The Bible has a great number of references to music all throughout—particularly the Psalms. In fact, the entire Old Testament was put to music for the Israelites to sing as worship and help memorize. Of course, what the children of Israel would call music and what we have to listen to in this day and age is very different. Have you ever wondered if your standards of music are consistent with what God considers good? Have you ever felt some music in your collection is so “secular” it shouldn’t belong to or be listened to by committed Christians?
Well, many go right on wondering through life and never come up with answers for what God thinks of music. Seeing as how important music is to worship in church, many Christians debate the quality of the music performed there but find little resolution to conflicting opinions.
Music in General
Obviously God is in favor of music. For so many reasons… all of which boil down to music is a powerful form of communication and relationship. Since God is big on relationship and communication He used music all throughout the Bible. It’s frequently encouraged to use as worship to God and simply to uplift the human soul—make your heart glad with a “joyful noise.”
I”ll also note that there is reason to believe music will be one of the greatest treats in Heaven. many people associate great music with serenity, peace, bliss, joy, contentment… and many can’t find that without music. Obviously, God could use whatever He wants to make Heaven a wonderful place, but seeing as how much He used it in God’s Word, it stands to reason it will also be a big to-do in our life to come.
Secular vs. Sacred
A major controversy for some is whether all music should be sacred that Believers listen to. Obviously, sacred music is a good thing, but who said there’s something inherently ungodly with music uplifting something other than worship to God? One can argue music was created by God for man’s good pleasure, and thusly man should make music that should uplift man independently of religious subjects.
I like to define music in general without a traditional Christian message and “Christian” label in two ways:
• Music that is God-honoring
This is music that is consistent with all things that are good about the world we live in. The music encourages healthy relationships to both God and man. The music appreciates beauty, civility, love, kindness, truth, hope, responsibility, perseverance, and all other virtues. Without explicitly relating the good in this world back to God the music can be very uplifting and spiritual.
• Music that is anti-God
This is music that through lyrical and/or instrumental parts disregards responsibility, healthy relationships, honor, family, authority, order (pro chaos), virtue, and the like. The music conveys man is his own master, or someone other than God is in the rightful place of God’s authority in all our lives.
So what do you do with these two types? Well, one can argue anti-God music is in its simplest essence unhealthy spiritually and so many avoid such music. On the other hand, there is something that people with this position forget; God moves in mysterious ways. What I mean by that is the music might be meant for evil, but how the Christian relates to the music may be for good. If the music that conveys hopelessness can also be interpreted as wrong in and of itself (meaning, the song itself disagrees with the evil it promotes, thus refuting evil and inadvertently promoting good) or something that can still be overcome, it can have a very positive influence on the maturity of the individual with this insight. The music is subject to interpretation and the listener’s application of songs to their own lives.
The same can be the reverse. The music meant for good can be twisted by the mindset of the one listening to the point it has a very negative impact on the individual.
In Conclusion
It’s not so much the music one has to worry about but the maturity and interpretation of the listener. Still, some music is nigh to impossible by any stretch of the imagination to be redeemable by one’s interpretation. Trash is trash and sometimes there’s just no way to recycle it. There are unhealthy things in the world for man physically and spiritually. Some materials will kill you physically, and some will kill you spiritually. Music can be something that makes you a better person or makes you good for nothing.
So consider your music wisely.
