Titus 2 Men And Women

Putting The Pieces Together:
The Puzzle of Christian Music
by Dan Sweatt

Acceptable Christian music today has broadened from a well-defined stream to a raging torrent ignoring all traditional banks and boundaries. Some have tried to contain the flood with hastily devised levees; some have retreated to allow the ever-growing river freedom to flow unchecked; some have jumped headlong into the rushing stream with apparent glee; while many have merely watched with dismay.

The confusion caused by the changes in Christian music has altered the picture of sacred music from a clearly defined image to a jumble of pieces. While each piece supplies part of the picture, Christians have had great difficulty in putting those pieces together to form a coherent, consistent picture of Christian music.

The difficulty in formulating a sensible, Biblical philosophy of Christian music may best be illustrated by the old fable of three blind men describing an elephant. The first felt the elephant's trunk and said, "An elephant is round like a tree." The second placed his hands on the elephant's side and said, "An elephant is flat like a wall." The third said with equal conviction after touching the elephant's tail, "An elephant is long and skinny like a snake." Obviously, to the sighted person all three were right, yet all were wrong. They were right in that they adequately described one part of an elephant. They were wrong in that they perceived only part of the picture.

Some, in attempting to draw a clearer picture of one aspect of Christian music, have, in fact, made that part seem as if it were the whole. Some make the text the only relevant consideration, others focus on the rhythm, while others focus on the performers. As in the fable, they were incorrect because they looked at only part of the picture.

Music is not one-dimensional. Songs with Biblical words may be couched in sensual music. Songs with lovely, attractive music may carry heretical texts. Questionable musicians may perform some sound texts with appropriate music, while trusted musicians may present unbiblical songs. The answer to this confusion is to firmly establish the underlying Biblical principles. Once these are in place, the particular questions seem to answer themselves.

All Music Must First Be Offered to God

Our first priority in our music is to apply the Biblical mandate to "do all to the glory of God" (I Cor. 10:31). Ephesians 5:19 reads, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." The first part of this verse refers to the horizontal aspect of music, "Speaking to yourselves..." One important function of music is man's speaking to man, horizontally. It is right and proper that we teach, encourage and admonish one another through music.

However, the verse does not end there. It continues "singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." That is the vertical aspect of music. When we apply only the horizontal aspect as our standard, the door opens wide for many excesses. When we fail to consider whether or not our music is an appropriate offering to God, we tend to please first ourselves and then our contemporaries, supposing that anything useful in speaking to men glorifies God.

Ample Scriptural evidence proves that this supposition is untrue. How we serve God is as important as if we serve Him. Samuel said, "To obey is better than sacrifice" (I Samuel 15:22), rebuking Saul for his self-willed service. In shame, Saul admitted, "I have sinned...because I feared the people and obeyed their voices." When satisfying men is our priority, pleasing God is a doubtful result.

The Purpose of Sacred Music

The second piece of this puzzle is to define the real purpose of sacred music--communicating the truth. I can think of no justification--not logically, and certainly no Biblically--for using sacred music as entertainment.

When we view sacred themes as entertainment, commonness can replace reverence. Rather than learning to revere and honor the Word, we become calloused to it through exposure to that which minimizes by inference the seriousness of its message.

Entertainment, by its very nature, is a diversion from reality. Rather than serving as an escape, sacred music should serve to focus men's minds on the truth of God.

If sacred music is viewed as a vehicle to communicate truth, Christians would eliminate many modern errors. Performance techniques that call attention to the performer and away from the message of the song, accompanists that overwhelm the listener and dominate the song as unnecessary distractions, and musical styles that are not conducive to the communication of the text would be obvious. Naive Christians would cease to honor and adore the performers who demand more attention than the songs they sing.

The Place of the Singer

Christian "superstars" have developed a cult-like following. "Fan magazines" tell of the private lives of this new breed of hero. Their concerts become great events in the Christian community, complete with high ticket prices, laser light shows and live bands accompanied by raucous cheering and applause. The "superstar syndrome" puts the emphasis in the wrong place. The singer should never overshadow the song.

If communication of truth is our goal, the messenger immediately becomes subservient to the message. When a musician places the emphasis on ministry rather than on entertainment, he keeps self out of the way and the message foremost.

There are plenty of superstars abroad today and many more who are aspiring to stardom. Instead of superstars, we need committed, clean Christians who are consumed with their message.

The Purity of the Song

In considering a piece of music, we must examine both the words and the music. We must examine the lyrics in light of the Scripture. They should be free from error, and they must be clear and understandable. Fundamental churches would never permit heretical messages to be preached from the pulpit, but they have allowed heretical messages to be sung on a regular basis. Error is more dangerous when it is sung than when it is spoken because the listener tends to remember it longer.

The second aspect of a song that we must consider is the music itself. We must carefully examine two aspects of music. The first is, does the music agree in style and mood with the text? The music is the vehicle that carries the text. In normal verbal conversation, vocal inflection, pitch of the voice, and facial and bodily expressions affect the perception of the message communicated.

The second consideration given to the music must be the presence of sensuality. Galatians 6 reminds us of the battle going on between the flesh and the Spirit. The sensual feeds the flesh, not the spirit. Most secular contemporary music is grossly sensual. Any reading of the comments of the musicians themselves or of those who comment on their music will reveal that sensuality is the goal of their music. The inference is obvious. If Christian musicians use exactly the same styles of music with sacred words, are the songs any less sensual?

When composers combine sensual music with good words, at best the results are less effective than the same message without the accompanying sensuality. I have a feeling that far more people "cross over" from the church to the world because of this mixture than "cross over" in the other direction. How can pastors effectively warn Christian people about sensual music when they hear it in church each Sunday?

The Possibility of Confusion

Another large piece of the puzzle involves not the songs themselves, but the origins of the music styles. As I spoke in Miami recently, one of the laymen gave me a perfect illustration of this concept. He said, "Suppose I am having a dinner party at my home. I go to the local plumbing supply store and buy a commode. I scrub it, disinfect it and then fill it with punch for my guests. I doubt that there would be much enthusiasm for the drink." The problem is, one does not expect to find wholesome drink in a toilet. Similarly, we should not expect to find in the cesspool of entertainment a wholesome vehicle to carry a sacred text.

Furthermore, we cannot divorce music from its origins. The word "profane" is defined by Webster as, "Not concerned with religion, secular, not hallowed, irreverent, showing disregard or contempt for spiritual things." Music of profane origins has no place in a sacred service.

Ezekiel the prophet was sent to Israel at a time in her history when she had totally assimilated heathen culture, much like many Christians of today. The people had adopted heathen values and heathen lifestyles. They were by all outward appearance no different from those around them. Through Ezekiel, God pointed out how His people became swallowed up by the society in which they lived: "Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned my holy things; they have put no difference between the holy and the profane..." (Ezekiel 22:26).

When spiritual leaders do not clearly draw the distinction between the profane and the holy, soon the people lose the ability in a heathen culture to tell the difference. Rather than absolutes in a culture completely saturated with evil, good and bad become a matter of degrees. It is easy in such a setting to embrace the "less profane." When profane things are embraced in a religious environment, they are easily mistaken for holy.

Modern rock of various sorts and degrees--in its origins and normal uses--match the definition of profane. When sincere people bring it into our churches and call it holy, then they consider appropriate that which is actually profane. Once that line is crossed, then other attendant evils must also be evaluated in a different light. On and on it goes until discernment is impossible.

When a Christian sees his music as an offering to God, its purpose as communication of truth, and himself as a channel of blessing, the picture of sacred music begins to come into sharper focus. Once the "why" is firmly established in our minds, the "how" quickly becomes more apparent.

Dan Sweatt is the pastor of Berean Baptist Church outside Atlanta. He is also an accomplished musician and popular conference speaker.

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