posted by Michael on 09/2/09
I have wanted to put up a blog for several months explaining why we accept some music and reject other music in Church and in our family regardless of the lyrics of the music.
Music is an expression of the heart (Job 29:13, Psalm 28:7, 57:7, 108:1, 138:1, Isaiah 65:14, Zeph. 3:14, Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16, James 5:13). The heart’s feelings of joy, sadness, excitement, awe, confidence, peace, harmony, etc. can be expressed with sound, as well as feelings of despair, impulsiveness, stupidity, silliness, rebellion, chaos, etc. We are commanded to keep our hearts with all diligence, “for out of it are the issues of life” Proverbs 4:23. Behavior and communication directly result from what is in our hearts (Luke 6:43-45, Matthew. 12:33-34). Scripture supports both loud triumphant music (Psalm 98:6) and quiet meditative music (Psalm 92:3). Music can also communicate a sloppy or silly feeling (“the song of fools” Ecclesiastes 7:5), or a seductive, sensual feeling (“the song of the harlot” Isaiah 23:15-17). We are told in Colossians 3:16 to sing with grace in our hearts to the Lord. In Ephesians 5:18-19 we see that the kind of music God wants to hear is the polar opposite to the culture of drunkenness and “excess” (profligacy). The Roman philosopher Boethius (500 A.D.) observed that music “either ennobles or degrades our behaviour.” And Confucius (500 B.C.) even said “If you would know if a people are well-governed, and if its laws are good or bad, examine the music it practices.” Scripture and experience both show an obvious link between music and action. It is not that music creates a righteous or evil nature in our hearts, but our hearts identify with music that expresses its own feelings, becoming encouraged and fed by it and emboldened to express those feelings.
Since a selfish and evil nature is ever present in the human being (Romans. 3:9-19), it needs to be restrained for a community to exist in peace and order. But the human heart hates and despises this restraint (1 Peter 4:3-4) until it is made free from sin through regeneration (Titus 3:3-7). It should come as no surprise that when wild, impulsive music became available to the un-regenerated it unleashed a torrent of unrestrained immorality as the young audience “discovered itself under the liberating and troubling power of the new beat” (Tom Junod, LIFE [Special issue: 40 years of Rock & Roll] 1 Dec. 1 1992, pp. 33, 37). “All rock is revolutionary. By its very beat and sound it has always implicitly rejected restraints and has celebrated freedom and sexuality” (Time, 31 October 1969, p. 49). This is the “freedom” that ends in death (Romans 6:15-23). “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs. 16:25) Is it any surprise that when the people of Israel threw off the restraints of Jehovah and turned to a disgusting idol of their own making that the result was singing and dancing that could be mistaken for the noise of war? Exodus 32:17-21 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-8.
So what is it in some music that causes it to express the wrong kind of feelings and encourage the wrong kind of behavior? It is primarily a violation of 1 Corinthians. 14:40 where God instructs us to “let all things be done decently and in order”. “All things” includes music. The word for “order” in 1 Cor. 14:40 is #5010 in the Strong’s concordance and means “a regular arrangement that is, (in time) fixed succession (of rank or character), dignity”. I could not ask for a better definition of rhythmic and harmonic order in music. Rhythm is what orders a piece of music in its progression through time, resulting in a powerful sense of dignity, rightness, peace, and strength. Music that rebels against rhythmic order with back beats, break beats, “polyrhythms”, and syncopation destroys this sense of order and stimulates a sense of anarchy and rebellious, impulsive behavior. “When pulsation and syncopation are the rhythmic foundations of the music…the movements of the dancers can invariably be seen to become very sensual.” (David Tame, The Secret Power of Music p. 199). I have seen that it does not take a lot of syncopation to cause children to become silly and foolish in their behavior (“the song of fools”). The “song of the harlot” is centered on sensual arousal – both are related to permitting the impulsive drives of the flesh. The message is “Do whatever you want to do”. “Rock ‘n’ roll is musical pornography.” (David Noebel in The Legacy of John Lennon) “There is more blatant immorality being peddled in popular music now than ever before.” (Steve Lawhead in Rock Reconsidered) It is the will of God that I abstain from fornication (1 Thess 4:3-8). The word for “decently” in 1 Cor. 14:40 is #2156, meaning decorously, that is, characterized by propriety in conduct, manners, appearance, etc. Impropriety would include deliberately singing with a sensual voice or using “swinging notes” (starting flat and sliding up to the correct pitch to produce a seductive feeling). These things identify with the works of the flesh described in Gal. 5:19 and 1 Peter 4:3. But we are told again in 1 Peter 1:15 that “as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation”. I am convinced that if all people had patterned their character after Jesus Christ, as George Washington did for example, the carnal music of rock, rap, disco, pop, jazz, and blues would never have even been popular.
For those to whom “all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17), it should come as no surprise that there is a “new song” to be sung (Romans 8:5-6, Psalm 40:3, Revelation 14:3). The best way to glorify God is to simply display His character. Music that communicates the attributes of God would include a sense of majesty (1 Chronicles 29:11, 2 Peter 1:16), and peace, (Hebrews 13:20, Philippians 4:9) and joy (Psalm 16:11 and Galatians 5:22) and intricacy (Psalm 139). His character is powerful and dramatic, but not out of control (1 Corinthians 14:32, Titus 1:5-9) and “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33).
Christians are not in danger of accepting what is obviously wrong as much as something with just enough good mixed in to make it excusable. In part 2 we will look at the problems with “Christian music” that has a “contemporary sound”.
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tour, the pillow fights, and the bald eagles. Yet while these items were fun, they were not the source of the true excitement which we, as a team of 13 young men seeking God with 100% of our hearts, experienced in the Northwoods of Michigan. True joy sprung up from unexpected circumstances as we followed in faith the footsteps of Christ where He personally revealed Himself to us. A few of these encounters I will here attempt to relate.
unexpectedly, under the conviction of the Holy Spirit one of our team-members shared a personal struggle that shook our whole team into acknowledging the seriousness of reality. God was challenging us not to waste the week ahead of us. 
searched again until we found him. After pretty much the same thing happened with Dillon on another occasion soon after, we made it such a point of reminiscence that it never happened again! We were a team; and we made sure be a team together.
Then there was the early morning kayak venture. Though I was otherwise preoccupied, the reports I heard caused me to marvel at God’s work through nature. A few of the guys got up at 3:00AM to witness a cloudless, moonless, wilderness sky from an unobstructed view at the center of the lake. This event was a life-changing turning point for one member of our team.
Another turning point for an additional member came after a powerful message by Mr. Norvell while singing "It is Well with My Soul." An unexpected time, yet nonetheless, quite electrifying.
I think I can say that God’s presence was most evident during a meeting spent in prayer for each other and for our families. Simply put, what seemed to our senses to be no more than one hour was, in reality, three. 
team decided to memorize and quote James 2 together. With 23 verses, we were assigned to memorize two, each person quoting them back to back. I have never seen a group of young men so intent on memorizing Scripture.
We are still a team. We are knit together, and continue to be through prayer. "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God . . ." (Romans 15:30).
