Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Is there such a thing as Christian rock music? or: Is Christian rock music really Christian?

Now, this isn't a post about rock music itself. I'm personally against it in any form (though I have made exceptions every now and then), but I don't know enough about it yet to be able to tell others why they shouldn't listen to rock. So I'm only going to speak of why I think Christian rock is wrong from the start. I pray that God will help me express my thoughts on this correctly.
First off, the purpose of a true praise song is to bring glory to God. Rock music is something that appeals to the flesh, or the part of us that wants to please ourselves rather than God. In my opinion, rock music and praise songs cannot mix because of this. When I have listened to Christian rock, I find myself concentrating on how the music pleases me rather than praising or bringing glory to God.
Oh, sometimes the words themselves are truly meaningful. I think that some of the artists making these songs may have the right intentions. They're just using the wrong media to carry out these intentions. It is indeed possible to concentrate on the words and ignore the music. But why tempt yourself?

We each have an "old man" and a "new man" in us. The "old man" is the sinful part of us, the part of us that is worldly. The "new man" is the Godly part of us that God gave us when we let Jesus into our hearts. Which one is stronger depends on which one we feed the most. If we keep our sights on Heavenly things, have the right attitude, obey God, we are feeding the new man. When we sin, we are feeding the old man. (Forgive the termonology here. I fear it has the potential to be put in entirely the wrong context.)
1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
I believe that "Christian" rock music is one tool the devil uses to get us out of God's will--the music appeals to the flesh. Thus it feeds our old man, making him stronger and more likely to defeat the new man.

Now, I'm only posting this because God laid it on my heart. Perhaps someone somewhere needed this post. I'm not trying to condemn anyone anywhere for listening to Christian rock. Whether you do or not is between you and God. Talk to God about it in prayer, ponder it in your heart, look for your answer in the Bible, ask a good Christian whom you trust for advice.

ETA:
On another note, is it December already? Wow, my mental clock is still back in August. Well, Christmas time is technically here I suppose, though December 1st may be a bit early to call it Christmas time. (The stores don't know this. XD) I do love this time of year. I especially love singing Christmas carols, like "Silent Night" and the Christmas spirit that comes with celebrating Jesus' birth.
At any rate, God bless!
~Collie