And finally, a quote from John Blanchard and Dan Lucarini's Can We Rock the Gospel, which attempts to expose rock music's impact on worship and evangelism. The book is premised on the view that rock music is dividing the church, destroying local congregations and turning Christian against Christian in arguments about musical styles. They ask, given rock music's well-earned "worldly reputation..."
Why do worship leaders, evangelists or church musicians work so hard to perfect the use of it? To accommodate this inconsistency, Christian rock apologists have had to construct a new faith system to offer religious cover to those who do so. This system requires adherence to one or more of the following credos:
* God created all music--therefore rock music was inspired by him.
* Although rock may have been corrupted by bad people, we have the power to redeem it for God.
* Music itself is neutral and amoral, and only the lyrics matter. Therefore, there is no such thing as "evil" or "good" music.
* The end justifies the means--if it brings someone to Christ, God can use it. If it brings me into God's presence during worship, it must be from God.
The lyrics of Christian rock songs may in and of themselves be respectful of God and Christian principles, but can anyone honestly say that these Christians have created a "new" song, or that their music compositions are inspired by God rather than by men? The evidence suggests otherwise and leads us to believe that Christian rockers are simply copying and imitating a music style that was created and inspired by men who in their lust for freedom--for sex, freedom to get high on drugs anytime they please, freedom to seek a god of some sort through altered states of consciousness, and freedom from any kind of authority--have rejected the God of the Bible.
HT: Tim Challies
No comments:
Post a Comment