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
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3 comments:
Thank you for commenting on my blog! Always a blessing to receive encouragement from a sister in Christ.
I commend you for being obedient to what the Lord has spoken to you on rock music, but I personally . . . although I LOVE traditional worship and hymns. . . have had beautiful times of worship to more rock style music. . . But I agree that people sometimes do lose focus on worship but I believe that goes back to the condition of ones heart. .
To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. - Titus 1:15
God bless!
His Beloved,
Shani
I can say the same actually, I have had wonderful times of worship with the more modern music as well. I've actually loosened up a bit about my music opinions since writing this, but I think it does provide some good and important food for thought.
Hello!
My name is Anders and I found your blog today.
You wrote this: “The "new man" is the Godly part of us that God gave us when we let Jesus into our hearts. “ and I would like to comment.
[To differentiate,] It is important to know that the historical Jewish Mashiakh called Y’hoshua, from Nazareth, was a Torah-observant Jew and so was his followers called the Netzarim [More info on :www.netzarim.co.il].
This is what the Mashiakh – Messiah – must have taught about ‘salvation’ - if he was a legitimate prophet according to D’varim [Deuteronomy] 13:1-6:
As stipulated in Devarim ["Deuteronomy"] 6:4-9,11:13-21 one is required to keep all of the directives of Torâh′ to one’s utmost—viz., “with all one’s heart, psyche and might [lit. "very"]“—”for the purpose of extending your days and the days of your children… like the days of the heavens above the earth” (i.e., eternal life). According to the Tan’’kh -Yekhezeqeil ["Ezekiel"] chapter 18 et.al – the Creator confer His atonement in His loving kindness to those and only those turning away from their Torah-transgressions and (re)turning to non-selectively Torah-observance including mishpat. Everyone has transgressed the Torah and its possible to obtain forgiveness from the Creator in His loving kindness when living in the above way. The Creator has promised this in His Bible – which is in Hebrew – and He doesn’t lie.
Thus, the way of ‘salvation’ in NT contradicts Torah and what the Mashiakh taught. Thus, it will not lead to eternal life and one does not become a “new man” by doing that which is required according to the NT. It is only an emotional filled experience that doesn’t describe a real encounter with the Creator. I am a former Christian and understand that after having studied Torah in Hebrew according to etymology.
The only way of following Rabbi Y’hoshua - the Jewish Mashiach [‘Messiah’] - is through the Netzairm in Ra’anana in Israel. [Documentation: Link
Doing your utmost to follow the directives of Torah will lead you into an immensely meaningful relationsship with the Creator. I have been doing this for more than four years and it has led me into a great relationsship with the Creator.
Anders Branderud
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