DEVIL MUSIC?
What’s the deal with CrossPoint? On most Sunday mornings the band fires up some ungodly, un-spiritual, secular radio song right before the preaching of God’s Word. Why on earth is that a good idea? Shouldn’t God’s Word be set up with the most sacred, religious, pure and holy music that we can imagine? Isn’t listening to secular music a sin? I mean, I smashed or burned all of my Ted Nugent records at youth retreat in 1982. Don’t you guys know that God’s House is not the place for that kind of nonsense? Does Bob Larson need to play more records backwards for you?
It occurred to me that some people may be asking these kind of questions when they see that we often play songs by all sorts of pagans during our Sunday service. Since I have been the worship leader at CrossPoint we have played songs by Kansas, Eric Clapton, Green Day, Good Charlotte, Coldplay, KISS, Linkin Park, Talking Heads, The Who, Madonna, Rare Earth, Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, Sevendust, Beatles, David Matthews, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Lenny Kravitz, Bob Marley, Kool & The Gang, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Tom Waits, Don Henley, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Blind Faith, Seal, The Cure, and honestly, we’re are likely to play a song by just about anyone. I’m certainly not saying that all of those artists are rank pagans, because I don’t know any of them, but I am saying that their music is not usually thought of as sacred (or church music). We tend to play these songs just before the sermon. It sets the tone, introduces the topic, and gives an emotional and cultural touch-point for what is going to be talked about.
THAT’S NOT RIGHT!
There have certainly been people who are critical of this practice, but I believe their criticism is contrary to biblical teaching. They would say that entertainment has no place in worship, and the music/lyrics of the ungodly should not be used in holy worship. One Christmas I received an Email from a very angry member of the congregation because we played John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas.” She reminded me that John Lennon was an outspoken atheist, so his music was “not at all” fitting for a church service. Imagine that.
WESTERN SOUNDTRACK
In the Western culture there are many works of music that “most of us” are familiar with. We have heard them on the radio, on T.V., at the mall, in the grocery store, during football games, at the park, in movies, etc. The soundtrack of Western Civilization includes many pagan artists that have become part of our cultural make-up. I pull from this lexicon of popular music to find common ground with our audience. If we are teaching on grace, I will search for a song that illustrates grace in either a positive or negative way. Sometimes music can reach deep into us, places that logic can’t touch, places of deep memories and nostalgia. Maybe the song will open our hearts in a way that some other sermon illustration wouldn’t. Maybe it will open the door for a conversation at work during the next week, “You’ll never believe what song they played at my church this week!”
I’M GONNA NEED A VERSE!
St Paul certainly knew the value of using popular artists of his day to teach and preach. He must have been a fan of Greek and Roman pagan poetry and philosophy (the secular rock stars of his day), because he used direct quotes from Hymns to Zeus in his sermons and in his epistles that make up the New Testament. There are three famous quotes of pagan poets in the New Testament by St Paul, first the pagan philosopher/poet/mystic Epimenides in Titus 1: 12 when he says “Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” The second is when Paul is speaking at the Areopagus (in Acts) and quotes Cleanthes (from The Phoenomena of Aratus) saying that their native poets had said, “For we are also his offspring.” And, the third is in his writing to the Corinthians where he writes, “Evil communications corrupt good manners” or “Evil associations destroy excellent characters” from a tragedy of Euripides. These quotations were from popular hymns to Zeus that would have been as common to a Greek audience as the Beatles would be to us today. These are not the only times in the Bible that the words of pagans were used by God to teach something true. Evil men speaking evil words (untrue words) and then God’s people using those words to say something right and true. God is constantly doing this. He is doing it right now, to a much lessor extent, through me. (ahem)
KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!
You may be wondering why I put the word secular in quotes (up there, in the title). The reason is because I don’t think anything is truly secular. St Paul was pretty fond of quoting another popular poet, too, his name was David, and David said “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” in Psalm 24:1 (Paul quoted this in 1 Corinthians 10:26). I take this to mean that some things might not be specifically “sacred” but that doesn’t mean that they are evil. There is not a good team (God, the angels and the church) and a bad team (the Devil, his demons, rock stars and politicians) with secular things belonging to the bad team. Next week at CrossPoint we going to be talking about how we must teach our children to honor their bodies and maintain sexual purity as part of a series on Biblical parenting. So my job is to find a song that will remind us of this and set up the tone for the sermon. Do you remember the Georgia Satellites? “No huggie, no kissie, until I get a wedding ring!” (See how this works?)
September 4th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
fans of Bruce Springsteen who want to revel in the observations of fellow followers might not even know about the book “For You”, a limited-run, hardcover volume with hundreds of photos and primary text: E-mail-type recollections about first shows and memorable moments. The Boss himself might like to read it
September 5th, 2008 at 12:02 am
It’s amazing that Rob found a cryptic reference to Bruce within four hours of me posting this article. Wow.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Jesus is Lord. He’s Lord over Madonna and Bruce and MercyMe and us. There’s a particular person in my life who thinks that anything “worldly” has no place in church but I’m afraid she also feels that Jesus has little to do with the world outside of church. Nothing escapes the Light. I love that and I love CrossPoint. You go, Frank.
September 10th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
The way I see this is that all creative activity comes from the image of God that we continue to have a remnant of in our soul. Thus Ted Nugent’s creativity comes from God and so his music is God’s it just isnt quite tuned in properly. I heard Stevie Ray Vaughn’s brother describe Stevie’s gift that way. “It was like a radio, you just had to tune it in and the music just flowed out”. I think there is something in this analogy. Music only comes from God we just need to be on the right channel.
January 27th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Wow! Thank you very much!
I always wanted to write in my site something like that. Can I take part of your post to my site?
Of course, I will add backlink?
Sincerely, Timur I.
August 16th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
I am going to start out by saying i see where you are coming from. But this is the way I see it and somebody correct me if I’m wrong.
Concerning Titus 1: 12, This whole book is a letter to Titus the pastor or head of the church at Crete. When Paul stated in verse 12 “One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.” verse 13 “This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;” he was telling Titus to rebuke the members of his church sharply for telling lies. He was saying this is what the world is saying about you, which may have been ok in the past but now you are new creatures. Therefore walk not as you once walked and talk not as you once talked. This verse is telling the church of crete to be separate, and different, from unsaved people in crete.
and concerning the statement you made “There is not a good team (God, the angels and the church) and a bad team (the Devil, his demons, rock stars and politicians) with secular things belonging to the bad team”
According to Jesus there was a Good team and a Bad team. Luke 4: 31-37 talks about Jesus casting a demon out of a man, Jesus had just came out from being tempted in the wilderness, now there is no way to be curtain if Jesus acts written in luke are in chronological order but if they are this was Jesus first miraculous act. (side note: since Jesus the power to cast out demons so do you threw the Holy Spirit, John 14:12)
Ephesians 6:12 says “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Very clear good team vs. bad team
Now finally, what we’ve all been waiting for, concerning music,
Ezekiel 28: 13
tells us that Lucifer was a worship leader in heaven before he sinned by saying “I will become as the most high” and was cast into the earth
If satin was created to play music, don’t you think that he can use music negatively.
God loves music and he loves when we sing to him, the psalmist David is proof. I to am a musician that sings to God.
Ultimately here’s the bottom line God is not the author of confusion. Is singing secular songs in church wrong? maybe not. but it confuses people, and Jesus said it’s better to have mill stone tied around you neck and be cast into the see then to cause one of these little ones (baby christians) to fall.
February 10th, 2010 at 6:27 am
did yu you’re the ‘worhisp leader’? Oh my! you don even deserve to be a sweeper in the church let alone a ‘leader’. it’s such a pity tht people like you can have pulpits to confuse others but the milestone is awaiting you.
what’s the difference btwn Madonna n the devil himself?
March 9th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
The only criteria for worship music is does it glorify god. Secular music does not. The congregation is not the audience, God is. Music is not amoral…there is holy music and evil music…read the comments of heavy rockers like Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan, etc. Any music not dedicated to glorifying God has no place in church.
March 9th, 2010 at 6:03 pm
Of course I don’t deserve any position of honor. Everything I have is a gracious gift from God. (I’ve swept the church a few times, too. No dishonor in that.)
Madonna is a confused woman and the Devil is God’s devil.
Nothing is secular.
March 16th, 2010 at 11:19 am
Not entirely what I was searching for nevertheless it was some good reading anyway, guess its a ok that I wasn’t able to search properly or I wouldn’t have found this.
March 22nd, 2010 at 5:33 am
Very good blog post I love your site keep up the great posts
March 24th, 2010 at 10:38 am
Don’t get me wrong but sometimes I’m wondering myself what kind of music we listening to to church, playing real loud metals turning rock and roll music to gospel, and those high instruments and saying that we are making the music more interesting to listen to. I dont noe
April 8th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
It seems like music is often an emotional flashpoint for people. That says something about the depth with which it touches us. Music is a gift of immense power from God to connect in ways that other communication cannot. And each of us tend to prefer a particular music language. This can make it difficult to hear with another person’s ears. Some of the people who come to church can hear truth more clearly in a language that is not purely Christianese. Truth is truth, no matter what accent it carries. Because God created us in His image we are all capable of expressing something of the truth about who we are and about our spiritual need. If God can use what is meant for evil to make something that glorifies Him (as in the case of Joseph and his brothers), is it such a stretch for Him to use the insight and creativity of even an unbeliever to speak to His message to another person’s heart.
It’s OK to prefer what you like in music source and style. But please do not forget that yours is not the only ear that God wants to whisper into during that worship hour. And don’t be so sure that God likes only your songlist.
April 22nd, 2010 at 4:43 am
That is a great, thanks a lot to post this.