What makes music “Christian”?
With all of the variety of music over the airwaves today,
it is a wonder how we can find anything positive and uplifting. It is even
harder to know how to define Christian Music. Here is what I have determined
makes the distinction between Christian and Secular music.
To get a good definition of
Christian Music, you have to consider a couple things first. One: Christian
music is not defined by a particular style or beat. Two: Christian music is not
necessarily defined by the artist singing it. All music contains three basic
elements: the “style” or “genre”, the artist, and the content. I will try to
explain these components as we go along.
How do we determine what makes music Christian then? My
first step is to consult the one source that cannot be refuted or disputed -
the Bible. Searching through the pages of this timeless Book doesn’t give us a
clear depiction of what “Christian music” is supposed to be, nor does it define
what “secular music” is. Music (and
variations of the word) are mentioned in several places in the Bible, yet
without a sample of what the music sounded like to the listener. (“Music” is
mentioned in 1 Sam 18:6; 1 Ch 15:16; 2 Ch 5:13; 7:6; 23:13; 34:12; Ec 12:4; La
3:63, 5:14; Da 3:5, 7, 10; 6:18; Am 6:5; Lu 15:25. “Musicians” is mentioned in
Re 18:22. “Musical” is mentioned in 1 Ch 16:42; Ne 12:36; Ec 2:8.) 98 verses in
the Bible contain the word “song” or variations of it, while “Singing”
(including it’s variations) appears in many more verses. With all of this,
there is yet a description of exactly what categorizes music as either
“Christian” or “secular”.
STYLE or GENRE
In identifying what makes music
“Christian”, we must be able to separate truth from opinion or preference.
Personal preference is what motivates us to listen to a particular style or
genre of music. Preferring one style over another is not wrong, however, it
also doesn’t mean that another style or genre of music is NOT Christian. Allow
me to use a non-music related example: My wife likes iced-tea. I think iced tea
is better suited to be poured down the drain or banned from the store shelves….
My dislike for tea does NOT make tea bad, nor does it make it good, it just
means I prefer something else, and I would rather quench my thirst with
something else. This same principle can be applied to Christian music. I may
like praise music, old hymns, and four-part gospel choirs. A friend of mine may
like heavy metal, techno, or rap. The “style” or “genre” of the music does not
have any bearing on the “Christian-ness” of the music. Of the three basic
elements of music, this one alone has absolutely no bearing on whether or not
music is Christian.
ARTIST
The person singing the song or
playing the instrument is the next basic component in music. As you know,
people come in all shapes and sizes. Each of us has a unique upbringing,
educational experience, social development, financial background, etc. As such,
our musical tastes are as varied as we are. The way we sing a song in the
Southern United States of America is more than likely not the way the peoples
of Kenya, Africa would sing the same song. We can conclude, therefore, that the
way an artist sings or plays a song has no bearing on the spirituality of any
music. What does have an impact, however, is the spiritual condition of the
artist. Christian music is first of all “Of Christ”. Unless the artist is one
of His children, the music the artist sings or plays will not be Christian. A
person who is Born-Again can sing joyfully unto the Lord, even if it sounds as
noise to our worldly ears, to God, it will be a beautiful melody. The song of
the saint originates in the heart, and it is its’ resting in the peace of His
Son that makes melody in the ears of the Lord. I will testify truthfully to
you, a person with no vocal training and (from a worldly perspective) a
terrible voice, but with a heart that is absolutely head over heels in love
with the Risen Savior, will make more beautiful melodies toward God than a
vocally well-trained lost person singing every verse of “Amazing Grace”.
How can we know a person is
saved? The bible teaches us that we can know if a person is saved or not in two
ways: First by their fruits (Luke 6: 39-48; Gal 5:22); Second: By the love they
have for one another (1 John). These are the two ways that a person is
identified with Christ. Anyone person not displaying fruit or love in their
daily life is in no way associated with God, and therefore, the music they make
is not Christian.
CONTENT
The final component of music is,
of course, the content. What the words of the song are saying, the message they
are portraying, and how they are stated, make a BIG impact on whether or not
the music being considered is Christian. Using an earlier example, the phrase
“beat up a kid at my high school” COULD be sung to the tune of “Amazing Grace”, but the words just don’t
have nearly the same meaning or impact, especially to God. Therefore it is
important to read the lyrics of the album you are considering. It seems to me
that a lot of so-called “christian artists” are spending a lot of time singing
about things other than God these days. But, here at Musical Fish Magazine, I
am here to tell you that songs, even by people you know are Christian that
don’t point to the Savior are no more Christian than the lyrics I mentioned a
short while ago.
CONCLUSION
After all this, now how do I
define what makes music Christian? First combine all the elements together. Who
is the artist? What are the words of the songs? Do they show any evidence of
Christian fruit (ministry involvement outside of their music careers, etc…)? Is
the music your preference, or can it be used to lead someone else to the
savior? (An example of this: When I was in the military many years ago, I lived
in a dorm room next to someone who was very much into a secular heavy metal
group. In the evenings, he would blast his stereo with this music so that
everyone in the entire world could hear… One day, I asked him to listen to a
cassette of a Christian heavy metal group and tell me what he thought. [I
didn’t tell him it was a Christian group at the time] After about a week, he
came to my room all excited asking me where I got the tape from, and if I had
any more groups like that. He also began asking questions about what the
artists were singing about on the tape, which gave me a great opportunity to
share Jesus Christ with him. I had several more CD’s and tapes he could borrow,
and after a few weeks, this neighbor of mine came to my door once more and told
me how the message in the music I gave him led him to a saving knowledge of the
Lord, Jesus Christ! He told me how,
because of his new found faith, he
burned all his secular music, started attending a bible believing
and preaching church, and really turned his life over to the Lord’s
direction. We continued to share stories of how the Lord was working in our lives
up to the point where I moved on, and we lost contact.
I don’t know where this young airman is now, but I know this, Christ used
music of a style that I really didn’t care for to lead someone to Him, and one
day, we will be reunited in heaven again, and perhaps reminisce on the times we
shared together those few months on an air force base.) Music can be called Christian if the
person performing/making it does so with the intention of hiding himself behind the cross and bringing
glory to, uplifting, and praising the Father above all else.
Christian Music, like the people
who make it, comes in all shapes and sizes. I hope this will help you in
considering your music purchases in the future. Musical Fish Magazine is
dedicated first to the Lord, Jesus Christ, and as such, has made it a personal
mission to build accountability between the fans of Christian music, the
artists, and the record labels that promote it. If you have an artist that you
are concerned about, or that you need more information about, contact them and
voice your concerns. We have links to EVERY Christian artist and record label
we can find on our links page, as well as links to other resources you may find
useful. Lets work together and restore Christian music to a right relationship
with God!
In Christ,
Aaron M Lopez
Owner/President
Musical Fish Magazine
PS. Here is an
extraordinary site that goes into
great detail about the debate whether Christian music is legitimate
or not, and you really need to check it out. The author there
presents both sides of the issue fairly, although his personal view
is pro-Christian-rock
