What is wrong with Christian Contemporary Music and Rock?

[kevinmiller]

I can see where Kevin is coming from. I don't think that Kevin is by any means stating that you cannot have a good worship service using hymns. I think what he's saying is that the services he's attended that did use the traditional hymns were all about principle rather than passion.

I'm not the type of person that jumps up and down, claps my hands, and yells. I'm very laid back. However, I have noticed that; for the most part, the services I've attended that use only hymns are full of people who look straight ahead, sing the words without any show of emotion, and then continue through Church as if it's a pre-scripted day. Anything out of the ordinary becomes a nuisance.

The contemporary services I've attended however, are full of people raising their hands in worship. I've also noticed that you're more likely to me greeted at a contemporary service.

I would certainly agree with you here, Kenny. My experiences have been similar.

[Guest Guest]

I personally won't listen to CCM because it's not proper Christian music.

But sometimes I do listen to secular music, pop and dance, but I try to not listen that often. What about you? Do you listen to music other than Christian? I just want to know if I'm wrong by listening to secular songs; of course, I'll never listen to rock because of its associations.

[Jerry]

Pop and dance are just different forms of Rock music. If Christian rock is wrong (which I firmly believe with all my heart), certainly secular rock is.

[Behold the Lamb]

I always appreciate when people pray for me Seth, so I won't turn them down.
However, I feel much more spiritually fulfilled now and being here and a lot of old stereotypes that I had about people from the environment I grew up in are coming crumbling down. I'm realizing that Christians of various beliefs and Biblical understandings can have the same and more passion and love for Christ than those that may seem to have it all together, so to speak. I'm discovering true Christianity and I think it will bring me closer to Christ, not cause me spiritual troubles in the future. I actually have encouragement from Christians on a regular basis and I've really been challenged to deepen my prayer life in recent weeks. It's been so wonderful being here. :thumb

I could have written every single one of those words myself. I know exactly what you mean.

[Behold the Lamb]

I personally won't listen to CCM because it's not proper Christian music.

But sometimes I do listen to secular music, pop and dance, but I try to not listen that often. What about you? Do you listen to music other than Christian? I just want to know if I'm wrong by listening to secular songs; of course, I'll never listen to rock because of its associations.

What in the world is "proper" Christian music? :frog

Anyway, secular pop and dance music isn't always necessarily bad, but it takes discernment based on the lyrics. But generally, it is. Back when I listened to secular music, I thought that a lot of songs didn't have bad lyrics. But now that I only listen to CCM and CR, I look back on the "not bad" secular stuff I used to listen to and realize just how terrible some of the messages, themes, and ideas presented in those songs really were, even though they weren't blatantly bad. It was subtle.

[Carlos]

Hi BaptistGirl.
God bless you!
Well, if you are genuine in looking for some truth on the issue I can suggest you could start at the ' way of life ' website, by David Cloud.
Look up christian rock music.
But, can I suggest a couple of things to help you on your way, from an old ex-rock fan like myself?
First, when addressing this issue if you notice that you have some elevated body temperatures, raised heart beat, flushed face, and those old, oh so familiar, agro feelings rising, take some time out for prayer because this is a hard one!
If you are honest with yourself in front of the Lord, and you really do want to know the answer about music, then you are going to have be courageous.
You may have to face some things about music that will really hurt. If you are not ready for the truth, then the 'way of life' website and others like it will just sting.
Can you believe that something that you have loved, and enjoyed, and made you feel better at times of need, could actually be something that dis-honours God, blasphemes Him, and lies to Christians to keep them away from time in genuine worship?
Well, the devil is a liar, and a destroyer, and a thief.
If you are going to tempt someone you are going to use something that is very appealing to the flesh. So it is with rock music.
What has darkness to do with light?
Rock music, wether it be called christian or not, is a complete anti-thesis to true worship music that honours God.
Christ doesn't rock!
Christ is the rock!
I have won this argument with the devil. I was a rock pig, on a rock pizza! I was playing in heavy rock bands for most of my life. Drummer.
Christ has set me free.

[Behold the Lamb]

Hi BaptistGirl.
God bless you!
Well, if you are genuine in looking for some truth on the issue I can suggest you could start at the ' way of life ' website, by David Cloud.
Look up christian rock music.
But, can I suggest a couple of things to help you on your way, from an old ex-rock fan like myself?
First, when addressing this issue if you notice that you have some elevated body temperatures, raised heart beat, flushed face, and those old, oh so familiar, agro feelings rising, take some time out for prayer because this is a hard one!
If you are honest with yourself in front of the Lord, and you really do want to know the answer about music, then you are going to have be courageous.
You may have to face some things about music that will really hurt. If you are not ready for the truth, then the 'way of life' website and others like it will just sting.
Can you believe that something that you have loved, and enjoyed, and made you feel better at times of need, could actually be something that dis-honours God, blasphemes Him, and lies to Christians to keep them away from time in genuine worship?
Well, the devil is a liar, and a destroyer, and a thief.
If you are going to tempt someone you are going to use something that is very appealing to the flesh. So it is with rock music.
What has darkness to do with light?
Rock music, wether it be called christian or not, is a complete anti-thesis to true worship music that honours God.
Christ doesn't rock!
Christ is the rock!
I have won this argument with the devil. I was a rock pig, on a rock pizza! I was playing in heavy rock bands for most of my life. Drummer.
Christ has set me free.

There's a big difference between a rock band like Metallica that is all about glorifying the flesh, and a Christian rock band like Skillet, that is all about either worshipping God or relaying a Christian message. God is powerful enough to take what the enemy meant to use for evil and use it for good--and he does that through Christian rock groups like Skillet. They are not blaspheming God. They are reaching out to a generation that the church has been content to let drown in spiritual death because the church was too obsessed with how it wanted to do things and how it thought things should be done. I thank God for people like this who are willing to face the fire of the church to do what the church won't. I know kids who have gone to church all of their lives, sat in the pews, sang the hymns, and listened to the sermons, but didn't get saved until someone was real with them, until someone was raw with them (and yes, many people have been saved at Skillet concerts).

You see, my generation is being destroyed by several things: Drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, abortion, and above all, religion. My generation isn't going to be reached by suits and ties. My generation isn't going to be reached by great speakers. My generation isn't going to be reached by hymns. My generation isn't going to be reached by well prepared speeches. My generation is going to be reached by something raw, something honest, and something that says, "I'm willing to go out of my way for you, and I'm willing to be looked down upon, spat on, and hated by the religious for the way I do it, because Jesus did that, and I want to share that love with you."

We look at the story in 2 Kings 6:26-29 and see how the woman boiled and ate her son, and we say "We would never boil our babies!" --And yet we have been doing it for decades, because we refuse to let go of our manmade traditions, and our ideas of what Christianity should look like, to reach out to a generation of kids that are starving for a reason to live and dying to find it, but instead they have been given cold religion that they will never respond to that doesn't teach them that they can be in love with Jesus, that doesn't teach them that He is all they need, and that has never given them a chance to see the real Jesus.

[Jerry]

So we should just give the lost what they know to reach them? How about a Bible with scantily clad pictures of half-naked women on the cover? How about a beer and pretzels Bible study night? God wants believers to be separated from evil - not imitate it "to reach the lost." What a ridiculous excuse! There have been many studies shown that these rock or country groups in CCM that are compromising on their standards and lyrics - lowering the bar - to reach the lost are fooling themselves because it is professing Christians (not the lost) that are buying their albums.

There's a big difference between a rock band like Metallica that is all about glorifying the flesh, and a Christian rock band like Skillet, that is all about either worshipping God or relaying a Christian message.

Is there? When they sound the same and look the same, your philosophy goes out the window. When they have mosh pits in Christian concerts - they are not different. When they water down their lyrics "to reach the lost", they are not glorifying God OR even reaching the lost. Can't win the souls of the lost without the Word of God. When the lost come to a supposed "Christian" concert, hear the music they are used to with vague feel-good lyrics, see the male singers with long hair and grunge clothing, and see the female singers with butch hair and skimpy clothing - all the while sporting tattoos - I don't believe you are having an impact on the lost. All I see is a justification for Christians to stay worldly.

[1John2:15-17]

There's a big difference between a rock band like Metallica that is all about glorifying the flesh, and a Christian rock band like Skillet, that is all about either worshipping God or relaying a Christian message. God is powerful enough to take what the enemy meant to use for evil and use it for good--and he does that through Christian rock groups like Skillet. They are not blaspheming God. They are reaching out to a generation that the church has been content to let drown in spiritual death because the church was too obsessed with how it wanted to do things and how it thought things should be done. I thank God for people like this who are willing to face the fire of the church to do what the church won't. I know kids who have gone to church all of their lives, sat in the pews, sang the hymns, and listened to the sermons, but didn't get saved until someone was real with them, until someone was raw with them (and yes, many people have been saved at Skillet concerts).

You see, my generation is being destroyed by several things: Drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, abortion, and above all, religion. My generation isn't going to be reached by suits and ties. My generation isn't going to be reached by great speakers. My generation isn't going to be reached by hymns. My generation isn't going to be reached by well prepared speeches. My generation is going to be reached by something raw, something honest, and something that says, "I'm willing to go out of my way for you, and I'm willing to be looked down upon, spat on, and hated by the religious for the way I do it, because Jesus did that, and I want to share that love with you."

We look at the story in 2 Kings 6:26-29 and see how the woman boiled and ate her son, and we say "We would never boil our babies!" --And yet we have been doing it for decades, because we refuse to let go of our manmade traditions, and our ideas of what Christianity should look like, to reach out to a generation of kids that are starving for a reason to live and dying to find it, but instead they have been given cold religion that they will never respond to that doesn't teach them that they can be in love with Jesus, that doesn't teach them that He is all they need, and that has never given them a chance to see the real Jesus.

Amen Jerry!!

In my past I heard the same bogus argument (in a Nazarene church) that using the newer "music" (if you will) will reach the present generation(s). It is not just the lyrics that are off...it is the rock-like atmosphere. To me, IMHO, using this "newer" music is no different than a church that has many "wordly" programs just to draw people into the church. How can one truly say that they are "reaching" the unsaved if they are watering down God's Word? That is promoting a false (or at least a watered-down) gospel.

The Bible does not change, rather people need to change to align themselves to God's Word.

As my pastor says, we may be accused of being narrow-minded...I don't mind being narrow-minded (as he holds up the AKJV Bible)!!

[Guest Guest]

How about a Bible with scantily clad pictures of half-naked women on the cover?

Funny you should mention that Jerry, but I actually saw that in the "religion" section of todays paper.... They called it "eves bible for women" There is no area where the line should drawn in some peoples minds...

[Guest Guest]

While I feel that "some" CCM does, actually, glorify Jesus Christ...I will tell you that "most" of it is waaay out of line. For instance, the singer...Jaci Velasquez is now sportin' a nose ring? If you look at some of the CCM or RM singers they have their bodies covered with tatoos? :puzzled: As I recall, the Book of Leviticus talks all about this issue. Now, aren't Christians to be separate from the world? How are the lost going to "fully" follow Jesus Christ...if these singer/songwriters are looking like the lost world? :eek If they are Christians...serving a merciful Saviour...then, I would clean up this type of music, and the body...ASAP! This is a shame to Christianity...and, most importantly, to Our Heavenly Father!

candlelight

[Guest Guest]

[quote="candlelight"]While I feel that "some" CCM does, actually, glorify Jesus Christ...I will tell you that "most" of it is waaay out of line. For instance, the singer...Jaci Velasquez is now sportin' a nose ring? If you look at some of the CCM or RM singers they have their bodies covered with tatoos? :puzzled: As I recall, the Book of Leviticus talks all about this issue. [u]Now, aren't Christians to be separate from the world? How are the lost going to "fully" follow Jesus Christ...if these singer/songwriters are looking like the lost world?[/u] :eek If they are Christians...serving a merciful Saviour...then, I would clean up this type of music, and the body...ASAP! This is a shame to Christianity...and, most importantly, to Our Heavenly Father!

candlelight[/quote]

Candlelight, allow me to play the devil's advocate for a minute and point out that Leviticus is not really relevant in this application. If it is, then this sampling of other Levitical laws and ordinances should also be followed:

[i]Don't let cattle graze with other kinds of Cattle (Leviticus 19:19)

Don't have a variety of crops on the same field. (Leviticus 19:19)

Don't wear clothes made of more than one fabric (Leviticus 19:19)

Don't cut your hair nor shave. (Leviticus 19:27)

Any person who curseth his mother or father, must be killed. (Leviticus 20:9)

Psychics, wizards, and so on are to be stoned to death. (Leviticus 20:27)

If a priest's daughter is a whore, she is to be burnt at the stake. (Leviticus 21:9) Of course, anyone else's daughter is fine. :p

People who have flat noses, or is blind or lame, cannot go to an altar of God (Leviticus 21:17-18)
[/i]
That being said, I also agree with you on the tattoos and nose rings, etc.. I would, however, stick with the argument that you used and I underlined above. ;) That makes a whole lot more balanced sense than trying to pick and choose which parts of Hebraic law we should enforce and which part is unimportant. Having to pick and choose which parts of Scripture are to be enforced, could just as quickly confuse a young Christian as a Christian "leader" having a nose ring or tattoos.

[Revelation3:20]

Candlelight, allow me to play the devil's advocate for a minute and point out that Leviticus is not really relevant in this application. If it is, then this sampling of other Levitical laws and ordinances should also be followed:

Don't let cattle graze with other kinds of Cattle (Leviticus 19:19)

Don't have a variety of crops on the same field. (Leviticus 19:19)

Don't wear clothes made of more than one fabric (Leviticus 19:19)

Don't cut your hair nor shave. (Leviticus 19:27)

Any person who curseth his mother or father, must be killed. (Leviticus 20:9)

Psychics, wizards, and so on are to be stoned to death. (Leviticus 20:27)

If a priest's daughter is a whore, she is to be burnt at the stake. (Leviticus 21:9) Of course, anyone else's daughter is fine.

People who have flat noses, or is blind or lame, cannot go to an altar of God (Leviticus 21:17-18)

You seem to be missing the point Vir decimus. Most of those verses you mention are pictures of what was to come. A sermon could be preached on any one of them. The only exception to that would be the ones about stoning people and they were also at least partially pictures as well as judgement. And BTW "anyone else's daughter" would not be "fine" if they were a whore. The daughters of laymen were to be stoned on their fathers doorstep, as a reproach to him for not keeping his daughter under control.

[Jerry]

Unless the NT states some specific aspect of the OT law is done away with, then it still applies - whether directly or by principle. Yes, some things are pictures - and it takes studying to find out exactly what and how it pictures. What is the principle regarding forbidding tattooing and piercings? Not to be like the world/pagans around us. Still applies directly today - and that would directly include not getting tattoos or piercings like the world. So as a principle or a direct command, it still applices to us.

[RayJr]

Unless the NT states some specific aspect of the OT law is done away with' date=' then it still applies - whether directly or by principle. Yes, some things are pictures - and it takes studying to find out exactly what and how it pictures. What is the principle regarding forbidding tattooing and piercings? Not to be like the world/pagans around us. Still applies directly today - and that would directly include not getting tattoos or piercings like the world. So as a principle or a direct command, it still applices to us.[/quote']

well said