On "Christian" Music

I guess I first started wondering about labels while I was down at the local public library. I go there a lot; I like the hushed atmosphere and the smell of books on shelves and the quiet sound of pages turning. It's a good place to think. Anyhow, they've got a music collection there, where I've tried quite a few different flavors of music. Like any library would, they've categorized the music. That's Country, over there's Rap, this section is Christian.

Christian. Is that a musical style now? We have radio stations (I have three of them programmed into my car radio) that play 'Christian' music. There is a whole industry centered around Christian music. But whatever makes music Christian?

These are interesting questions, but I think the deepest one that we have to consider is simply this: what kind of music does God want us to spend our time listening to?

It cannot be denied that music has an incredibly powerful impact on people. It's emotional, it's intellectual, it affects us in ways we don't understand. Music transcends language and background and often culture. Why it is able to affect us at such a basic level, I do not know. I know that it's something God created -- the Psalms are full of instructions to praise Him with musical instruments (check out Psalm 108, for instance), and He is the ultimate author of anything beautiful here on Planet Earth.

Yet, like anything powerful, music can be used, I think, wrongfully.

Allow me to return a minute to the original question. What qualifies music to wear the label 'Christian'? From the standards of our society now, 'Christian' music is just about anything produced by recording artists who have chosen to label themselves as Christians, or even songs that are in 'Christian' movies. I personally don't think this is a good thing to be using as our standard. Would you listen to any pastor who calls himself a Christian? I hope not.

Take, for instance, the song I Need You by LeAnn Rimes. My local 'Christian' music station plays this song a lot, because it's from the Jesus Soundtrack, and that's a 'Christian' album. Here are some of the lyrics:

I don't need a lot of things
I can get by with nothing
But with all the blessings life can bring
I've always needed something
But I've got all I want when it comes to lovin' you
You're my inspiration, you're my only truth
I need you like water, like breath, like rain
I need you like mercy from Heaven's gate
There's a freedom in your arms that carries me through
I need you

Okay, show of hands. Who thinks that's a Christian song? Evidently the station I listen to does. But is it clear that LeAnn is talking about Jesus? I don't think so. The song is also played on secular stations, and if I hadn't heard it on the 'Christian' one first, I don't think I'd have known it was a 'Christian' song. Is she talking about her boyfriend, or about her Savior?

I don't say this to put down whoever wrote those lyrics, just to say that I think something is wrong when we cannot tell our music from the world's, when we can put our songs on their stations and they literally can't tell the difference.

If we're going to label music, let's not call it Christian unless it is truly a song that glorifies God openly, without hiding behind vauge phrases and ambiguous lyrics. We are salt, we are light, we're a city on a hill, and if we are so ashamed of Him that we can't even make it clear that our music is written for Him -- I don't think we have the right to call it Christian.

This brings me to another subject, and this is one in which what I'm about to say is my own personal opinion and very difficult to defend with Scripture.

I do not think that a song has to mention God by name to glorify Him (although I think it should if it's to be labeled 'Christian'), and I believe that there is some 'secular' music which brings glory to Him by its beauty -- even though its authors did not, perhaps, intend it. The Song of Solomon, for example, contains nearly no reference to God, yet it's in the the Bible. Why? Because God created romantic love, and it's a beautiful thing in His eyes. When you go to an art museum, would you avoid the works of art not created by professing Christians? I hope not, because every good and perfect gift is from above. As confused and lost as many artists are, they are capable of works of creativity that glorify their Maker -- by their very existance.

I don't want you to think that by this, I mean that all music is good for a Christian to listen to. Even instrumental music can be full of darkness and hate. Whether you like it or not, your brain is a massive comprehension engine, and it will take in what you feed it and ponder on it. It is not at all good for your spiritual health to feed on worldly music. I've heard the I-don't-listen-to-the-lyrics-I-just-like-the-music line so many times, and it flat out isn't true -- the lyrics reach you whether you realize it or not. If you listen to songs about death, hate and destruction, you'll think about those things. If you listen to love songs all day, believe me, your thoughts will be full of romance.

And if you listen to songs that openly glorify God, that too will influence you. I've listened to a lot of different kinds of music since I discovered the wonderous cache of it at the library, and I have felt the effects different styles have on me. To sum up what I learned, I say this -- watch what you listen to. Because you will become it.

This is getting really long, so I'd better stop before you fall asleep. Thanks for sticking with me, Gentle Reader -- I hope this gave you cause to think; seek His will as you explore His wonderful gift of music ... and listen carefully for the prompting of His holy Spirit, for God has not left us without a Helper to train us to distinguish good from evil.