Christianity Plain and Simple

Music as a Christian

Music is powerful. It is one of the most powerful things on earth spiritually, and can be used for a whole lot of good or evil. As a Christian, it is important that we understand music as a whole and make sure we use it wisely.

First, the Bible tends to show rather than tell with music. For example, it shows that music can change the way we think and feel. When David played the harp for King Saul, Saul would no longer feel violent and angry but rather peaceful. Music can therefore affect our emotions and spirit to feel positive or negative things.

1 Samuel 16:23 - And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

Because of this, God commands us to sing songs and listen to songs that are godly. He encourages us to sing music that is recorded in the psalms (which is literally a giant book of songs) as well as other Christian music. These songs may be used to praise Him and express how wonderful He is, as well as to comfort and remind us of His truths.

Psalm 105:2 - Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.

Ephesians 5:19 - Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Second, the Bible shows that there is also Satanic, wicked music. When the people of Israel were worshiping a golden idol, they played music that was loud and wild sounding like war. It was a part of following a wicked life as opposed to a godly one.

Exodus 32:17-18 - And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

Because of this, there is a lot of debate over what music we should or should not listen to. The Bible never says we have to only listen to Christian music, yet it is clear that there is a lot of ungodly music. There are very few commands about music though besides the fact that we know we must have some godly music in our lives if we can. As we have seen in the past, we need to therefore look at principles rather than direct commands to determine what to do.

Principally, we should avoid music that creates a negative spirit in us. Music that makes us angry, hateful, lustful, or brings up other emotions or thoughts that we know we should avoid because they ultimately either do not benefit us or are sinful.

We also should avoid music with lyrics that are vulgar and ungodly. It is unwise, because lyrics have a way of sticking in our heads and following us. They can create thoughts for both good and evil.

Another thing is association. Certain music is associated with certain things in certain places. The Israelites used music associated with ungodly practices. Often, when we see someone listening to certain kinds of music, we think of them a certain way. While we should not judge others, we would not want to build an ungodly testimony by listening to music that would associate us with ungodly movements because it could hurt the testimony of God.  Classical music is not Christian, yet is rarely considered in our modern day to be associated with sinful things.

This is the issue many Christians have with rock, pop, and metal music. Drums and electric instruments are not sinful, but many times the music made with them is angry and rebellious, causing the listeners to also feel angry and rebellious. It is not a sin to listen to rock music, and not all with a beat or drums necessarily will make the listeners feel that way, but it is unwise to listen to things for prolonged periods of time that make us feel things we should be trying to overcome. It also tends to have worldly associations depending on the country you are from. In certain places and at certain times, pop singers have to hold high moral standards because they are considered role models, yet in other times and places, pop idols purposefully live lives filled with drugs and sex. One needs to use discretion with music like this because they do not want to associate God with things like that.

So then comes the question is if Christian rock and pop music is a sin. Again, I don't think it's a question of whether it is a sin or not. It is a question of whether it is wise or not. Especially in the church, using this kind of music can create an attitude that isn't really godly in people's minds. In Europe, some Christians were shocked to find out that American Christians would even consider putting rock music with their Christian music because rock music was thought to be part of sinful culture. Because of that, I think it is very unwise to mix the two together. For some Christians, listening to Christian rock really does bring them closer to God, which is great. As the Bible says though, we have to make sure our actions don't drive others away from God, even if that means limiting what we can enjoy personally. It is better to give up a song we like than to see people think Christianity is fake or hurt our brothers and sisters.

Some Christians only listen to Christian music because it is easier that way to know what to listen to, or they find it to hard to avoid music that is wrong. That is perfectly fine. Other Christians can listen to many types of music and have no problem avoiding music that is harmful. That is also fine. I think while broad principles apply, in some ways, Christians have to make choices about music on a situational bases. In some places, you may be able to listen to certain kinds of music and it's fine, while in others it would be a shame to Christ. You have to pray for wisdom. As a whole though, we all need to avoid music that we know makes us feel and think ungodly things, in both the lyrics and spirit. And take the time to purposefully listen to some of God's music.