Contemporary Christian music is Christian music

A candid discussion of the role of contemporary music in today's church

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;...shout for joy before the Lord, the King " (Ps. 98:4-6, NIV).

Music is a hot topic within Christianity today. It's also a sizzling subject within the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Nothing inflames the passions of the saints more than the worthiness or unworthiness of this or that form of music. Sadly overlooked is the reality that one's personal taste, culture, background, lifestyle, and the numerous other factors which dictate music preferences. Thus many sincere but dogmatic members of the church might be standing more for personal whim than biblical principle.

Music is common to all peoples, classes, and cultures. Every society shares an appreciation for music. The types of music are noticeably diverse indeed. But it is music all the same. So why is the issue of church music so controversial? Why does intolerance so often sit prominently on the front row when the music starts to play? Why is one form of music acceptable today, while a generation or two ago it was "demonic strumming, leading God's people astray"?

Dan and Peter Stevens, authors of Why Knock Rock? state: "As a language . . . music has the capability to communicate only to the culture which produces it. It often confuses outsiders, even as people with different languages sometimes fall prey to misunderstandings and frustrations due to communications failure. This occurs with music or different generations,"1

Put simply, people like what they like, and if something sounds strange or different, then for many "it's from the devil." But wait a minute! Just because I don't like something or have had a negative experience with it does not make it sinful or devilish. When I was in high school I was hurt in a waterskiing accident. To this day I do not water-ski. Is waterskiing therefore wrong? No, it's just not my favorite sport.

Comfort zones vary

Do some church leaders denounce Christian "rock" because they do not understand it or perhaps because they are blinded by generational prejudice or personal preference? They no doubt are leaders of integrity, but that doesn't prevent Adventist teenagers from rejecting religion for the lack of a legitimate way of expressing their own Christian identity. Like David, should not the present generation of Adventists be allowed to "fight in their own armor"?

In saying all of this, I am not promoting rock and roll. But I am defending a legitimate form of Christian music and testimony of faith in Jesus. I believe music itself is without moral qualities, either for good or evil. The question has more to do with what the music is employed to say or do than with the music per se. Paul Hamel, a conservative Adventist musician, implies the neutrality of instrumental music when he writes in Adventists Affirm: "Perhaps no melodic line is inherently wicked nor four-part harmonization unacceptable. Nor can I conceive of a series of chords that would be objectionable in themselves."2 How true, yet I find an inconsistency in Hamel's position when he deems Christian rock music as "out of place in church, no matter how orthodox the words might be," because of its association with "unacceptable, un-Christian kinds of behavior."

A double standard?

The problem is that somehow Hamel does not apply the same standard to secular classical music with its non-Christian roots and associations. Take, for example, the wedding march from Lohengrin, an opera libretto that he acknowledges is "based upon concepts far from Christian ideals." Yet he states: "Though it was not created for a sacred purpose, it is music that was artistically composed, in contrast to what is occasionally heard in our churches today."3 Evidently he regards contemporary Christian musicians such as Amy Grant, Russ Taff, Ray Boltz, and David Meece---a Juilliard graduate---as less than artistic composers. But on what basis? The only possible answer is personal taste.

Music can be good or bad depending upon its use. Consider how the Nazis played the music of Wagner to soothe the emotions of their gas chamber victims while marching them to their deaths. Music used for evil purposes produces evil results, but let's not throw out the baby with the bath water. Eliminating the secular roots of Christian music would mean to say goodbye to the hymns of Martin Luther, whose music was borrowed from secular German folk tunes. Bernard of Clairvaux, a twelfth-century Christian, set the words of "O Sacred Head Now Wounded" to the tune of a German jig. In the new Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, a number of hymns would have to go, because they are based on contemporary secular tunes of their day.

Could it be that all our hymns have been significantly influenced by the music of their day? It might be well to allow Christians today a little latitude to think and act for themselves in exercising their own preferences in harmony with their own consciences. Whatever our personal musical tastes may be, let's remember that our youth are entitled to their own preferences too. However we feel about contemporary Christian music, it is Christian music.

Different from secular rock

Contemporary Christian music differs from secular rock in four major areas: lyrics, lifestyles, goals, and graphics. In each of these areas the Christian artist attempts to lift up Jesus Christ and/or the Christian lifestyle. Millions find the music beneficial in maintaining their walk with Christ and the continual state of prayer advocated in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

Barbara Jepson, writing in the Wall Street Journal, observes: "The issue, I think, is not whether this mix of the sacred and secular is inappropriate, but how effectively it works. As a believer and a music journalist, I have three criteria: Does the spiritual content encourage, exhort, or confront me in some way? Second, is the music appealing? Finally, does the music suit the text... ?"4 She proceeds to show how contemporary Christian music amply meets these spiritual requirements as faithfully as any type of traditional Christian music.

By beholding we become changed (see 2 Cor. 3:18). Those who fill their minds with secular messages, whether positive or negative, invariably will become more secular. However, those who listen to contemporary Christian music are filling their minds with a Christian message. This, coupled with a faithful devotional life, will result in spiritual fruitfulness. But for many young Adventists the traditional or old-fashioned means of worshiping God just "doesn't cut it." It simply does not communicate in a way with which they can identify. And that is certainly not simply because they have, as some would rather thoughtlessly assert, been "corrupted by the world."

In the early 1970s, former secular rock musician and disk jockey Bob Larson denounced Christian rock music. He is, in fact, the source most often quoted by Adventists who wish to disparage contemporary Christian music. Sadly, they quote the Larson of the past. In the 1980s, after inter viewing musicians and listening to and studying Christian rock, Larson has changed his tune. Now he eagerly endorses this form of music as a healthy Christian alternative.

Youth who abandon Guns 'n Roses or the Red Hot Chili Peppers for Christ need a healthy and youthful alternative---good quality music that positively motivates them and speaks of the love of Jesus. If forced to swallow the music of an earlier generation that they do not like, they will eventually turn against it and against the church that robbed them of vital generational and personal meaning.

Contemporary Christian evangelism

Today young people, particularly teenagers, live for music. That is their passion. For some it is their life. Understanding this might provide a degree of caution when we are tempted to try to reach youth with religious music from the 1950s, 1940s, or earlier. Would it be wrong for a young evangelist to recruit good Adventist singers with a contemporary delivery and hold a campaign geared for ages 30 down to the late teens? Billy Graham notes that 85 percent of all conversions to Christ happen to those 18 years old or younger. With all this in mind, if such a campaign were held in an industrial culture, would it be at all successful without the use of carefully chosen contemporary music?

Contemporary Christian music is one means of translating the Seventh-day Adventist message into a language that will be understood by the present generation. If Adventist musicians could enjoy the support of church leaders in expressing the three angels' messages in a more contemporary way, we would see an upsurge in winning as well as holding young people. If we could be granted the freedom for such expression, we would unquestionably ease the hemorrhaging of youth from our church.

1. Dan Stevens and Peter Stevens, Why Knock Rock? (Minneapolis: Bethany House Pub., 1994).

2. Paul Hamel, Adventists Affirm, Fall 1991.

3. Ibid.

4. Barbara Jepson, "Pop Music for the Young and Pious," Wall Street Journal, Jan. 6, 1993.


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September 1996

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