers with it. Even the unbelievers recognize it is unholy music. We call this music, "music from hell." We urge all Americans to stop giving money for the organizations of such concerts in Russia. We only want traditional Christian music in our churches.

This is the unanimous decision of all our leaders.

Peter Peters and Vasilij Ryzhuk,

Unregistered Union of Churches, Moscow, Russia, April 15, 1992
  1. Sin of Secular Rock
    1. Fall of Lucifer
      1. Ez. 28:11-13
      2. Is. 14:11f
    2. Illus.
    • At least 25% of MTV viewers are 15 years old and younger
    • Teens are estimated to listen to 5 hours of rock per day
    1. Four Main Themes (sex, drugs, rebellion, occult)
      1. Sex
    • Chris Stein, guitarist for Blondie. "Everybody takes for granted that rock and roll is synonymous with sex."
    • Rod Stewart sings about "his lover’s hot legs keeps his pencil sharp."
    • Manager for Village People, Jacques Morali: "I am sincerely trying to produce songs to make gay people more acceptable." Newsweek, 4/2/79.
    • Glenn Fry of the Eagles "I’m in the music business for the sex and narcotics."
    • Consider the following from John Leo’s commentary in US News & World Report of March 19, 1990. "Now there at least 13 bands named after the male genitals, 6 after female genitals, 4 after sperm, 8 after abortion and one after a vaginal infection. A brief survey in Maledicta magazine by Purdue professors Joe Salmons and Monica Macauley also shows at least 10 bands named for various sex acts, 8 including the F-word, and 24 referring nonflatteringly to blacks, the disabled or homosexuals."
    • Speaking of heavy metal music John Podhoretz writes in US News and World Repor, "But Elvis and Led Zeppelin were never like this. Their material did not revel in satanic imagery or expound on effective methods of torture and disembowelment. Nor did their lyrics tend to be unprintable, or deliberately disgusting, like the chorus of Slayer’s song ‘Necrophobic’: ‘Ripping apart, severing flesh, gouging eyes, tearing limb from limb."
    • Time Magazine called Woodstock a "Rhythmic Orgasm."
    • John Oates: "Rock and Roll is 99% sex."
    • Debbie Harry of Blondie: "Main ingredient of rock is sex."
    • Christ Stein: "Rock and roll is synonymous with sex."
    • Elton John: "There’s nothing wrong with somebody of your own sex. I think people should be very free with sex¾they should draw the line at goats."
    • Tom Jones: "The secret is to get the ladies excited. The gals expect me to turn them on. Sex is the biggest power in the world."
    • Dr. Bernard Nickole, psychology of music professor at Wayne State: "Rock music has to do with sex…Dancing itself symbolizes sexuality."
    • The man who did the cover of AC/DC’s album which contained the song "If you want blood (You’ve Got It)" which showed a guitarist impaled with the neck of a guitar, lying on the floor, drenched in blood was asked the significance of it. "Rock and roll kills." It did Ben Scott a member of the band. "Who’s next?" he asked?
    • Judas Priest: "We wear what goes with the music" states guitarist Glenn Tipton. Singer Rob Halford states, "I have always been to the fullest extent of the experience that S & M has to offer. It’s nice to experiment by yourself and get off on whatever you get off on." (Note: not only is this diabolical, but note that clothing sends a message. It is important what we wear!)
      1. Drugs
        1. Illustrations
    • Bee Gees "We do smoke marijuana now and again."
    • Linda Rondstandt: "I can sing better after shooting smack [heroin] than after eating."
        1. Death by drugs
    • John Belushi; Jimi Hendrix died in a pool of his own vomit after overdosing on drugs, Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, Ben Scott of AC/DC.
      1. Rebellion
    • Ted Nugent: "Rock is a perfect primal method of releasing our violent instincts."
    • Jerry Rubin: "We’ve combined youth, music, sex, and rebellion with treason and that’s a combination that’s hard to beat."
    • "In a sense all rock is revolutionary. By its very beat and sound, it is always implicitly rejecting restraints and it celebrates freedom and sexuality." (Time Magazine)
    • "Rock and Roll is about rebellion." (John Sinclair in "The Big Fad" July 1971, p. 47)
    • "I’d like to incite people to break the framework, to be disobedient in school, to stick out their tongues and to insult authority." (John Lennon, Ramparts Magazine, July 1971, p. 47)
      1. Occult
    • Groups like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles paved the way for the current invasion of Satanism and the occult in rock music." You’ve had groups like Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Blue Oyster Cult, Alice Cooper, etc.
    • David Bowie: "Rock and roll has always been the devil’s music."
    • Cover of AC/DC album Highway to Hell has the lead singer with devil’s horns protruding from his head, a pentagram.
    • Lyrics from the lead song of the above album: "Nobody’s gonna mess me around…Hey, Satan, paying my dues…I’m on the highway to hell, highway to hell."
    • Read Gateway article from April 8, 1983
    • AC/DC songs: Big Balls, Love at First Feel, Highway to Hell
    • Titles: Eat Me Alive, Necrophilia, Suicide Solution
  1. Sin of CCM
    1. Def.
    • Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) is a style of music as opposed to music that was written recently. For example, Early American Furniture is a style of furniture which could have been manufactured last week. The designation CCM covers a broad range of styles including rock, easy listening, rap, reggae, and pop. Basically, CCM is a style of music that is in contrast with what is considered traditional Christian music. Thus, not everything new is contemporary. Also, by this definition, most all "contemporary music" is not traditional.
    • CCM is a multi-million dollar industry, owned and operated by non-christian organizations making merchandise off of gullible Christians. They combine their worldly styles with Christian words to produce a syncretic, watered-down, anemic brand of Christianity.
    1. Problems with CCM
      1. Weak doctrine/message
        1. Song Titles (group name followed by song)
          1. One Bad Pig: Smash the Guitar and Take a Flying Leap
          2. The Warning: Cut the Crap
          3. Rez: Bootleg
          4. Bride: A Virgin in the Midst of Whores
          5. Trouble: Skull, Drown the Devil in the Urinal
          6. Whiteheart: No Taboo
          7. Note: If you can be irreverent about unholy things, then you can irreverent about holy things. Irreverence is irreverence, whether it is directed at the unholy or the holy. Irreverence is not caused by its object or what it is directed toward, but rather, by what it is.
        2. Illustrations
    • "You now have songs about pain and death and divorce and sex and relationships and everything that every one of us goes through, whereas at one time contemporary Christian music only talked about the death and resurrection of Christ. We’re much more in touch with ourselves and our neighbors, which is the whole idea behind Christ in the first place." (Melissa Helm of Myrrh Records, MusicLine Magazine, June 1986, p. 4) (Note: We are to preach Christ crucified, not man glorified or mortified! We are more in touch with ourselves and less in touch with God!)
    • "More people have been led to Christ with [Dust In the Wind] than with everything else I’ve ever written. Not only did that song not mention Jesus, but I was not a Christian at the time. It just happened to be a truth that the song emphasized." (Kerry Livgren, former member of Kansas, CCM Magazine, Feb. 1989, p. 8) (Note: How can a person be saved apart from the message? "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.")
    • "On Street Light we were trying to stick to the street theme and deal with problems people were dealing with. They weren’t biblical themes, and they didn’t talk about God a lot." (Dana Key of Degarmo and Key, (CCM Magazine, Nov. 1987, p. 20)
    • "You won’t pick up this record [Against the Law] and hear anything that says ‘God’ or ‘Christ.’ That was intentionally done. We were tired of people coming back with excuses, saying, ‘Sorry we can’t play this.’ MTV’s got to play this and the radio’s got to play it or it doesn’t serve the purpose." (Robert Sweet of Stryper, CCM Magazine, Aug. 1990, p. 10) (Note: We are to sing for God’s purposes, not MTV’s and the radio! How unbiblical can you get)
    • Michael Card: "There is an essential part of the Gospel that is never going to sell. The Gospel is good news, but it is also bad news; you are a sinner and you are hopeless. How is a multi-million dollar record company going to take that?"
    • "That’s one reason I started writing songs, because I didn’t want to impose my religion on anyone. This way the audience can sit back and draw its own conclusions…My art and the feeling I am trying to communicate through the songs, it would be silly for me to say, this is who God is; I don’t have any answers." (Amy Grant, interview in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 21, 1984.) (Note: If she doesn’t know who God is then I suggest she read her Bible. It would clear up a lot of her misinformation. She is trying to communicate feelings while we are trying to communicate truth. We have a message to communicate, not a feeling to impart. Also, here again is this idea of being non-judgmental, let everyone believe how they want, live and let live. It just is not biblical!)
    • "That’s the problem I’m having with Christian music; it’s so formula oriented….You’re limited to a certain number of phrases that are biblical and scripturally-oriented." (Brown Bannister, prominent record producer and promoter, CCM Magazine, Oct. 1988, p. 13)
    • The Holy Ghost Hop by Carmen

Everybody used to do the twist

The mashed potato and it goes like this

The funky chicken, monkey too

There wasn’t nothin’ they would not do

But there’s a new dance no one can stop

A leap for joy we call the Holy Ghost hop.

Now get ready, hold steady

Don’t deny it, just try it

Be bold now, let it go now

Give the Holy Ghost control now.

Hey all you brothers and you sisters too

Don’t let tradition tell you what to do

Release your worries and your fears

‘Cause we’ve been hopping in the church for years

If King David was here I know that he

Would do the Holy Ghost Hop with me.
      1. Wrong philosophy
        1. Amoral vs. moral (see section ?)
        2. evangelism vs. worship, edification
          1. 2 Errors in the CCM movement.
            1. One states that the purpose of the movement is evangelism. Therefore, to reach young people, they insist that we must use music that communicates with them, i.e. rock music. We will deal with this error (the need to use rock music to communicate to teens) later.
            2. The second error is that they are not out to preach, but to "sneak" into hearts through music. We will deal with this under the heading below "Covert vs. Overt Christianity"
          2. In the Bible, the primary purpose of music is worship and edification, not evangelism
            1. Col. 3:16, Eph. 5:19: We sing to one another and unto the Lord, not to the world.
            2. We don’t sing to the world because we have a different song than they have
            3. John MacArthur: "The primary audience for our singing is to be fellow believers, one another. Throughout Scripture the singing of God’s people is shown to be within the fellowship of believers. No music in the Bible is ever characterized as being or intended to be evangelistic…when emotions are played on without a clear or complete presentation of God’s truth to the mind, such music can be counterproductive by producing a feeling of well-being and contentment that is a counterfeit of God’s peace and that serves to further insulate an unbeliever from the saving gospel."
        3. Covert Christianity vs. Overt Christianity
    • Jon Gibson: "I want to sneak into their hearts with the music….Contemporary Christian music needs to branch our a little more, get a little sneakier." (CCM Magazine, May 1987, p. 11)
    • Ken Samuels of the group Common Bond: "In order to get a hearing, Common Bond has to completely disassociate itself from anything people commonly associate with religion." (CCM Magazine, April 1987, p. 13)
    • "The Boston Globe says they [U2] represent a ‘non-dogmatic Christianity and a sense of moral righteousness…In short, they have chosen instead of proclaiming a direct Christian message to act Christianly in the world." (CCM Magazine, July 1987, p. 46)
    • "Though potent, the message never overwhelms or becomes preachy." (MusicLine Magazine, June 1985, p. 20 on Steve Camp)
    • "We’re just gonna present the facts and love one another through thick and thin…and hope that presents a witness that will attract people to God, rather than turn them off. You turn on the TV and you see these guys screaming and yelling and trying to preach people into the Kingdom of God. I just see more people from our generation turning their backs cold on that. I think that we will draw more people into the Kingdom of God like Stryper, Bloodgood, Barren Cross and these types of ministries have." (Larry Dean, Heaven’s Metal Magazine, Number 18, p. 10)
    • Wayne Watson: "I won’t write a song that says, ‘You better get right with God.’"
    • Robin Crow: "I was convinced from the beginning that if I wanted to be a viable Christian in the music business, it didn’t make much sense to play churches….I don’t want to worry about making my living by playing in church; I found that to be very hard and sorry to say, often very competitive. The fact that I’m a Christian makes me want to integrate my beliefs into my music, not force my beliefs into a narrow way of presenting them." (CCM Magazine, April 1987, p. 19) (Note: He has it backwards. He is integrating his beliefs into his music which makes the music more important than the beliefs. It should be the other way around. He should be integrating music into his beliefs.
    • "I’m a singer, not a preacher….I’m not looking to convert anybody." (Amy grant, interview in CCM Magazine, Jan. 1989, p. 20)
    • Michael W. Smith: "I know if I’m too blatant about my Christianity and talk about Jesus I won’t succeed in the mainstream. But hey, I’m not an evangelist, I’m a singer." (cited by Monica Langley, "Rock of Ages," Wall Street Journal, Sept. 11, 1991, p. 1) (So succeeding in the mainstream is more important than pleasing, honoring, and obeying the Lord!)
    • "Smith, who listens MOSTLY to SECULAR MUSIC, would like to see DC Talk expand its vocabulary. 'Not EVERYTHING has to be about GOD,' he says." (Flint Michigan Journal, March 15, 1996, P.B19)
    • Ad for CCM star Morgan Cryar: "Fuel on Fire¾ A good pop/rock sound for the teen-age audience. The songs deal with youth issues and situations without being preachy."
    • Not surprisingly, Toby McKeehan, blatantly says in USA Today, "Sometimes, being labeled a Christian band, we consider that a NEGATIVE. . ."
    • Toby McKeehan told Billboard magazine, "Our goal has ALWAYS BEEN to be out there on a mainstream level,. . ." (Billboard, Nov. 11, 1995)
    • Stryper also toured with the perverted secular group WASP (whose name stands for We Are Sex Perverts).
    • WASP singer Blackie Lawless drinks blood on stage from a human skull. WASP spreads their satanic message, as they tell young people the vicious lie that Lucifer loves them, in "Sleeping in the Fire":

"Taste the LOVE,

THE LUCIFER'S MAGIC

That makes you numb

You feel what it does and you're drunk on LOVE

YOU'RE SLEEPING IN THE FIRE!"
    • On the back of WASP's album reads, "The gods you worship are steel, AT THE ALTAR OF ROCK AND ROLL YOU KNEEL." The concert tour was called "HEAVEN AND HELL"! (Note: cp. 2 Co. 6:14-17)
    • DC Talk: won Artist of the Year and Song of the Year at the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards in April 1996. Their musical role models are the Beatles, David Bowie, The Police, and U2.
    • DC Talk concerts have a "mosh" pit. Kids dance up and down just like at secular concerts. The teens are not moved by the Spirit or the Word, but by adrenaline and other hormones. By the way, the band that opens before DC Talk is called, "Audio Adrenaline."
    • DC Talk: At the concert they sell T-shirts, pendants, paraphernalia, but no books giving their testimony or explaining how to be saved.
    • DC Talk uses strobe lights, 36 speakers, all of the other extravagant setups used by secular bands. They play secular songs by the Beatles (Help), Doobie Brothers (Jesus is Alright With Me), use a drug phrase¾ purple haze¾ made popular by Jimi Hendrix (who died of a drug overdose)
    • On their promotional video they state "we want to get a good mosh pit going and some head-banging."
    • The News Boys whose tour was voted #1 by CCM Magazine: In one of their videos they have the body-surfing, mosh pit stupidity. During their concert in Rapid City, SD at the Civic Center one boy bared his top and ran around half naked on the stage before security could get him. This is what goes with the music.
      1. Worldly Performances
    • "Stryper’s concert was a rousing rock ‘n’ roll show, indistinguishable from secular metal concerts. The only differences were the lyrics and the outlook¾ positive throughout." (The Daily Oklahoman, Oct. 18, 1985, p. 19)
    • "Leviticus [a CCM group] came out and rocked the place. What was amazing is that people flooded the dance floor, after the second song. This was hard-driving Christian heavy metal from Sweden!" (Heaven’s Metal Magazine, Number 18, p. 24)
    • News Boys concert on May 12, 1997 in Rapid City, SD. News Boys did not have a mosh pit at the concert, but their video showed the body-surfing and all of the other head-banging silliness. The Local paper commented, "Newsboys’ message lost on latest CD…Although most of the choruses are straightforward, the verses are hard to follow, a flaw that serves to trivialize the band’s Christian message."
    • News Boys chosen #1 Tour of the Year by CCM Magazine. They play secular as well as Christian songs, there is no gospel presentation, the teens are jumping and dancing all around, they use the stage lighting gimmicks of secular bands, they have three flying saucers lowered on stage and they emerge from them to perform. They showed a clip from Beavis and b---head of MTV fame. They watered down God’s indictment on Sodom. This ‘so-called’ invasion reminded me of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers. They were snatching young people from godly living and making them more ungodly.
      1. Poor lifestyles
    • Amy Grant: She is given to crude and profane language. "That’s the way she is. She’s very frank" explains her record company.
    • "I have a healthy sense of right and wrong, but sometimes, for example, using foul, exclamation-point words among friends can be good for a laugh. It seems to me that the people who are most adamantly against premarital sex have experienced some kind of pain in their own lives. Like people who say absolutely NO to rock ‘n’ roll. Chances are it has something to do with past sadness…" (Amy Grant, interview in Ladies Home Journal, Dec. 1985, p. 210)
    • Steve Camp: "I am dedicated to good music whether it’s pop, Christian, gospel, R&B, blues, jazz, classical, rock or whatever. I just love good music."" (MusicLine Magazine, Feb. 1986, p. 22)
    • "I’ll have a Foreigner 4 [secular album] going in my car and then the next minute I’m on my knees talking to the Lord about something that is very personal in my life….Some guy will just say, ‘I’m only a Christian entertainer.’ Bull [expletive deleted]! These guys have a responsibility to talk to these kids as if they were speaking the very words of God themselves in their theology." (Steve Camp, CCM Magazine, Nov. 1986, pp. 20-21).
    • Steve Camp: After cursing during an interview his ministry covered up by sending out an apology to those who complained.
    • When Stryper hit the Christian music scene a few years ago, cultural trappings like earrings, makeup, spandex, and headbanging came with them. In the same way, bands like Vengeance and Deliverance bring with them torn jeans, ratty T-shirts and ‘moshing.’" (CCM Magazine, Feb. 1989, p. 20) (Note: I want to minister to teens in torn jeans, but I expect to see them improve and grow, not think that is the way to stay.)
    • Brad Holster, member of CCM group Trouble stated of their album Run to the Light "we sorta tamed the message down to peace and love…so we wouldn’t feel like hypocrites. You know, like Bible-beatin’ people and not the whole band was born again Christians, ya know?" (Heaven’s Metal Magazine, Number 18, p. 12) (Note: Non-Christians can’t genuinely sing Christian songs. It’s not Bible thumpers who are hypocrites, but those who claim the message of the Bible but live like the world!)
    • Most are against separation, Christian discipline. Consider these words by Steve Taylor cited by Jeff Godwin in What’s Wrong With Christian Rock?, p. 22) "Be a clone and kiss conviction goodnight….So now I see the whole design, my church is an assembly line…I want to be a clone. I’m glad they shoved it down my throat; I want to be a clone. Everybody must get cloned." (Note: Notice how many of these performers are anti-local church? By the way, I am trying to make people Christ-like, or in other words, clones of Christ!)
    • "I found that the church really wasn’t the place where I had more freedom, it was the opposite: I actually was restricted more…I guess the main thing is, I want to grow as an artist and I want to be able to write about whatever I want to write about. And I really don’t want to be restricted, and I feel like I am in Gospel music…The born-again movement is more about obsession and narrow-mindedness and repression and true Christianity is about mercy and freedom and love." (Leslie Phillips, CCM Magazine, Nov. 1988, p. 8)

(Note: It is the truth that sets you free. His freedom is the wrong kind of freedom which leads to slavery. His problem is submission to the will of God. He doesn’t like that restriction.)
    • Lincoln Star 5/10/91 Article

"Christian Musician Smith Thrills Pershing Crowd"

Amy Grant, make room at the pop-rock altar for your friend Michael W. Smith.

His sweet voice, melodic rock tunes and MTV looks will make him the next contemporary Christian musician to have major success with mainstream audiences.

Already he has scored Top 40 airplay with is ballad "A Place in This World."

Smith had no trouble winning over a clapping, stomping audience of 2,687 at Pershing Auditorium Thursday night.

The stage¾ a maze of platforms and steel girders¾ featured a wide assortment of colored spotlights and smoke machines. In other words, all the elaborate toys for a pumped-up rock concert.

SMITH HELD the center spotlight for much of the hour-and-45-minute performance-dancing, playing piano, and singing. Definite teen-idol material, he has a bit of George Michael stubble, a mane of model's hair and a 1,000-watt smile. Judging by the squeals in the audience, many young girls have made that discovery.

(Note: We are not to use sex appeal to attract an audience)

His music is a mixture of pop, hard rock, and gospel, with an occasional odd reggae or African rhythm thrown in. Backed by a tight eight-man ensemble, Smith moved smoothly through about 20 songs-most of them from his latest album, "Go West Young Man," from which his current tour takes its name.

Smith is musician more than preacher. His spirituality speaks out in lyrics, hip-hop dancing, rapping and piano playing. The audience responded with familiarity much of the time, singing along on some of the slower pieces.

The band opened with a couple blasts of hard rock, but galloped quickly into "Go West" territory with the peppy, melodic "For You."

Smith, who played electronic keyboard much of the time, moved to the grand piano for a quiet solo session that showed off his pianistic skills; from the gospel flavor of "How Long Will Be Too Long?" to the sweet, melodic "Emily," punctuated by a fine sax solo. A wedding song, "Cross My Heart," was also memorable.

Band member Mike E, on guitar, took the spotlight for a couple of revved-up rap tunes that switched the show back into high-energy mode.

Highlights of the second half included Smith at the grand piano for "Place in This World," an audience favorite that generated much applause, and "Go West Young Man"-accented by flashing spotlights all over the auditorium.

SMITH DONNED sunglasses for "Love Crusade," an appealing rocker that brought a crowd of fans to the front of the stage dancing and clapping.

    • DC Talk, the best-selling rap group in Christian music, opened Thursday's show with a mixture of fancy choreography, gymnastics and religious-themed raps. A trio of singer/rappers backed by four other dancers, DC Talk is a smart-looking bunch of performers.
    • One instrumentalist on the keyboard, plus pre-recorded bass lines, provided background. "Lean On Me," the classic Bill Withers tune, got fine rap treatment in the trio's best number.
      1. Worldly results
    • DC Talk’s Smith said "People will let you down. I’m not here to preach. Jesus will not let you down. Any kind of pressure is wrong, I don’t want to put any pressure on anyone. Just ask someone walking around you." We are to persuade (pressure) men. The Jesus they promoted by their concert is not the Jesus of the Bible!
    • "We reject the philosophy which suggests that the music which stirs up lust and wickedness at a rock concert or in a bar room can be sanctified for the Lord’s use. We believe worldly music produces worldliness. Most CCM does not produce holiness of life and separation from the world. In the 1980s, Pentecostal preacher David Wilkerson changed his position on jazzy music and began to lift his voice against Christian rock. In his book Set the Trumpet to Thy Mouth in 1985 he said: "One of the reasons God’s Spirit was lifted from the Jesus Movement of the last decade was their refusal to forsake their old music. They gave up pot, heroin, alcohol, promiscuous sex, and they even gave up perverted lifestyles. But they refused to give up their beloved rock…! I say its hold is stronger than drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. It is the biggest mass addiction in the world’s history….rock music, as used and performed in Christian circles, is of the same Satanic seed as that which is called, punk, heavy metal, and is performed in devilish rock concerts worldwide."
    • In 1991 Wilkerson gave the following warning: "About five years ago I became disheartened when many pastors opened up their churches to rock concerts. Teenagers went wild, dancing in the aisles, going straight out of church and into back seats of cars for sex. Parents wrote me brokenhearted, saying, ‘My teenager was on fire for God. Then our pastor and youth pastor brought in these wild groups, and I lost my son. he is backslidden. He got an appetite for occult music right in our won church.’"
    • Because of its sensual nature, my opinion is that CCM is one of the primary reasons the divorce rate is so high in the church. In evangelical churches the divorce rate is only 2% points lower than the world. However, in fundamental churches, which usually eschew rock music, it is 15-20% lower.
    • Worldly music produces worldliness. "Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap."
      1. Ecumenical effects
        1. 3 great weapons of the ecumenical movement
          1. Moral Relativism: moral relativism has created within the church a generation of Christians who are afraid to take a doctrinal stand for fear of being called judgmental and divisive.
          2. Experientially Oriented: Christians have followed the culture and made it so that truth has taken a back seat to experience and experience is elevated above doctrine. Thus, they are trying to create a unity that is based on experience, not doctrine.
          3. Music. CCM has crossed more barriers than the charismatic movement. We used to fear that the charismatic movement or tongues speaking was going to be the path through which the ecumenical church was ushered in because it crossed all denominational barriers. I think it might have paved the way, but it is music that will usher in the uniting of the ecumenical forces because it is the universal language.
        2. Illustrations
    • "Aside from its commercialism and its increasing resemblance to the world, contemporary Christian music is becoming a religious melting pot. Some in the community admit that they are not believers. And while this is still an exception, CCM IS PROUD OF ITS ECUMENICAL AND CHARISMATIC SPIRIT. THIS ECUMENISM EXTENDS OPEN ARMS TOWARD APOSTATE PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS AND THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH" (Making Musical Choices, Bob Jones University, 1986, p. 86).
    • Charisma magazine Feb. 1994 "Today, praise music has entered the mainstream. Songs that were only sung in charismatic churches a few years ago are now heard throughout mainline and non-charismatic churches."
    • Jack Hayford, author of Majesty, pastor of Church-on-the-way Foursquare Church, Pentecostal denomination started by Aimee Semple McPherson. Paul and Jan Crouch and Pat Boone are members of his church. He endorsed Robert Schuller’s autobiography, Prayer: My Soul’s Adventure with God. Writing in The Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper he said, "redeeming worship centers on the Lord’s table. Whether your tradition celebrates it as communion, the Eucharist, the Mass or the Lord’s Supper, we are all called to this centerpiece of Christian Worship." (Seven Promises, p. 19)
    • Bill & Gloria Gaither: graduates of Anderson College, Church of God school. At Indianapolis ’90 over one-half of the 25,000 present were Catholic. A mass was held each morning during the conference and a Catholic priest gave the closing message.
    • John Micheal Talbot: charismatic Roman Catholic who prays to Mary and speaks in tongues. In his book Simplicity, he states, "Personally, I have found praying the Rosary to be one of the most powerful tools I possess in obtaining simple, childlike meditation on the life of Jesus Christ." In 1996 he produced a joint venture album with Michael Card. Talbot said, "Doing this project has enabled us to become real friends. And along the way, the denominational lines have become really meaningless to me, and to Michael, too." (CCM Magazine, July 1996)
    • Talbot: "The Holy Spirit is filling His people with simple love to prepare them for the work of unity….I am also feeling the presence of Mary becoming important in my life….I feel that she really does love me and intercedes to God on my behalf….I am to tear down my sin through penance." (CCM Magazine, Nov. 1984, p. 47)
    • Sandi Patti in 1987 performed for Pope John Paul II prior to his mass at the LA Coliseum.
    • Sheila Walsh: member of a charismatic congregation and frequently performs in charismatic and Catholic settings. Together with 20,000 Roman Catholics she participated in the North American Congress on the Holy Spirit & World Evangelization in 1987.
    • The Vineyard Churches (John Wimber), noted for their emphasis on healing and the other charismatic gifts, have produced the Vintage Vineyard Music series which is advertised as "Vineyards all-time worship classics that continue to be sung cross-denominationally in churches around the world." (Note: as of 1990, 52 of the 53 songs did not mention the cross of Christ!).
    • Little Richard: (Note: he has made a lot of contradictory statements) "I can’t go to Bible study. Most of my inspiration comes directly from God’s Spirit….There are good people in all churches. Some Buddhists really love God. Some Jehovah’s Witnesses, too. It doesn’t matter what church you belong to! Only God can read a man’s heart." (CCM Magazine, Feb. 1985, p. 22).
    • Many popular Praise songs were composed by people involved with the Oneness Pentecostal movement which denies the Trinity and baptizes in the name of Jesus only.
    1. Dottie Rambo: Behold the Lamb
    2. Joel Hemphill: He’s Still Working on Me
    3. Lanny Wolfe: Greater is He That Is In Me
    4. Geron Davis: Holy Ground, In the Presence of Jehovah
    5. Phillips, Craig, and Dean are oneness ministers

(The problem is not that the songs are necessarily unbiblical in every case, but that music is the bridge that is being used to cross doctrinal boundaries)
        1. A church which gravitates toward ecumenical charismatic music will be moved from a strong Biblical stand.
          1. The philosophy behind CCM is one of non-judgmentalism, ecumenism, and "let’s get together around Jesus." The problem is that we don’t seem to be serving the same Jesus. Just as there are a lot of people with the name Johnny, so too, there are a lot of ideas that supposedly are portraying Jesus that are not biblical.
          2. The methodology, rather than lifting up people to Christ, drags Christ down to man’s level.
    1. Excuses (IN defense) for CCM
      1. It "communicates" to young people (reaches them)
    • Feb. 1990, CCM Magazine, p. 40 an ad states, "Ask any youth pastor or any parent of a teenager and they’ll tell you the same thing: Most of today’s praise and worship music simply does not reach today’s teenagers. We all know that music is the language of teens, and let’s face it: most of the praise and worship music available today is a foreign language to them. That’s why youth leaders are having such a difficult time getting their kids involved in their worship services. Says one youth director, ‘As hard as I try, my kids just sit back with their arms folded when we begin our praise times.’ In order to communicate effectively, you must speak the right language…"
        1. Admission that it does communicate and therefore must be moral, not amoral
        2. What does it communicate?
        3. The end does not justify the means (pragmatism)
        4. Reach teens the same way you do adults, with the unadulterated word of God. It [the Word] is the power of salvation, not music is the power of salvation.
      1. Need to be culturally relevant
        1. Becoming all things to all people does not mean that we use sinful means to attract people
        2. We must go counter to culture when culture is unbiblical
    • "... what many in the church today seem to believe: you must have an angle to present the gospel to a hostile world ... It has opened the door to some bizarre evangelistic strategies. The church apes nearly every fad of secular society. Heavy metal rock, rap, graffiti, break dancing, body building, brick smashing, jazzercise, interpretive dance, and stand-up comedy all have been added to the evangelical repertoire. ... It is nothing but hedonism under the guise of religion. Many assume that without some gimmick, the gospel message just won't reach people, and unless we accommodate it to the fashion of our day, we can't hope for it to be effective. ... Thus modern churches feel they must plan and program for attracting unbelievers who cannot be persuaded with revealed truth ..." (Our Sufficiency in Christ, pp. 145-146)
    • Spurgeon: "This is the suggestion of the present hour: if the world will not come to Jesus…shall not the church go down to the world? Instead of bidding men to be converted, and come out from among sinners, and be separate from then, let us join with the ungodly world, enter into union with it, and so pervade it with our influence by allowing it to influence us. Let us have a Christian world…

Certain ministers…are treacherously betraying our holy religion under pretense of adapting it to this present age. The new plan is to assimilate the church to the world….By semidramatic performances they make houses of prayer to approximate to the theatre; they turn their services into musical displays…in fact, they exchange the temple for the Theatre, and turn the ministers of God into actors, whose business it is to amuse men…This, then, is the proposal. In order to win the world, the Lord Jesus must conform himself, his people, and His Word to the world. I will not dwell on so loathsome a proposal.

My dear hearers, how much I long to see you saved! But I would not belie my Lord, even to win your souls, if they could be so won. The true servant of God is not responsible for success or non-success. Results are in God’s hands."
    • I feel like we’ve come here to get a message across to the kids, and in effect, to change society, which is why we think we must communicate with them on some of their own terms. We will get as high energy and progressive as is necessary, if that’s what it takes to capture their attention….If there is ever going to be an understanding of the Christian message, it must be integrated into our entire society." (Michael Blanton, one of Amy grant’s managers, CCM Magazine, Feb. 1989, p. 18) Note: This is being like the world rather than being separate from it. The motive sounds great, but the method is unbiblical.
    • Dan Harrell, another manager for Amy Grant: "We realize the way we communicate is probably more subtle than the way other people might do it, but we desperately need the support and freedom from the church to allow us to approach it in our own contemporary style." (MusicLine Magazine, Feb. 1985, p. 18)
    • Steve Green was asked "Would it be possible for a Christian to minister Christ in the context of a show at Las Vegas as in a church?" His answer, "I don’t have an answer for that. I do have personal convictions that I conduct my life by, but I’m not going to force my convictions on someone else or try to make them jump through my hoops, through the convictions I have set up for my life." (MusicLine Magazine, Dec. 1985, p. 9)
        1. How to biblically relate to an unsaved world
          1. Follow Jesus’ example.
            1. He did not sin
            2. He did not condone sin
            3. He did not stoop to Madison Avenue techniques
            4. He identified as a man, though not a sinful man
            5. He loved people without compromising His position
          2. By nature, we should be different from the world
          3. Our bridge to the world should be through our humanity, not our sin nature!
            1. Eat
            2. Suffer
            3. Work
          4. We are to be separate from the world in lifestyle, behavior.
            1. Dress
            2. Music
            3. Language
            4. Amusements
            5. We are "in" the world, but not "of" the world. It is alright for a boat to be in the water. It is fatal for the water to be in the boat.
      1. The motives are pure
        1. I will admit that their motives may be pure. That is why I have refrained from the motive argument (albeit many are making lots of money. It was an 86.5 million dollar industry in 1985). Pure motives do not make it correct
          1. Uzzah had pure motives when he tried to prevent the ark from falling in 1 Chron. 13:9-10, but his actions were wrong and God judged him severely.
          2. Mormons are sincere, but sincerely wrong
          3. Does sincerity make belly dancing (a form of communication) an acceptable medium for communicating truth?
        2. God judges both motive and action
          1. It is possible to have the right motive and the wrong message
          2. It is possible to have the right message and the wrong motive
        3. Illus.
    • John Styll, of CCM, "Amy Grant is making a lot of money, but so are Christian doctors and lawyers. If you sow spiritually, you should reap materially." (US News and World Report, Aug. 25, 1986)
    • Christianity Today recently reported that all of the major CCM companies are now owned by secular corporations. What does this say for their motives. The owners are in it for the money, honey. They want their own glory, not the Lord’s and they will use the means that best promotes their ends whether it is Christian or not.
  1. Philosophy of Church Music
    1. Meet the standards of good music (see section ?)
    2. Must pass the proper biblical filters (see section ?)
    3. The body of acceptable church music is of necessity more narrow than the body of acceptable personal music
      1. Focus of the church is more narrow
      2. Corporate standards of necessity must be higher
        1. To prevent offending anyone
        2. To challenge people to raise their personal standards
        3. To prevent the appearance of evil
    4. Tension Points
      1. Worship vs. evangelism
    • John MacArthur: "The primary audience for our singing is to be fellow believers, one another. Throughout Scripture the singing of God’s people is shown to be within the fellowship of believers. No music in the Bible is ever characterized as being or intended to be evangelistic…when emotions are played on without a clear or complete presentation of God’s truth to the mind, such music can be counterproductive by producing a feeling of well-being and contentment that is a counterfeit of God’s peace and that serves to further insulate an unbeliever from the saving gospel."
    • CCM caters to the feel good mentality of modern society. It lends itself to the shallow, warm, fuzzy type of Christianity that has no discernment, is based on feelings instead of Scripture, and masquerades as being Spirit-filled when in reality it is a cheap counterfeit.
    • John MacArthur: "It should be noted that the many contemporary entertainers who think they are using their rock-style music to evangelize the lost are often doing nothing more than contributing to the weakening of the church."
    • It does this by catering to pride, by being grounded in emotion, by appealing to the flesh, by watering down the message, by sending a false impression of the nature of the gospel, and by cheapening the Christian life.
    • John MacArthur: "In using the world’s genres of music, it blurs the gap between Satanic values and divine ones. It tends to deny the power of the simple gospel and the sovereign saving work of the Holy Spirit. It creates a wide generation gap in the church, thus contributing to the disunity and lack of intimacy in the fellowship of all believers. It leads to the propagation of bad or weak theology and drags the name of the Lord down to the level of the world. The music of the gospel is certainly not a legitimate means for making money or seeking fame, and it must never be allowed to cheapen what is priceless, or trivialize what is profound."
      1. Edification vs. Entertainment
    • Lowell Davey, President of BBN: "My response [to why churches have accepted worldly music] is, many have purchased an ‘entertainment center’ for their home and now the church is becoming an ‘entertainment center’ for our religion. It is well known that the ‘Mega Church’ has bought into this market driven music. The business of the church has become entertainment rather than evangelism, a show rather than a service, a focus on methods rather than missions, seeking money rather than ministry."
    • A. W. Tozer: "God will not be used. True worship is not cheap entertainment. Worshiping God with a wrong motive can be as deadening as worshiping the wrong god with a sincere motive.

"In short, the most dangerous thing we can do is to return to spiritual worship. It would mean the end of the ‘personality cults’ that have invaded the church. It would also mean the end of the ‘Christian consumerism’ that has so twisted our sense of spiritual values. I have no doubt that a church that returned to true worship would lose people¾important people¾and probably have to make drastic cuts in the budget.

"The goal of worship is Christlikeness in our character and conduct. The more we become like Christ, the more we will be treated by others the way He was treated. They crucified him because He said He would put an end to the building program and tear down the temple. They crucified Him because He opposed the religious merchandising that was going on in the temple."
    1. Specifics
      1. Congregational Singing
        1. Participate: Heb. 2:12, Ps. 104:33
        2. Spirit-filled: Eph. 5:18
      2. Choir Music
        1. Quality
        2. Unity
        3. Lifestyle
      3. Special Music
        1. No record that the early church had special music, choirs
        2. No record that the early church had concerts
        3. The "singer’s" qualifications
          1. Should be skillful (1 Sam. 16:14-23)
    • Alden White, station manager of KYFA in Amarillo, TX: "In special music we now have an over-appreciation for style or personality with a serious neglect to voice quality."
    • Don’t need t slide into notes like a sensuous, worldly singer. Don’t need to look like we are caressing the microphone or serenading a lover.
          1. Motive should be to glorify God
          2. Should meet the qualifications of a teacher since he is teaching the word in song and needs to be an example of a believer
          3. Should be spirit-filled
          4. Should not sing in such a way so as to perform, but to edify
          5. Dress appropriately so as to honor the Lord.
          6. Need to use approved music. See below for an explanation.
          7. Since most background tapes are made by companies owned by secular entities and since they produce what sells, and since they judge music by the world’s standards, I would encourage the use of singing by piano to avoid sensual, rock, and other worldly elements from being in the songs. Faith Music Missions has some good background tapes that do not have a beat (they have rhythm, there is a difference).
  1. Biblical Filters For Determining Good Music
    1. Are the words Scriptural? (Col. 3:16)
    • To begin, I am seriously concerned about lyrics which portray

Jesus as either less than fully divine or inferior to the Father in

some way. One song declares that Jesus "was just an ordinary

man...just a carpenter from Galilee." Since I am familiar with

other songs by this artist, I know that he believes in the deity of

Christ. In His incarnation, Christ also had a fully human nature,

which is what I think this artist meant to say. But Jesus was

certainly no "ordinary man." Jesus was God in the flesh!
    • Since Jesus is God, He is all-powerful. Yet He is often

portrayed in a less-than-omnipotent way. One song¾ a testimonial¾ laments

that "the Devil was in me. There wasn't enough room to

let sweet Jesus in." Another song about Jesus' second coming says:

"If you see a Man in sandals, please send Him down my way; It might

be my Master, He's coming back some day; If you see a Man in white

that's like no one you've seen before, won't you let me know,

That's the man I'm looking for. And if you can remember, ask Him

what's His name; And if He tells you Jesus, say, 'We're so glad you

came'...Then send Him on to me." This is a description of the King

of kings and Lord of lords coming in glory?
    • Salvation is another issue that is sometimes shortchanged. One

song portrays Jesus as saying, "if you're sorry -- I'll wash away

your sin." There is no mention of faith even though faith is

mentioned around 200 times in the New Testament as the condition

of salvation. Being just sorry never saved anyone!
    • Another song, performed by one of today's most popular

Christian artists, seems unclear regarding the exclusivity of

Christianity. Though other songs by this artist portray Christ as

the "only way," this is not clear in the song under question:

"There's a call to us all to love all humanity; Every race on the

face of the earth come to unity; Reach a hand to the Hindu mother;

And a hand to the Buddhist father in love; ('Love one another as I

have loved you.') Hold the hands of the Muslim baby; And you'll see

we're all created by God; (All in the image of God); Sweet

salvation calls the nations with His voice; Every man who hears

must make the choice; Who are we to know another's heart or mind?

For God alone is judge, He loves all kinds." (Christian Research Institute)
    1. Does it have as its purpose the goal to glorify God? (1 Co. 10:31)
      1. Is it oriented to self or toward God?
      2. Does it over emphasize feeling and neglect the Word?
      3. Does it appeal to the flesh rather than the spirit?
    2. Is the message, both in the words and the music, biblical? Or is it sensual, oriented to the flesh?
    3. Do the words violate Phil. 4:8?
    4. Does it help us glorify God with our bodies or does it unleash unbiblical impulses and responses? (1 Co. 6:19-20)
      1. Is it physically damaging?
      2. Does it promote physical desires that need to be kept under control?
    5. Is it confusing, uncertain? (1 Co. 13)
    6. Does it help us maintain separation from the world or does it blur the distinctiveness of the Christian lifestyle and message? (2 Co. 6:17)
    7. Verses
      1. Eph. 5:19
      2. Col. 3:16
      3. 1 Pet. 1:15
      4. Phil. 4:8
      5. 1 Co. 10:31
      6. James 4:4
      7. Rom. 8:5-8
      8. 2 Co. 6:14-17
      9. 1 John 2:15-17
  1. FAQ
    1. Isn’t music amoral?
    • Answer: We have already dealt with this issue in the previous sections. The key is, does music communicate by itself. If it does, then it cannot be amoral because all communication, by necessity, carries with it moral truth or moral values. Notes are neutral, musical compositions are not!
    1. Are we to be all things to all people so that we can win some?
    • Answer: We dealt with this under the need to be culturally relevant. This phrase from 1 Corinthians is not a license to sin or to use sinful methods to reach people. My contact with the world is through that part of my humanity that is common to both of us, i.e. work, suffering, eating, etc. We can make allowances in areas that are not biblical. But we do not use methods that degrade or detract from the gospel message.
    1. What about all of the decisions that are being made at these Christian concerts?
    • Answer: "Christian" rock groups almost always state that the purpose of their music is for evangelism and/or entertainment. Although Scripture records various folk songs, work songs, battle songs, etc., the Bible teaches that the God-approved purpose or use of music is primarily for worship, praise, edification, and the teaching of doctrine (e.g., Exo. 15:1,2,20,21; I Chron. 15:27,28; 16:9,23; II Chron. 20:21,22; Psa. 95:2; 105:2; Acts 16:25; Eph. 5:18, 19; Col. 3:16). Over fifty psalms were dedicated to the chief musician to be used in worship, and in heaven the 24 elders and angelic beings will also be using music in worship (Rev. 5:8 ff.).

Although godly music can have an evangelistic purpose or result (e.g., Psa. 96:1-3; 108:3), it is not used primarily for this in Scripture. In fact, nowhere in the Bible does it say, "Sing the gospel of Christ." It says to preach it! God can certainly use music to bring somebody to Christ, but there has to be a presentation of the gospel somewhere along the line. Our music is primarily an expression of a Spirit-filled life, not really intended for the world's consumption. We seem to want so much to sing our songs to the world that we put them in the world's vernacular and think it's going to be evangelistic.

So even if one could find nothing wrong with the lyrics, the score, the character, and/ or the effect of "Christian" rock music, one would still have to question why the modern day, self-proclaimed musical evangelists/entertainers persist in using their music in endeavors where there is no clear Biblical precedent; i.e., although mentioned over 800 times in Scripture, music is never used for entertainment or for direct evangelism or for any end within itself. Music in the Bible is used primarily in praise and in worship, either to God (e.g., I Chron. 16:9,23; II Chron. 29:30; Psa. 9:11; 30:4; 33:2,3; 47:6; 135:3; etc.) or to Satan (e.g., Dan. 3:4,5,7,10,15; Exo. 32:17,18).

Most of the decisions are emotional in nature and do not last. The danger at these concerts is that young people become confused mistaking an adrenaline rush, a feel-good attitude, and an emotional frenzy for the working of the Sprit of God. That is not how the Spirit works. That is how the flesh works and young people any more do not know the difference. In fact, many adult Christians are confused.

    1. Is there a difference between acceptable church music and acceptable home music?
    • Answer: Yes. Music in the church is of a much narrower focus. At home, songs that are a little more fun, less worship oriented, even secular, can be song. These songs, however, should still meet the requirements of good music. I am not saying that rock is wrong for the church and OK for the home. If it is wrong, it is wrong. There are some songs that are fine for home but are not appropriate for church.
    1. What if I don’t like other kinds of music?
    • Answer: This is a real problem for those who are trying to honor God by not listening to rock music, but have listened to a steady diet of it in the past. The key is obedience. Listen to what is right, not what you feel like. Just as you can’t always act in ways you feel because it would be wrong, you can’t always listen to what you feel like. The second key is replacement. You must develop a taste for good music. People who have had heart surgery and often required to make a change to a healthier diet. This is difficult at first, but it can be done. Over time, they will actually enjoy the healthy foods over the junk foods they were used to eating.
    1. Is rock a symptom or cause of evil?
    • Answer: Both. Because it is evil in its message, it actually causes some evil. However, people enjoy the evil nature in the music because they are evil. Many of the lyrics are born out of evil experiences, difficult situations, and ungodly philosophies of life.
    1. What about when David danced naked in the presence of the Lord in Psalms where it tells us to dance before the Lord?
    • Answer: I have been asked this question more than any other. First, modern dancing is nothing more than a simulated sex act! Christians have no business being involved. Couple that with the sensual nature of rock music and you see why young people can’t control themselves sexually.
    • To answer the question, first he did not dance naked. In the Hebrew, it states that he wore only the linen ephod, as opposed to his royal clothes. Thus, he was humbling himself in the sight of the Lord. Second, the dances of the Hebrews are not at all like what you find in the dance halls today. Picture a Jewish family, playing traditional Jewish music, arm in arm, dancing in a circle. This is more akin to what David was doing and what the Psalms are suggesting. When I was in college, we had an orthodox Jewish synagogue right next to the campus. During special occasions, you could hear the distinctive Jewish music (not rock or pop) playing, and families dancing together. This is what you have here. These passages cannot be used as an excuse for modern, sensual, suggestive, lewd dances that are a part of today’s culture.