- May 17, 2011
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This topic gets beat up quite a bit, but something that's worth looking into. Music is such a beautiful thing and I wonder what the dividing line should be for what Christians should, and shouldn't listen to. Or is there even a line to begin with?
Scripture doesn't explicitly state what kind of music we should and shouldn't listen to. Such topics are normally pieced together from other scriptures such as 1 John 2:15-17 that says do not love the world nor the things of the world. Some would say, that music can be worldly and as such should be avoided. Others will say that not all music is worldly and only the worldly stuff should be avoided. Still others say, music is just music and it's fair game.
I wonder about a different possibility though. As a musician of sorts, music is neutral. The notes that make up great Christian tunes like Amazing Grace and others, are the same notes great composers of the past used to pen their epics such as Beethoven's 5th symphony. The same notes that more modern musicians use to write any number of genre's and hits. The notes do not change. What can change is the lyrics. What is being sung over top of the instruments.
So from that angle I wonder if it's a fair middle ground to approach this topic from that says, music is just music sure, but if lyrical content should go towards the realm of worldliness and sin, then it should be avoided yes?. Otherwise if a tune's lyrics are rather neutral, that should be rather ok no?
Again, the only thing that really changes from song to song, genre to genre is what is being sung, the notes are the same, the beats can even be the same. So perhaps when discussing this topic of music and Christian living, we should examine what the lyrics are and what they mean in figuring out what we can and shouldn't listen to.
Scripture doesn't explicitly state what kind of music we should and shouldn't listen to. Such topics are normally pieced together from other scriptures such as 1 John 2:15-17 that says do not love the world nor the things of the world. Some would say, that music can be worldly and as such should be avoided. Others will say that not all music is worldly and only the worldly stuff should be avoided. Still others say, music is just music and it's fair game.
I wonder about a different possibility though. As a musician of sorts, music is neutral. The notes that make up great Christian tunes like Amazing Grace and others, are the same notes great composers of the past used to pen their epics such as Beethoven's 5th symphony. The same notes that more modern musicians use to write any number of genre's and hits. The notes do not change. What can change is the lyrics. What is being sung over top of the instruments.
So from that angle I wonder if it's a fair middle ground to approach this topic from that says, music is just music sure, but if lyrical content should go towards the realm of worldliness and sin, then it should be avoided yes?. Otherwise if a tune's lyrics are rather neutral, that should be rather ok no?
Again, the only thing that really changes from song to song, genre to genre is what is being sung, the notes are the same, the beats can even be the same. So perhaps when discussing this topic of music and Christian living, we should examine what the lyrics are and what they mean in figuring out what we can and shouldn't listen to.
