Christian music: Is it all good?

[ravindran]

6 hours ago, Wanda01 said:

I love Christian music, mostly old hymnals, though there are a few more upbeat songs, like "I can only imagine", from MercyMe, that I really like as well. Back when I was a babe in Christ, I would have been forbidden to listen to groups like MercyMe, as they were considered too secular.

I often find myself even now wondering, "Should I (or my daughter) be listening to that?"

Recently my daughter shared with me some music she has been listening to. The groups refer to themselves as Christian, and there are some references made in a song or two that I have heard, to salvation (and to be honest, I had to strain to catch it) but thus far, no mention of Jesus Christ.

The music from one particular band would have been an "absolutely not!" 20 years ago. It's very heavy metal (the band is called Skillet). There are other groups as well that claim to be Christian rock, but sound very much like the old rock I might've listened to back in the day.

I worry for her. She is young, impressionable, and very trusting. I am also very much on my own raising her, as her father isn't really involved in the day-to-day. I really don't want her to listen to anything that could get her off of the straight and narrow. Yes, she is a born again believer.

Advice? 

My daughter is just 6 years old. I am still worried about some of the choices she would make  While there is no harm in hearing to any type of Christian music, we need to assess and see if they are really good. Instead of telling kids what to listen, we should teach them how to choose what to listen. I always tell my daughter, what is the song about? Is it pointing to Jesus? Is it glorifying God? Or is it just making you feel better? I rather evaluate songs individually rather than labeling bands as a whole to be good. While there are many good singers, there is no guarantee that all their songs are good. There are some really good Christian music. I am very picky. Chris Tomlin would be the top pick for me. I love how his songs talk about goodness of God. How He saved us. And what we are that He would even love us!

[GandalfTheWise]

In the OT, especially Psalms, there is extensive reference to music.  In reading the Psalms, one can see a wide range of thoughts and emotions being expressed in many different ways.  Some Psalms are concrete recitations of historical events.  Other Psalms are very symbolic using a lot of imagery.  Some are joyful; some are sad; some are dark and painful; some focus on God and His glory; and some focus on the plight of the Psalmist.   Sadly, we do not have the music recorded in a concrete manner that allows us to know for sure how these were sung, what the range of music styles might have been, and what instruments were used for them.  However, based on the emotions being described, I do not think it out of line to assume that the style and instruments used reflected what was being expressed.  For example, I cannot imagine how something like Psalm 51 (David's confession of sin) and Psalm 150 (a call to worship God joyfully) would have been sung to the same tune in the same style on the same instrument.  

Some of the Psalms do contain some description of instrumentation and its use.  For example,

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
⁴ praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.  (Psalm 150:3-5 NIV)

In addition, the historical books contain a few descriptions of worship.   I Chron 15 is the story of bringing the ark into Jerusalem.  In particular verse 28 gives this description, "So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouts, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and of cymbals, and the playing of lyres and harps." (I Chr 15:28 NIV).

I am left with the impression in the OT that the music and worship described covers a variety of styles and emotions.

The NT does not give much detail about music.  I know a few denominations take the lack of mention of musical instruments in the NT to mean that Christians are only allowed to sing music a cappella (that is with voices only and no instruments).  But as far as I can tell, most Christians seem to take Psalms and descriptions of OT worship as an example of using both singing and instruments as acceptable.

56 minutes ago, Wanda01 said:

I never said I didn't like the music. In fact, I enjoyed it but felt guilty, and then wondered if I was being lax in my parenting, allowing my daughter to listen to it.

Sometimes guilt and remorse is God's way of convicting us to point out something is wrong.  However, sometimes it is an unhealthy consequence of legalism where we've made our Christian walk about following particular rules.  

I've been involved in music most of my adult life.  I'm now doing some volunteer work for a local lower power FM Christian radio station.  Most of the music played is definitely from the heavier genres of Christian music.  We also stream online (and have people regularly listening around the world including some countries where Christianity is restricted).  A couple people mentioned that a few local retail businesses and restaurants in the city tune to our station. 

My sense is that many songs are individual in nature and that God uses a range of them to touch people at a particular point in their life.  A couple that hit me very strongly at low points in my life were "Winds of Change" by Kutless and "Unbreakable" by Fireflight.  I remember the first time I heard the Fireflight song was riding in the van with my family and my daughter wanted to listen to her new CD.  A few of the lyrics resonated with me and how I was feeling at that time and gave me some much needed encouragement.

Sometimes it's hard to just keep going
But faith is moving without knowing
Can I trust what I can't see
To reach my destiny
I want to take control but I know better

God, I want to dream again
Take me where I've never been
I want to go there
This time I'm not scared
Now I am unbreakable, it's unmistakable
No one can touch me
Nothing can stop me

Forget the fear it's just a crutch
That tries to hold you back
And turn your dreams to dust
All you need to do is just trust

One of the cool things about being involved with the radio station is the individual testimonies of how God reached out and touched people through particular songs.  People hitting the scan button on their car radio and running across a song.  Other people seeing a poster for the station and tuning in to hear some song for the first time that affected them.  One of our volunteers basically became a Christian after having "randomly" run across the station and started listening to it.

[Guest Wanda01]

I found what I consider an excellent answer to my own question here: 

https://www.gotquestions.org/secular-music.html

Had my husband listen to it also and he said it was an excellent teaching on the subject. 

 

[Guest Wanda01]

6 minutes ago, GandalfTheWise said:

In the OT, especially Psalms, there is extensive reference to music.  In reading the Psalms, one can see a wide range of thoughts and emotions being expressed in many different ways.  Some Psalms are concrete recitations of historical events.  Other Psalms are very symbolic using a lot of imagery.  Some are joyful; some are sad; some are dark and painful; some focus on God and His glory; and some focus on the plight of the Psalmist.   Sadly, we do not have the music recorded in a concrete manner that allows us to know for sure how these were sung, what the range of music styles might have been, and what instruments were used for them.  However, based on the emotions being described, I do not think it out of line to assume that the style and instruments used reflected what was being expressed.  For example, I cannot imagine how something like Psalm 51 (David's confession of sin) and Psalm 150 (a call to worship God joyfully) would have been sung to the same tune in the same style on the same instrument.  

Some of the Psalms do contain some description of instrumentation and its use.  For example,

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
⁴ praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.  (Psalm 150:3-5 NIV)

In addition, the historical books contain a few descriptions of worship.   I Chron 15 is the story of bringing the ark into Jerusalem.  In particular verse 28 gives this description, "So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouts, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and of cymbals, and the playing of lyres and harps." (I Chr 15:28 NIV).

I am left with the impression in the OT that the music and worship described covers a variety of styles and emotions.

The NT does not give much detail about music.  I know a few denominations take the lack of mention of musical instruments in the NT to mean that Christians are only allowed to sing music a cappella (that is with voices only and no instruments).  But as far as I can tell, most Christians seem to take Psalms and descriptions of OT worship as an example of using both singing and instruments as acceptable.

Sometimes guilt and remorse is God's way of convicting us to point out something is wrong.  However, sometimes it is an unhealthy consequence of legalism where we've made our Christian walk about following particular rules.  

I've been involved in music most of my adult life.  I'm now doing some volunteer work for a local lower power FM Christian radio station.  Most of the music played is definitely from the heavier genres of Christian music.  We also stream online (and have people regularly listening around the world including some countries where Christianity is restricted).  A couple people mentioned that a few local retail businesses and restaurants in the city tune to our station. 

My sense is that many songs are individual in nature and that God uses a range of them to touch people at a particular point in their life.  A couple that hit me very strongly at low points in my life were "Winds of Change" by Kutless and "Unbreakable" by Fireflight.  I remember the first time I heard the Fireflight song was riding in the van with my family and my daughter wanted to listen to her new CD.  A few of the lyrics resonated with me and how I was feeling at that time and gave me some much needed encouragement.

Sometimes it's hard to just keep going
But faith is moving without knowing
Can I trust what I can't see
To reach my destiny
I want to take control but I know better

God, I want to dream again
Take me where I've never been
I want to go there
This time I'm not scared
Now I am unbreakable, it's unmistakable
No one can touch me
Nothing can stop me

Forget the fear it's just a crutch
That tries to hold you back
And turn your dreams to dust
All you need to do is just trust

One of the cool things about being involved with the radio station is the individual testimonies of how God reached out and touched people through particular songs.  People hitting the scan button on their car radio and running across a song.  Other people seeing a poster for the station and tuning in to hear some song for the first time that affected them.  One of our volunteers basically became a Christian after having "randomly" run across the station and started listening to it.

I understand what you are saying. Before coming to Christ, I was a solo artist out of Nashville. Prior to that I worked as a disc jockey for a small radio station that spun mostly 80's rock music. I loved music; it filled my days and most of my nights. Then when I became a Christian, it was akin to driving at a high rate of speed only to suddenly slam on the brakes. Lol. I didn't listen to any music for a good decade-plus.

There is some legalism that I still have to work on ridding myself of, and my husband as well, should he ever come to a place where he wants to get back into relationship with God.. Such is the damage done by our time spent in a cult. But I digress.

Today is a new day! Praise God.

[GandalfTheWise]

51 minutes ago, Wanda01 said:

I understand what you are saying. Before coming to Christ, I was a solo artist out of Nashville. Prior to that I worked as a disc jockey for a small radio station that spun mostly 80's rock music. I loved music; it filled my days and most of my nights. Then when I became a Christian, it was akin to driving at a high rate of speed only to suddenly slam on the brakes. Lol. I didn't listen to any music for a good decade-plus.

There is some legalism that I still have to work on ridding myself of, and my husband as well, should he ever come to a place where he wants to get back into relationship with God.. Such is the damage done by our time spent in a cult. But I digress.

Today is a new day! Praise God.

    I had a college roommate (who became a good lifelong friend and married my wife's best friend) who had played in a rock band in the bar scene before he became a Christian.  He's the one who taught me to play "by ear".   He had a lot of bad memories tied closely to playing in that band.  He needed to get away from playing music for a number of years.  I tried to talk him into playing for the worship team at church, but he refused.  For a number of years, he'd only worship on the piano or with guitar by himself (or on occasion a small group of people).  Years later, God redeemed music for him and he was able to enjoy doing it again without the baggage it used to have for him.

I like an eclectic range of genres from hymns to liturgies to classical to celtic/folk to rock to symphonic metal.  There's even some hip hop that I was surprised to find I liked.

FWIW, (I don't think there are any rules against sharing this info about a link.  If so, I'll edit it out.)  the station I volunteer for streams (for free) at 97x.fm (WIXL in Madison, WI).  The fellow who puts together the playlist does an amazing job at running an eclectic collection of genres and songs.  Hundreds of different songs per week, no repeats in a 8 hour period. We have a good local Christian station that targets a more mainstream Christian audience (i.e. married people in their 30s with kids).  We intentionally target teens and young adults.   For the most part, in any given hour, you will probably hear a few songs you don't like, a few songs you just love, and a few you've never heard before.  It's certainly not a fit for everyone's taste in music.  Most pastors at our church don't listen to it even though the church sponsors it.  But it might be a good resource to be able to listen to a wide range of artists and songs for free that don't get played by most mainstream Christian stations.

EDIT[Note that the streaming service we use sometimes messes up the artist/song information.  For example, it is NOT Prince's Purple Rain playing at the moment.]

Edited September 6, 2017 by GandalfTheWise
Addition info

[The_Patriot21]

7 hours ago, ravindran said:

My daughter is just 6 years old. I am still worried about some of the choices she would make  While there is no harm in hearing to any type of Christian music, we need to assess and see if they are really good. Instead of telling kids what to listen, we should teach them how to choose what to listen. I always tell my daughter, what is the song about? Is it pointing to Jesus? Is it glorifying God? Or is it just making you feel better? I rather evaluate songs individually rather than labeling bands as a whole to be good. While there are many good singers, there is no guarantee that all their songs are good. There are some really good Christian music. I am very picky. Chris Tomlin would be the top pick for me. I love how his songs talk about goodness of God. How He saved us. And what we are that He would even love us!

Ah your daughter is 6! That is the same age as my daughter. I for some reason thought she was an adult for some reason! 

In any case, I personally let both my kids (6 and almost 5) listen to skillet. I only let my 5 year old son watch/listen to Red, mainly because their music gives my daughter nightmares while not affecting my son that way. Its important to know your children

While I love both bands and have no issue with my kids listening to them, the choice whether to let your kids listen to their music is of course up to you and your husband. Skillet, especially their latest album, does have some very adult themes, that while clean maybe more then a young child can handle. Whether you let yours listen to their music and watch their videos is up to you and your husband, I can and have provided my input but I don't know your child like you do.

[Guest]

16 hours ago, Wanda01 said:

The groups refer to themselves as Christian

In years past, I've heard that there are secular musicians who entered the Christian music industry because they were unable to make successful careers in the secular market.  I've not personally investigated this, but in evaluating the absence of a Biblical message or of any glory given to God in the lyrics, I wouldn't call it "Christian."  I know of some secular bands that have members who are Christian.

That being said, I have a brother who had a Christian band and they were in the process of signing on with a Christian label.  My brother was in a discussion about a contract and was bluntly told that they don't really care if the band members were Christian or not.  It turned out that "much" (not all) the Christian music industry is just a genre label that markets to a particular demographic.

While my brother was deeply disturbed enough that he discontinued his pursuit, I'm thinking that he could have kept searching. 

I left one church because the music literally sounded evil, another church because they turned the church service into a "Christian" rock concert... (colored lights and fog machines)

I've tried to teach my children that the music should:  1. Sound like music that everyone at church would enjoy, 2. Have lyrics that have a Biblical message and/or openly honors God, 3. Inspires them to be spiritual or at least Christ-like, 4. Be different than what non-Christians would listen to.

 

[ravindran]

13 hours ago, The_Patriot2017 said:

Whether you let yours listen to their music and watch their videos is up to you and your husband, I can and have provided my input but I don't know your child like you do.

I think you got it mixed up? 

I am the husband in my house!! And I am not OP of this thread. I was just giving my opinion. 

[The_Patriot21]

49 minutes ago, ravindran said:

I think you got it mixed up? 

I am the husband in my house!! And I am not OP of this thread. I was just giving my opinion. 

I'm sorry I for some reason thought you were wanda! So I guess swap out husband with wife lol

[Guest]

To answer the question in the title: NO.