HEAR IT!

His Beautiful Voice

“Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.”

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭28‬:‭13 KJV

Yes. That’s right. I’m not talking about Christ. I open with the Enemy for a very specific reason. He gets blamed for almost all music. The finger points directly to the Fallen One whenever we hear KISS on the radio. Granted the music they play is not praiseworthy to God. But, “I Was Made For Loving You” isn’t an ode to the Devil. It just glorifies fornication.

That’s the problem with modern music. It glorifies sin. Gangsta rap glorifies death, fornication, drugs, and other crime. Death metal does glorify Satan and bands like AC/DC don’t even hide it. Taylor Swift glorifies adultery and divorce. Beyoncé glorifies fornication, lust, and love of filthy lucre.

This isn’t limited to mainstream talent either. Barry Johnson’s “I Write the Songs” was an ode to Satan. You wouldn’t even know about it if Barry Manilow hadn’t made it the iconic hit it is today. In fact I’m going to use Manilow to illustrate some points that I’m going to make further into this post.

Music plays a great part in any and every culture. It shapes how we feel, it can make us laugh, drive us to tears, invoke that precious memory. Music is usually downplayed but its power is magnificent. The backbeats hypnotize us. The lyrics drive us. We identify with how the singer feels as they perform the piece. We are swayed to sing along or dance some raunchy routine that would make Elvis Presley blush. It is the driving force of our behavior. It influences even the very movement of our souls.

So it begs the question: what is suitable for worship? Is it the seemingly dull piano playing hymnal performance at your local Baptist church? Is it the rock band that leads your praise and worship team? Is it your favorite Christian band playing your local arena? Or is it something else altogether?

The Hidden Message

What is in a lot of our mainstream music is really telling of the impact the music has. Some keep their message in plain view. Others more sinister. You can tell Chester Bennington was crying for help in his Linkin Park songs, but fans were thinking “it’s just emo.” Dr. Dre wasn’t hiding anything when he expressed his frustration at police brutality when he cowrote “F Tha Police” for NWA.

Others aren’t so open. Some are a subtle as the serpent was in the Garden of Eden. Barry Manilow’s music often can hide humorous messages in ballads, or sinister stories in great hits. “Could It Be Magic” was a song about a man stalking a girl, just as Sting’s “Every Breath You Take” did the same thing. Manilow’s “Try’n to Get the Feelin’ Again,” speaking of humorous messages, is a love ballad about, among other things, erectile dysfunction in an unfaithful man. You would be forgiven if you thought “NO WAY that’s what that song means!”

It wouldn’t be the first time someone mistook a Manilow song. “Looks Like We Made It,” Manilow famously quips, is always requested at weddings. But the song, he says, “is a lament.” It’s about two former lovers who moved on, but still desire each other even though they’re with new people.

Hidden messages and meanings aside, there’s another type of music that has hidden meanings and can be sinister if you’re not careful. That is music in a language you don’t understand.

In my case, I used to be a huge fan of Ayumi Hamasaki. Not just because she was cute but her music was hard, it was loud, and it sounded awesome! I used to blast her music through my neighborhood, and I wouldn’t even know what I was singing along to.

How my world changed when I got fluent in Japanese. I would come to learn that Ayu and Chester Bennington had a lot in common. Songs about cutting her wrists because she wronged a dude, depressed songs about things Taylor Swift would blush hearing. All to the heavy metal back beats I grew up with and loved. That’s not to say you shouldn’t enjoy music in a foreign language.

You should understand it before you sing along. Doing so can mean the difference between being ignorant and knowing that those beautiful prayer chants are really saying, “Death to America and the infidel!”

In the early 2000s, there was a popular meme video of a commercial for learning English. A family got into their sedan, buckled up for safety, and dad puts in a tape. Some very vulgar English lyrics start playing and the family starts jiving with the song. The point being, the commercial was a PSA for the viewer to “learn English.”

So, where does Jesus fit into all of this?

What About Jesus?

Jesus, Himself, didn’t say anything about what type of music you can and can’t listen to. Of course, he danced, sang, laughed and had a great time at parties. There is clearly something to be said about having a jovial time. However, discernment is key.

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”

1 John 4:1 KJV

If a song is about the Lord, can you rock to it? Certainly, that shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Well, this is where discernment comes in. Just because a song is “about Jesus” doesn’t mean it glorifies God.

Let me explain.

Suppose you hear a song like “Lay It Down.” You believe it’s a Christian song sung by a Christian woman who simply uses her platform to give praise and glory to God. If you’re not sure and it’s not obvious, you kneel down and pray to the Lord about it, asking, “God, can I listen to this artist, safely?” God will give you an answer.

In this case, the answer is NO.

The artist of this particular song is Jennifer Knapp. She was at the height of the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) genre in the early 2000s but quickly fell off as she was exposed. Turns out, Ms. Knapp was a lesbian and came out of the closet in 2010.

Just because a band sings about Christ doesn’t make them Christian. A band that glorifies God will never have left the faith to begin with.

Another example: Metallica’s “Creeping Death.” It is a song about the Death Angel from Exodus, the final plague from Pharaoh that kills all the first born in Egypt. Only the blood of a lamb will allow the angel to pass over that house (sound familiar? It should!). However, this is Metallica. These gents are NOT Christian. You would not want to go to church and the song leader says, “Good morning. Welcome to the Sunday service. Let’s all stand and open our hymnals to page 123 where we’ll sing ‘Creeping Death.'”

It just won’t happen.

Where Does This Music Belong?

The idea of singing songs unto the Lord is to give Him worship and praise. When you perform rock music in the pulpit, you’re not exactly sanctifying yourself from the world, are you?

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Romans 12:2 KJV

Going to church and singing, “Creeping Death” doesn’t honor God.

If you can’t sing Metallica in Church, how about Skillet? They just released their new single, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” just in time for the Holidays! It’s about the advent of Christ – surely THAT should be okay, right?

Well… no.

I’ll get into Skillet being the exception that proves the rule, shortly. However, using them in this example to head your praise and worship team on Sunday mornings is NOT honoring God. What are you putting your energy in to when you sing? Lifting your voices to the Lord? Or putting on a show?

I would go so far as to say that, in spite of me being a fan of Skillet, hard rock does not belong in church. It’s spiritually safe to have the “boring” piano player lead the congregation in song. No hypnotic back beat. No flashy lights. No roaring crowd. Just calm, focused singing unto the Lord. If you need to conform to the world in order to “draw in a crowd” through music, or “keep people interested” by having a punk or thrash metal band play your hymns, then you completely missed the message!

Church music should not be about spectacle. Music in your church should and must-needs-be about the Lord, first and foremost. It should reflect the light you, as believers in Christ, are to shine into the darkness. Jesus said in Matthew 5:14 through 16…

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Do you shine a light into the darkness by thrashing out to “Creeping Death” during Church? Or a punk rock version of, “It Is Well With My Soul?”

I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

John 12:46 KJV

Are you setting yourself apart from the world if you attend a church service that’s like a rock concert? A church that’s worried about filling the pews with butts instead of saving souls?

“Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”

1 Thessalonians 5:5 KJV

Is Ozzy Osbourne’s “Mama, I’m Coming Home” or (I’m sorry, Skillet) “Out Of Hell” on your hymnal list? Is your church focused on making sure everyone has a good time? Do these songs, if included in your church playlist, focus on what Christ did on the Cross and how He paid for all our sins so that we can have eternal life?

What About Skillet?

Ah yes, I mentioned them a couple of times in this piece.

Skillet is a so-called “Nu-Metal” band led by John Cooper on bass and vocals, Seth Morrison on lead guitar, John’s wife Korey Cooper on rhythm guitar, and Jen Ledger on drums. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, they were part of the CCM scene. A lot of young churches, mostly evangelical and Pentecostal, featured some of their music during their praise and worship services. When CCM got turned on its head in the late 2000s, exposing a lot of bands for the frauds that they were (like the aforementioned Jennifer Knapp, for instance), the Coopers took Skillet in a completely different direction.

They took on a mainstream sound while never denying their faith and roots in Christ. Songs like “Out Of Hell” tells the story of a person trapped in their own personal hell, reaching out, calling out to Jesus, for help… without mentioning Christ by name. Other hit songs such as “Awake and Alive” is about being saved, keeping your faith strong in Christ, and willing to serve Him.

Again, without invoking the name of Christ.

However, Skillet is known for giving messages of hope and even invoking the name of the Lord during talking points. John is never afraid to share his faith and is not ashamed of the Gospel.

This is where it gets murky.

Skillet is a kind of “If you know, you know” situation. Those of us who are believers in Christ recognized Christ in their songs so plainly that it’s basically being smacked in our faces. To the layman and gentile who are unsaved, I question whether or not the music will actually bring people to salvation. For me, as someone who backslides quite a bit, I do find myself drawing closer to Christ Jesus when I listen to songs like “Awake and Alive,” “Hero,” “Out of Hell,” “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Putting myself in the shoes of an unbeliever, this all just sounds like positive noise, rather than death and destruction. There is something peculiar about it, but is it enough to draw me to God as an unbeliever?

Probably not.

As much as I love Skillet, I have to warn against giving worship and praise to the Lord when singing along to these songs. This is not a band I would try to sell my conviction in faith to others with. I would go so far as to say, yes, you can listen to Skillet if you are a mature believer and recognize that it’s not for witnessing.

Let’s put Skillet under “Christian-Friendly Entertainment.” They’re good people, fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, of that I have no doubt. But, I wouldn’t present the Gospel of Christ to anyone using their music.

Conclusion

This one is pretty simple: if you listen to “Christian metal,” “Christian rap,” or even CCM, follow these basic rules.

1. Use discernment
2. Enjoy the music. But,
3. Don’t worship with it
4. When in doubt: DON’T EVEN LISTEN TO IT!

I will express the following and I cannot stress it enough:

WARNING

If you are a new Christian and don’t fully have an understanding of the biblical concepts talked about in this story, AVOID THIS MUSIC WHENEVER POSSIBLE!

If you go to a church and the praise team starts ramping up their amps and drums, get out of there! It is more likely that they’re just there to make noise and fill seats rather than caring about saving your soul. Stay with the church with the piano player, a good song leader, and old fashioned hymns. Because, it’s not about having a good time. It’s about worship and giving glory unto the Lord! Not to satisfy your itching ears.

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 KJV