Introducing ‘Passion Play Music’, by Paul Luckraft and Roger Boyce.

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘It’s not about the music’ by Dan Lucarini (EP Publishing, 2010)

Subtitled ‘A Journey into Worship’, this is an excellent book for those who want to understand better the nature of worship – especially in relation to what has been happening in our church services in recent times.

In his previous books, the author explained why he left the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) movement. Here Lucarini examines the subject of worship from a biblical perspective and comes to the conclusion that ‘it’s not about the music’. He is aware that this will be a challenging statement for many, but his case is well-argued and well-established from Scripture.

Worship in Scripture

Lucarini warns that people can tell a lot about the God we worship by the way that we worship him. Getting that right should be a priority. In the first chapter, he sets out the aims of his book; primarily, it is to explore what the Bible teaches about worship and from there understand the type of worship that pleases God most. Through this, we will develop a resistance to worldly fashions and styles “that are like viruses infecting our personal and public worship” (p22).

Biblically, the author starts with Jesus’ statement about worship in John 4:21-25. The need to worship ‘in spirit and in truth’ provides the main focus. Here is the ‘strong meat’ of worship that will guide our thinking in coming chapters.

In chapter 3, Lucarini examines the Hebrew and Greek words usually translated as ‘worship’. These words have very specific meanings and should not be changed to suit us. We should change our methods and styles to fit what God has decreed - then we will discover the true essence of worship: namely, the total submission of our minds, hearts and flesh to God.

The most common biblical act of worship was to bow down, often flat on one’s face. While this doesn’t have to be a physical action, it should be the dominant attitude in our worship.

Lucarini warns that people can tell a lot about the God we worship by the way that we worship him.

Critiquing ‘Worship Inc.’

In the next few chapters the author explores the role of sacrifice in worship. He shows that the New Testament reveals three sacrifices expected of worshippers: our body, praise and koinonia (fellowship). It is in these pages that we discover what Lucarini means by his title. Praise is not primarily about music, but about “the fruit of our lips” (Hos 14:2). “The words that come from our lips are the most important part of the offering” (p61).

Lucarini goes on to explain how many modern songs start with the music, then add words to fit the rhythms and moods that the music has created. Most songwriters, he claims, are musicians - and so music dominates their output. The words are often secondary and hence trite or misleading (even biblically inaccurate). He compares this to some of the great hymn-writers of the past who started with the words, producing great poems of praise which could stand alone as worship without any music. Only later was a tune written or found as a setting for the words.

The author is particularly scathing of the contemporary Christian worship scene, which has become an industry dominated by the need to produce albums that outsell others. He calls this ‘Worship Inc.’, a market-driven enterprise designed to pour profits into the coffers of those who produce and promote such ‘worship’. Driven by musical performers, this entertainment business uses all the latest gimmicks to stimulate demand for new products. It also introduced the concept of the modern worship leader - someone who produces a ‘track list’ of songs for the rest of the congregation to follow.

In the latter part of his book, Lucarini draws “with much honour and respect” upon the classic writings of AW Tozer, picking up on his theme of worship as ‘the missing jewel’. In line with Tozer, Lucarini believes that prayer, the public reading of Scripture and the breaking of bread should be as much part of worship as songs and musical items.

The author is particularly scathing of the contemporary Christian worship scene.

Plea for Reform

If we have fallen well below the ideals outlined in Scripture, then what should be done to restore biblical worship? Lucarini offers many solutions, but in particular invites us to go on our own journey into worship to discover for ourselves what the Bible teaches.

There is much more to commend in this well-written and thought-provoking book on a vital topic. Each chapter concludes with a summary and the book ends with three very useful appendices. The first two provide a complete list of Old Testament and New Testament verses on worship (110 and 72 verses respectively – plenty to keep you busy!). The third appendix contains guidelines to choosing music for use in church. Eight biblical guidelines are provided, with Scripture references, together with useful questions such as “Does it appeal mainly to the spirit or the flesh?” and “Does it promote the things of this world?”

The author has succeeded in making an impassioned plea for reform wherever our worship practices have gone astray and followed the world rather than the Word. His book should be read not just by worship leaders and pastors, but by everyone involved in worship – which means every one of us!

‘It’s Not About the Music: A Journey into Worship’ (220pp) is available from Amazon for £9.99.

Arab family links up with Jews to spread gospel in the region

When the Israeli town of Nazareth is mentioned, most people immediately think of Jesus. It’s where he came from.

But when Nathanael, one of Christ’s first disciples, heard that the Messiah was from Nazareth, he responded rather sceptically with the question: “Can anything good come from there?” (John 1:46).

The same question is sometimes asked today, as the Galilean town is now an entirely Arab community with very few Christian believers.

Discovering Forgiveness

Step in the Sakhnini family. Although part of the town’s minority Christian-Arab population, there was a time when being ‘Christian’ merely described their culture – it just meant that, unlike most of the Arab world, they were not Muslims.

That is until 2007 when Bishara, a barber and head of the family, was betrayed by a close friend – and soon afterwards received news that his sister-in-law was dying of cancer, with only a month to live. In the midst of it all, his wife Sarah was found to be expecting their fourth child.

A pastor from Haifa then befriended Bishara and began to share what the Bible teaches, especially about forgiveness. As a result, Bishara forgave his friend and received true forgiveness for his own sins.

Not only that, but his whole family, including his three pre-teen sons, agreed to fast for three days as they prayed for their stricken relative, who subsequently walked out of hospital completely healed! And Sarah had a healthy baby soon afterwards despite an initial scare.

When Nathanael heard that the Messiah was from Nazareth, he responded rather sceptically: “Can anything good come from there?” (John 1:46).

One New Man

Bishara and Sarah Sakhnini and their four sons pose for a selfie on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem. Picture courtesy of maozisrael.org.

Having witnessed such miracles, including the power of fasting and forgiveness, the family’s transformation sent shockwaves through the community. But they were scorned by their Arab neighbours, just as Jesus had been at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders.

And their world understanding was further rocked when some Jewish believers came to visit. The family hadn’t even realised Jesus was Jewish, let alone that an increasing number of Jews believe in him. Now they worship together with their Jewish brothers on a regular basis.

“Seeing us sing and dance together as we worship the same God,” writes Messianic musician Shani Ferguson in Maoz Israel’s January report, “was mesmerizing to outsiders and always elicited questions.”

She adds that “there is no greater testimony to unbelieving Jews that Yeshua [Jesus in Hebrew] has power over all than when Arabs embrace them as the people of their Saviour.”

It’s a little known fact that Arabs and Jews are meeting together at an increasing number of fellowships all over Israel, demonstrating the truth of the Gospel that true peace and reconciliation can only be found through what Jesus has done on the Cross.

The Apostle Paul wrote: “For he himself [Christ] is our peace, who has made the two groups [Jew and Gentile] one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility…” (Eph 2:14).

Arabs and Jews are meeting together at an increasing number of fellowships all over Israel, demonstrating the Gospel’s power of true peace and reconciliation.

Worship Initiative

The Sakhnini brothers at home in their music room. Picture courtesy of maozisrael.org.The Sakhnini brothers – Adeeb, Eliya and Yazid – are particularly skilled musicians and are now engaged on a project to reach the Arab world with a blend of Arab and Jewish sounds as part of the Israel Worship Initiative.

They are currently working on a unique album – including some original and some old Arab hymns – which will cost about $20,000 to complete.

• If you wish to help reach the Middle East with Arabic gospel songs, contact www.maozisrael.org or their UK branch at www.maozisrael.uk/.
  
• For Shani Ferguson’s full story on the Sakhninis, click here.
  

Maoz Israel Ministries is a non-profit organisation founded by Ari and Shira Sorko-Ram and dedicated to reaching Israel with the good news of Jesus as well as providing humanitarian and other aid. Ari is a former film actor who has also played professional rugby and football.

• For more information on Arab-Jewish reconciliation, read my book Peace in Jerusalem (available from olivepresspublisher.com as well as from Amazon and Eden Books) or access the excellent Highway19 project.

Christian envoy pays tribute to music teacher whose harmonica saved him from the Holocaust

The appointment of Israel’s first ever Christian Arab ambassador is partly thanks to a Jewish musician who, alone among his family, survived the Holocaust.

In a recorded speech following his installation as the Jewish state’s top envoy to Muslim-majority Azerbaijan, George Deek paid tribute to the man he named only as Avraham who became his music teacher.¹

It was because he played the harmonica so beautifully that his life was spared; a Nazi officer took him home to entertain his guests.

When he finally found refuge in Israel, he chose to use the means of his rescue – his music – to bring hope to others including Arab children like George, who duly learnt both flute and clarinet.

Responding to Tragedy with Hope

George’s moving story contradicts much of the narrative spewed out by the mainstream media about the Arab-Israeli conflict, especially the refugee crisis.

His family, who have lived in Jaffa (or Yafo) for 400 years, fled the city in 1948 in response to the warning from Arab leaders that Jews would turn on them when the new-born nation was attacked by the surrounding states, but that they would be free to return when Israel was defeated.

His grandfather, also George, had married in haste before fleeing to Lebanon, but when he realised that Israel had not been defeated and Arabs were not being persecuted, he managed to return and even got his electrician’s job back from Jews he had befriended before independence.

While acknowledging that it was indeed disastrous for the 700,000+ Palestinians who subsequently became unwanted refugees, he noted that 800,000 Jews had been more or less forced out of Arab nations at the same time – a fact that is now conveniently forgotten.

George’s moving story contradicts much of the narrative spewed out by the mainstream media about the Arab-Israeli conflict, especially the refugee crisis.

The Jews were absorbed into Israel, but the Arabs were not accommodated in the same way by the very states whose leaders had persuaded them to leave, thus creating an ongoing UN-backed stalemate in which the refugees are being used as political pawns.

“The Palestinians are held captive by chains of resentment,” he said.

By contrast, the Jews had responded to the tragedy of the Holocaust by securing their future. With respect to his music teacher, “he chose life, not death; hope rather than despair” and began teaching the very thing that saved his life to bring hope to others – especially amidst the tension that existed in Jaffa between Arabs and Jews.

Referring to the way in which Avraham spoke little and reluctantly of his tragic past, which he suggested was reflective of the general response of Jews to the Shoah, he said: “Only when they had secured their future did they allow themselves to look back at the past.”

By God’s Grace

Under the shadow of that great tragedy, Jews were able to build a country that leads the world in many areas. At the same time Israeli Arabs are the most educated Arabs in the world, occupying highly influential positions as judges, doctors, MPs enjoying the right to criticise the Government, and diplomats like him.

George is not Israel’s first Arab ambassador – that distinction went to Ali Yahya, who was appointed Ambassador to Finland in 1995. And I have personally met Ishmael Khaldi – Israel’s first Bedouin diplomat.

Towards the end of his speech, George quoted the words of the Jewish patriarch Joseph, who reacted to the betrayal of his brothers in selling him to slavery by forgiving them and saying: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Gen 50:20).

Israeli Arabs are the most educated Arabs in the world, occupying highly influential positions

Joseph emerged as saviour of his people, rescuing them from famine after becoming Prime Minister of Egypt. He was a picture of the Messiah to come, who would be given over by his brothers to being nailed to a cross but who will also one day reveal himself to them as “the one they have pierced” (Zech 12:10), forgiving and cleansing them of their past sins.

Like so many of his cousins, George might well have become a Palestinian refugee without rights or citizenship, but – through God’s grace – he is an Israeli diplomat representing one of the most thriving economies on the planet.

Joppa: Start-point for Reconciliation

Jonah's Jaffa - a tribute to the whale that brought him back. Photo: Charles Gardner

I particularly like this story because of the crucial part played by the harmonica, an instrument I love to play myself and which can wonderfully enhance worship of God. And I also like it because of its setting in Jaffa, known in Bible times as Joppa.

It was this time last year that my wife Linda and I got to know the city, which lies at the southern end of the Tel Aviv metropolis. And it was an awesome experience to discover afresh the vital role it had played in the biblical era.

It is where the Prophet Jonah caught a ship for Tarshish in his vain attempt to run away from God’s call to preach to the cruel Ninevites – there is a life-size sculpture of a whale (complete with fountain) near the seafront.

Jonah too was a picture of the Messiah to come. For Jesus declared to his opponents that his credentials would be proven through the ‘Sign of Jonah’ (Matt 12:38-40), who was buried for three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish before being resurrected on the beach.

Joppa could hardly have been a more strategic place, leading to reconciliation at the Cross for both Jew and Gentile.

The harbour at Jaffa where Jonah boarded ship. Photo: Charles GardnerJoppa was also a key location for the early Church, and of another resurrection – Tabitha (or Dorcas) was raised from the dead there through the prayers of Peter (Acts 9:36-43). It was also the town of Simon the Tanner, in whose home Peter had the heavenly vision that was to open the way for the Gospel to the Gentile world with his visit to the Roman centurion Cornelius some 40 miles up the coast in Caesarea (Acts 10).

It could hardly have been a more strategic place, leading to reconciliation at the Cross for both Jew and Gentile. And now, 2,000 years later, an Arab Christian there finds hope – and status – in a Jewish world.

Who would have thought a Jewish state would appoint a Christian envoy to a Muslim country! Pray for George. God is surely at work.

Watch George Deek’s testimony here.

References

1 Israel appoints its first ever Christian Arab Ambassador. Christians United for Israel, 16 November 2018.  

Enjoying God’s good gift of music.

God has given us richly all things to enjoy (1 Tim 6:17) – and that includes music. Over the past few weeks we have seen how music is an innately spiritual phenomenon with power to affect people deeply which can be turned for good or ill. We have seen how music features in Scripture and how, throughout history, it has both expressed and shaped the spiritual state of societies.

We finish this short series, which is not intended to be comprehensive, but more a starting point, by looking at how we can apply good principles of discernment to our music-making and musical consumption.

What Makes ‘Good’ Music?!

The question of ‘what makes good music?’ is, of course, incredibly (some might say completely) subjective. However, through history and around our diverse world, certain qualities are repeatedly valued. Broadly speaking, music judged to be of good quality is:

• Evocative: speaking to and expressing the emotions
  
• Creative: a vehicle for imagination, inspiration and originality
  
• Intelligent: thoughtful and perceptive in both composition and performance
  
• Skilful: displaying talent and proficiency – again, in both composition and performance.
  

Dwelling on these prized attributes this week, I realised how closely they align with the command that we are to worship God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Luke 10:27). It seems that the Lord designed music with in-built capacities to enable us to worship with our whole beings. At the same time, He also designed it to be accessible and enjoyable for everyone, regardless of ability. It really is the perfect vehicle for worship. What a wonderful God we serve!

However, as intimated above, music can be put to the service of the flesh, the world and the enemy, instead of the service of God. Musical evocativeness, creativity, intelligence and skill – though intended for godly worship - can instead be used to entice and corrupt. Even within the Church, it can be used to draw attention to man more than God, or to sow seeds of false doctrine instead of proclaiming truth.

The Lord designed music with in-built capacities to enable us to worship with our whole beings.

The rest of this article will focus on the principles that characterise truly biblical music (particularly that used in church, though CCM – discussed last week – overlaps and can be judged on the same merits), though I will remark at the end on how we might be discerning in our everyday consumption of music – i.e. for leisure, background music, etc. This is not something to be over-thought or approached legalistically, but rather something to be surrendered to the Lord as part of our daily existence as ‘living sacrifices’, wholly set upon his altar.

As we yield our music-making and musical enjoyment to him afresh, I pray that he will breathe new life into it through the Holy Spirit, and that we will discover more of what it means to do everything for his glory.

Testing Needed

Music written and brought into being as part of worship is not something to be taken lightly, for it is a primary vehicle through which we offer our sacrifice of praise to the Lord (Heb 13:15). It also affects us, and others, very deeply, touching and feeding the soul.

For these reasons, I believe that music and lyrics used in worship ought to be tested, even as teaching should be, and a culture of healthy musical discernment should be encouraged in churches and home fellowships – led with wisdom and involving the input of mature, trustworthy Christians.

So, how do we set about this? How can we bring to bear biblical discernment on the music we use in worship? How can we encourage the worship leaders and musicians of our acquaintance - especially the younger ones - to think biblically when it comes to their musical production and consumption?

Hallmarks of Biblical Music

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” (Colossians 3:16)

“…be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:18-20)

I believe that truly godly music will bear some specific hallmarks in increasing measure and developing maturity, which we can use as part of any testing process. I offer five below.¹

Truly godly music will bear some specific hallmarks in increasing measure and developing maturity.

Biblical music…

…glorifies God: It may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised at the amount of Christian music in existence which draws attention to us more than to the Lord. Good worship music points people to God, lifting the soul’s eyes up to Heaven and putting life’s trials in the context of his unchanging character and overarching purpose.

In that respect, worship music is always humble, whether it manifests as quiet reverence or joyful noise; ultimately all the sounds we make as part of worship should be about him and for him, not about and for us. We can be blessed, healed and delivered through the Lord ministering to us in times of worship, but these are wonderful by-products which should never eclipse worship’s main goal.

…edifies believers: Godly music feeds the new man, not the old sinful self, speaking truth into the human spirit and encouraging the growth of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In other words, if music always takes us somewhere, godly music encourages us in the direction of Heaven, not Hell (Eph 4:1), stirring up the spirit, not the flesh!

As such, in congregational contexts, it builds up the Body of Christ around the truths of Scripture, binding believers together in the same faith and the same hope.

…proclaims scriptural truth: Whether directly quoted or not, godly music is rich in the truths and principles of Scripture: not selectively, nor manipulatively, but comprehensively, clearly and in good faith. Feeding on biblical music can be a fantastic way to memorise Scripture. The word is sharper than a double-edged sword (Heb 4:12), and truly biblical music will allow its refining power to cut us to the quick, even as we sing. And in forthtelling the word of God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, godly music will naturally have a prophetic edge.

In these ways, lyrical substance is more important than musical style, though style is obviously not morally or spiritually neutral, being an outflow of the writer’s heart (as we unpacked in the second part of this series). Instrumental music inspired by biblical truth will bear witness to godly principles, such as [creative] order and moral decency (1 Cor 14:40).

Biblical music builds up the Body of Christ around the truths of Scripture, binding believers together in the same faith and the same hope.

…is offered in the right spirit: one of humble surrender, true faith and glad obedience, on the part of both writers and worshippers. The creation of godly music demands hearts that are in the right place before God - not seeking to bend music’s power to selfish ends, or to force God’s hand or work up a particular atmosphere. It is the new age that uses music in a spirit of control – not biblical Christianity, which offers it up freely as part of a sacrifice of praise, allowing God to work through it as he wills.²

This does not require fleshly perfection, but rather new life birthed through true faith, cleansed by the blood of Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit. As such, biblical music flows from, and is inspired through, communion with God.³

…has good roots: I would recommend reading about some of the great hymn writers, such as the Wesleys, Fanny Crosby, John Newton and Isaac Watts, to see what faithful and surrendered lives they led. I’m not saying that one must be perfect to write good Christian music, but it is certainly important that both song-writers and worship leaders practise what they preach and remain sound in their theology.

As intimated last week, there are many modern Christian worship leaders who are personally dabbling in wrong teaching. This will undoubtedly show up, sooner or later, in what they write and sing. Good roots bear good fruits.

In Spirit and Truth

So, biblical music glorifies God, edifies believers, proclaims scriptural truth, is offered in the right spirit and has good roots. Its emotive, creative, intellectual and skilful elements are thus put to work for good spiritual ends, through the power of the Holy Spirit. These principles can perhaps be summed up using Jesus’ definition of true worship: godly music is good in spirit and in truth.

Let me re-iterate here how important it is that we learn to be discerning about musical worship. According to John Calvin, “there is hardly anything in the world with more power to turn the morals of men” than music.⁴ Even agnostic composer Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote: “Good music for worship is a moral issue. The eternal gospel cannot be commended with disposable, fashionable music styles, otherwise there is the implication that the gospel itself is somehow disposable and temporary.”⁵

Arguing over styles has sadly often been the raison d’etre of the Church, but when it comes to biblical principle, rather than taste, there is reason to get passionate – for the music we imbibe will both shape and witness to our walk with the Lord.

Godly music is offered up in a spirit of humble surrender, true faith and glad obedience, on the part of both writers and worshippers.

Music ‘In the World’

How does all of this apply, then, to music that we engage with in contexts other than direct worship – e.g. for enjoyment, community or personal improvement? It is immediately clear that we cannot easily apply the same criteria used to weigh worship music to music emanating from the secular realm. Nevertheless, all of our musical activity should still bear witness to our call to serve and honour God with our whole beings, for “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31).

There is, of course, a time and a place for all kinds of musical activity, “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim 4:4-5; also Ecc 3:1-8). I am sure that God loves music even more than we do – and desires us to enjoy it, build relationships through it, and bear witness through it to his beauty and creativity, just as naturally as birds sing their unique songs. But, permit me to make two further comments on how we can be godly in this.

First, music must always retain in its proper place – in submission to our worship of God - and used for good purpose, not squandered.⁶ We are not to be hedonists - lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (2 Tim 3:1-4) - nor are we to love the things of the world (James 4:4). We must take care that enjoying God’s good gift does not descend into idolatry of any kind. This applies especially to musicians and worship leaders.

Secondly, we ought to take care that we feed ourselves – and others - on good things, even for entertainment and relaxation. These things require discernment, and the Holy Spirit’s leading, for not everything is beneficial or constructive for us (1 Cor 10:23).

Let us take inspiration then, from Philippians 4:8 to round off this series: “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about [listen to/sing/play?] such things.”

Recommended Material

The Family that Worships Together, Episode 5: Music in Worship. National Center for Family-Integrated Churches.

Testing music in the church’, by Sandy Simpson. Deceptioninthechurch.com, October 2000.

‘Entertainment as Worship - Worship as Entertainment’ by Douglas Bond, 22 February 2018.

‘The Christian and Entertainment’, by Rev D Kuiper. Truthaccordingtoscripture.com.

References

1 Thanks particularly to the comments made by pastors in this video.

2 “Musical conditioning is not the same as the Holy Spirit challenging the mind to think, the spirit to be still, and the heart to be humbled in the presence of God.” John Blanchard – quoted here.

3 Many top musicians admit that their best compositions weren’t ‘made’, but somehow ‘found’ – as if they were already there, waiting to be discovered. This perhaps shows music’s spiritual dimension – and so the importance of making and enjoying it in communion with God, looking to him for inspiration rather than inside ourselves…or anywhere else.

4 Preface to the Genevan Psalter of 1545. Quoted here.

5 Preface to The English Hymnal. Ibid.

6 ‘The Christian and Entertainment’, by Rev D Kuiper. Truthaccordingtoscripture.com

This article is part of a series. Click here for previous instalments.

Contemporary Christian music and the spirit of the age.

Previous instalments of this series have looked at the spiritual power of music and its biblical significance, and have argued that popular trends in music always reflect the spirit of the age.

But should this be the case for music used inside the Church? Shouldn’t this be reflecting a different Spirit altogether?

Music at the Centre

Music has always been a strong feature of Judeo-Christian worship and culture. One only has to read the Psalms of Ascent (Ps 120-134) to see how important a role it has played in Jewish communal worship, as pilgrims sang on their way up to Jerusalem for festivals.¹ Since Jesus’ time, generations of Christians have learned of the Lord through song, and rightly so, for biblical songs are vital to the health of the Church (Eph 5:19; 1 Cor 14:26; Col 3:16).

It is good for believers to strengthen their theology through music; it is one of the wonderful gifts the Lord has given to bind the Church together through the ages, encourage her and keep her on a sound footing.
However, there is something different about this current generation. It is perhaps more concerned with musical worship than any previous generation – but it is also less concerned with Scripture.

For modern Christians, our musical intake includes both worship music used in church services and what has become known as ‘Contemporary Christian Music’ (CCM), an umbrella term for songs of any modern style that are intentionally Christian in their lyrics.² As long as songs are biblical, God-glorifying, and written in the right spirit, both of these musical avenues can be great for encouragement and edification.

This current generation is perhaps more concerned with musical worship than any previous generation – but it is also less concerned with Scripture.

But some problems have started to creep in in recent years as songs have become, for many, a substitute for scriptural learning. As biblical knowledge has generally been in decline, the way has been opened for modern Christian music to be permeated not by the Holy Spirit, but by the ‘spirit of the age’.

In this article I will outline four such ways this is occurring, focusing particularly on music popular in evangelical and charismatic circles. What follows is a largely critical remark – but please bear with me as next week’s conclusion to this short series will be much more positively focused on the hallmarks of good, solid, biblical music. For those interested in my own musical background and the position from which I am offering these comments, please see the Author Bio at the end of this page.

Four ways in which modern Christian music can channel the spirit of the age

1. Entertainment

Hillsong meeting in Sydney, Australia. See Photo Credits.According to secular theorists, Western culture has developed an obsession with entertainment. Key features of this culture include preferences of illusion over truth, appearance over reality and distraction over meaningful pursuit.³ When this comes to religion, it also means a preference for an appearance of spirituality without concern to live this out fully (i.e. 2 Tim 3:5).

Christian worship meetings that look and feel more like pop concerts have long been the chagrin of folk who prefer more traditional formats. Whatever your personal taste, there is no doubt that both Christian worship music and CCM have imbibed something of the contemporary spirit of ‘entertain me’: all the buzz of a spectacle and the enjoyment of (usually) an attractive set of faces, and all the sense of participating in something that ‘feels’ spiritual, but with very little personal challenge or follow-through.

The blending of Christian music with the secular world of entertainment – whether we are talking about borrowed styles and genres, or borrowed formats of mass gigs and music festivals - “changes it subtly, for the musical and emotional [is] exploited while the spiritual [is] denied or perverted.”⁴ It is obviously possible for God to work powerfully through such forms and events, but too often it’s equally possible for nominal Christians and unbelievers to partake, enjoy, adulate the performer and leave feeling good, but otherwise unchanged.

The blending of Christian music with the secular world of entertainment is not something to be taken lightly.

Meanwhile, Christian bands and artists face enormous commercial pressure to put out best-selling albums every year and to gig their way around the globe, winning Grammy awards as they go.⁵ Part of this pressure comes from record labels, which these days include secular conglomerates like Sony and EMI, who want songs that sell. This means that trends in music are more likely to be defined by what is popular and award-winning than by theological accuracy.

Edifying, doctrinally-sound songs still ‘make it big’ today. And many Christian artists take very seriously their opportunity to give the Gospel to a mass audience. However, the taking of inspiration from the secular realm is not something that should be done lightly, and has often also popularised a Christianity ‘lite’ based on thin doctrine and transient commitment.

2. Celebrity

Western culture’s obsession with entertainment goes hand-in-hand with a fascination with celebrity which has, sadly, also infiltrated the Church. The Gospel Coalition’s Mike Cosper notes that “Celebrity culture turns pastors and worship leaders into icons. Celebrity culture turns worship gatherings into rock concerts. Celebrity culture confuses flash and hype for substance.”⁶

Gigs, popular charts and social media all naturally draw the eye not to Jesus but to the artists, with more pressure on them to demonstrate charisma than a fear of the Lord. Being in the public eye obviously affords performers great opportunity to point people to Jesus but an obvious risk here, nonetheless, is idolatry and its attendant problems.

High-profile Christian musicians also wield huge influence, especially over young people. This can be a force for good, but it can also be used to promote heresy. Consider the following examples:

Pro-LGBT

Example: song-writer and worship leader Vicky Beeching, who came out as a lesbian in 2014 and now works to further the LGBT agenda in the British Church.

Universalism/Multi-faith

With universalism and multi-faith agendas gaining currency in mainstream evangelical and charismatic circles as well as in the ‘emerging church’, several Christian musicians are endorsing this, directly or indirectly. Examples include:

• Well-known Christian artists contributing to the soundtrack of the universalist film The Shack.
  
• Hillsong’s worship pastor Carl Lentz downplaying Jesus as the only way to God when interviewed by Oprah.⁷
  

Edifying, doctrinally-sound songs still ‘make it big’ today – but so do songs promoting a Christianity ‘lite’ based on thin doctrine and transient commitment.

Contemplative Prayer

Various Christian song-writers are allying themselves with the contemplative prayer movement, which utilises prayer methods advocated by the so-called ‘desert fathers’. This movement is drawing extensive criticism for often amounting to a new age counterfeit of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Examples: David Crowder, Michael W Smith, Michael Card.⁸

Dominionism

One of the main ways in which the highly influential ‘New Apostolic Reformation’ group of teachers and ministries in the USA has managed to export and mainstream Latter Rain/dominionist teachings⁹ worldwide is through music.

Example: Bethel Church in Redding has an extensive music scene, producing songs that promote its own brand of theology and exporting them worldwide via groups such as Jesus Culture and Bethel Music. These songs are being given further credence by endorsements from big names such as Chris Tomlin and Michael W Smith, and from major conferences such as Passion in the USA (click here for a critical review).

3. Emotionalism

An important feature of postmodern Western culture is the triumph of heart over head. These days, reason and hard facts matter less than feelings. This also means an over-emphasis on experience (or, in Christian jargon, ‘encounter’).

Such a culture within the Church developed initially as a reaction against lifeless Christianity, and arguably has encouraged an honesty in music about lived, felt aspects of the Christian walk. However, it has often gone too far, with doctrine giving way to emotion. The way has therefore been opened for other spirits to counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit, while true faith is side-lined.

Two extreme but nonetheless influential examples in Christian worship and CCM are hyper-charismatic music associated with the NAR group in America, and music used in the contemplative prayer movement (both mentioned previously). Both of these rely on repetitive rhythms and phrases, atmospheric mood music (referred to as music for ‘soaking’ or ‘meditation’, respectively) and intentionally vague lyrics.

High-profile Christian musicians wield huge influence, which can be a force for good, but can also be used to promote heresy.

The net result, in both camps, is music which draws the listener to switch off their mind to prepare the way for a spiritual encounter,¹⁰ rather than biblical music which should involve our minds as well as our spirits (1 Cor 14:15).

A brief excursion into the Bethel Music website provides some example lyrics:

• “Face to face, falling in / I surrender all again / I fall back into Your arms / I feel Your heart beating against me / Face to face, there’s no space between us”¹¹
  
• “I’m standing on the edge again / I feel Your breath coming on the wind… / It only gets stronger / It only goes deeper / My head’s underwater / but somehow I can finally breathe… / My heart is on fire / and this love is setting me free”¹²
  
• “It all starts with breathing You in / breathing You in / deeply / I’ve been drowning under my skin / no one but You can save me”¹³
  
• “Let the Holy Ghost come so close our hearts explode with your love / Let healing power come like fire and burn in the marrow of my bones… / Open the sky / Come and ride on the songs we sing…”¹⁴
  
• “The waves of your affection keep washing over me… / All those angels / they are swimming in this ocean and they still can find no shore / Day and night / night and day / They keep seeing new sides of your face”¹⁵
  

These are potted examples from one (albeit influential) source, but they show how songs utilising experiential, emotive language and lacking in clear doctrine could (at a push!) be interpreted in the light of Scripture, but could also be interpreted in all sorts of other ways.¹⁶

4. Self

The previous three points are united by a recurring focus on self. While time spent worshipping God undoubtedly leads to great personal blessing, there is a danger that this becomes imbalanced and fleshly, such that times of worship are approached primarily because of what I might receive from God. Contemporary worship music and CCM have, sadly, both imbibed this inward-looking focus on personal blessing and gratification.

Let me illustrate this briefly. The annual worship compilation albums ‘WOW’ collect together each year’s most popular contemporary Christian music. On their 2017 album of 39 tracks, just 7 songs mention the name of Jesus, 5 mention the cross and only 4 mention sin. This same pattern is repeated historically - in fact, the WOW 2015 album, also 39 songs long, boasts just 4 songs that include the name of Jesus, 5 that mention the cross and only one that includes the word ‘sin’.

While time spent worshipping God undoubtedly leads to great personal blessing, there is a danger that this becomes imbalanced and ‘me-orientated’.

Of course, not every Christian song needs to mention the name of Jesus in order to be acceptable (the original lyrics of ‘Amazing Grace’ do not mention any of the above three words either!). But there’s a broader point here: the majority of contemporary Christian music, with its positive messages of personal victory, blessing, revival and overcoming, is in danger of obscuring vital parts of the Gospel. One could easily ingest the majority of modern Christian tunes and conclude that the Good News is simply a matter of accepting that God loves you.

Christian music should rightly make space for songs about the personal and individual. But great discernment is needed to stop this going too far – especially when Western culture is infamous for its inward focus on ‘me, myself and I’.

Conclusion

In writing this study, I have not wanted to ride roughshod over the many good, solid worship songs that are being written today, nor toss away the very idea of CCM. Personally, I think there’s a place for both – and next week I hope to unpack features of good quality Christian music.

But sadly, we live in a culture that is resorting to spectacle in order to distract itself from its own deep spiritual crisis – a culture that has turned inwards to personal feelings and experiences in order to avoid confronting the One True God. Is CCM and even Christian worship music unwittingly aligning itself with this?

I am left with a number of questions, which I will list here as prompts for further discussion:

1. Has the Christian worship and CCM industry imbibed too much of the ‘spirit of the age’ to be redeemable? Should we be looking to other sources of musical inspiration for our worship (e.g. Messianic congregations in Israel)?
   
2. Is there a place for the public testing of Christian songs and/or the public holding of the Christian music industry to account? How might this look?
   
3. How can we be wise with our own consumption of contemporary Christian music, personally and corporately?
   

Next Week: We will finish up the series by looking at what makes for good, biblical Christian music.

Author Bio

Frances is 28 years old and was introduced to both piano and clarinet from early ages. She was classically trained but has dabbled in (and loves) jazz, and sings folk and gospel music regularly with friends. She teaches music privately and has been leading worship in her home church for the past eight years, having played in worship bands since the age of 10. She has a love of music of many different genres and a passion to see the church of God led well in worship.

References

1 See also comments on the biblical role of music made in the first part of this series.

2 These genres overlap, but both stand relatively distinct from the liturgical music of established denominations. The CCM industry grew out of the Jesus Movement in the late 1960s/1970s and has since become a highly commercialised, near-billion-dollar industry that in the USA has outstripped the classical and jazz market combined. It has moved to overlap with ‘worship’ music (i.e. used in church services) much more since the millennium, after suffering something of a decline. Read a brief history here.

3 Read more here.

4 Wilson-Dickson, A, 1992. The Story of Christian Music. Oxford: Lion, p203.

5 Grammys for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song and Album were introduced in 2012.

6 Kill Your (Celebrity Culture) Worship. The Gospel Coalition, 29 January 2016.

7 See coverage here.

8 See here.

9 For more information, please see our ‘Blessing the Church?’ series.

10 I will not go into detail here, but there is considerable research elsewhere about how these two streams represent a deviation into the occult rather than biblical worship. One resource is the Lighthouse Trails Research website.

11 First Love by Jonathan David Helser, 2016.

12 It Only Gets Stronger by Jeremy Riddle and Ran Jackson, 2017.

13 Save Me by Steffany Gretzinger, Amanda Cook and John David Gravitt, 2017.

14 Wrecking Ball by Jonathan David Helser, 2010.

15 Endless Ocean by Jonathan David Helser, 2009.

16 Bethel’s Brian Johnson has gone on record saying that “I honestly think that people freak out too much about whether [worship music] is biblical or not.” Do you agree? 

The soundtracks of Christendom…and post-Christendom.

This article is part of a series. Click here to read previous instalments.

Last week we saw that humans are designed to be musical creatures and that music is a powerful gift that can be used for good or ill. We saw that it is both an expression and a shaper of human culture – such that what is popular, musically speaking, will always reflect a society’s spiritual condition.

With this in mind, let’s step back in time and consider, in broad terms, how Western music has developed up to the present day.

The Sounds of Christendom

It is difficult to overstate the influence that Christianity has had on the development of Western music – and always in a way that has reflected the state of the Church. In medieval and Renaissance times, when the Bible was still in Latin and religion was largely the domain of priests and monks, a clear division existed between the [Catholic] Church and the people. Accordingly, music was also divided quite neatly into sacred (i.e. church) and secular (i.e. folk, entertainment) traditions, the latter of which varied in its reverence for God and often referenced pre-Christian, pagan themes.

With the Reformation, all of this changed: faith suddenly became available to the masses – a matter for communal discussion, meeting, sharing and singing. Europe’s culture was fundamentally reshaped by Protestantism – and committed Lutherans like JS Bach and George Frideric Handel carried this into their music, devoting their lives to composing expressly for God’s glory.

It is difficult to overstate the influence that Christianity has wielded on the development of Western music.

This meant that through the 17^th and 18^th Centuries, Europe’s musical landscape (just as with its art and architecture) benefited from a broad cultural backdrop of biblical belief. As such, both Baroque and Classical music¹ developed an appreciation for order and the beauty of form.

Music of those centuries reflected Enlightenment ideals, yes, but also the assumption that the universe was divinely ordered and designed to be both functional and beautiful, to the glory of God. Right up until the 20^th Century, the devil remained a macabre figure, referenced in jest or as a nemesis.

20^th Century: Post-Christendom

But as Europe abandoned its Judeo-Christian moorings particularly after World War II, so trends in art, philosophy, architecture and music all tended to reject the former beauty of classical order, in favour of the ‘postmodern’ and ‘avant-garde’.

In music, orderly and even phrases were rejected in favour of abstract forms. Harmonious chords were replaced with dissonance. Just like society, music became disillusioned and cynical.² Instead of music proudly composed to the glory of God, postmodern composers like Alexander Skriabin declared themselves god and dabbled freely in the occult.³

Meanwhile, as ‘popular’ music and culture departed from broadly ‘classical’ music into jazz, rock and pop, and from there exploded into innumerable sub-genres, so these too have become expressions of their background culture: a society embracing anything but Christianity.

Whatever the genre, as people have forsaken a biblical worldview, and as the mass media has exported music to millions in a very short space of time, so the enemy has moved in to fill the spiritual vacuum and wield music’s power to influence the lives of people all over the world.

1960s-1980s: The Popularisation of satanic Music

There has been much debate about how first blues and jazz, and then rock and roll, formed part of a wider rebellion against Christianity and its moral moorings. However, I will jump on here to the deliberate infusion of occult themes into popular music from the 1960s onwards, in tandem with post-war ‘liberation’ movements (political, sexual, drug-related, etc).

Through the 1960s, thanks to celebrity interest in occultists such as Anton LaVey and Aleister Crowley, the idea of paying homage to satan through popular music really took off.

Through the 1970s and 80s, in a drug-fuelled haze and helped along by the new age influence of Brian Eno (a self-confessed ‘evangelical atheist’ with a hatred for Israel but a big influence in the music industry), occult imagery and new age/satanic references in pop and rock music became quite fashionable.

As Europe abandoned its Judeo-Christian moorings particularly after World War II, so trends in art, philosophy, architecture and music all tended to reject the former beauty of classical order.

Whether or not artists really believed in what they were referencing (I think both God and satan have taken it very seriously, even if they didn’t!), there is plentiful evidence to suggest satanic influence on many high-profile bands and artists, ranging from 60s rock-and-rollers like Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard to iconic groups like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin; from rock bands like The Eagles, U2 and AC/DC (of Highway to Hell fame) to megastars like Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie.

Led Zeppelin logo, making use of occult imagery. See Photo Credits.Alongside this rose heavy metal and ‘death metal’ music, with bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath, and later Metallica and Megadeth, all professing occult allegiances. By the late 1980s, this part of the music world had grown so dark that it involved on-stage rituals and the glorification of satanic violence, including rape and murder.

As part of this, there are many stories of musicians genuinely selling their souls to the devil to ensure success, ‘channelling’ demons whilst onstage and ‘receiving’ songs whilst on drugs. Just a few examples:

• "Someone else is steering me. I'm just along for the ride. I become possessed when I'm on stage." (Angus Young, AC/DC)⁴
  
• “I was directed and commanded by another power, the power of darkness, the power of the devil, satan.” (Little Richard)⁵
  
• “I can explain everything better through music. You hypnotise people and when you get people at their weakest point you can preach into their subconscious what we want to say.” (Jimi Hendrix)
  
• “I wanted to marry Lucifer. I don’t consider Lucifer an evil force. I feel his presence in the music. I feel he comes and sits on my piano.” (Tori Amos)
  
• “I’ve sold my soul to the devil. But my joy is when you’re like possessed, like a medium…I’ll be sitting around and it’ll come in the middle of the night or at a time when you don’t want to do it – that’s the exciting part. I don’t know who the *** wrote it, I’m just sitting here and the whole *** song comes out. So you’re like driven and you find yourself over on a piano or a guitar and you put it down because it’s been given to you...” (John Lennon)
  

How far we have fallen since Handel’s Messiah!

There is plentiful evidence to suggest satanic influence on many high-profile bands and artists.

Millennial Pop

Through the 1990s and 2000s, heavy occult rock grew less fashionable as an expression of youthful rebellion against the status quo (though it has never lost its cult following). It was replaced by narcissistic pop, hip-hop and R&B club tunes, pushing messages about personal indulgence, sexual consumerism and, latterly, aggressive feminism – again, reflecting the spirit of the age.

However, through the superficial glitz of 21^st Century me-centred, licentious pop, occult overtones have not been absent. Mega-stars like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Nikki Minaj and Iggy Azalea are just a few household names, followed avidly by millions of teenage girls, who have carried occult or pagan themes into their music and videos. And who can forget Beyonce’s pregnant performance at last year’s Grammy Awards, when she ‘channelled’ a variety of African and Indian fertility goddesses onstage.⁶

Alongside this, electronic dance music (EDM) genres such as house, drum-and-bass and trance have continued the satanic themes of earlier heavy metal, including intense volume (said to induce depression, rebellion and aggression), repetitive rhythms designed to empty the mind, and builds and releases intended to mimic sexual activity.⁷ These kinds of music have carried late-20^th Century rave and drug culture into the millennium and beyond.

Whether we are considering the satanic rock music played at the Bataclan Concert Hall in Paris in 2015 (and, according to Pastor JD Farag,⁸ a recurring influence in the lives of American teen shooters), or the disgracefully immoral lyrics of pop stars like Ariana Grande (who performed at Manchester Arena before the attack last May), we begin to see just how extensive the satanic foothold on the music industry is – and how intently focused it is on shaping the minds of children and teenagers.

Whilst not all music written and performed by non-Christians is necessarily evil, it is certain that the enemy has been given plenty of room within the industry at large. This is simply a result and reflection of the spiritual state of wider society.

There are many stories of musicians genuinely selling their souls to the devil to ensure success, ‘channelling’ demons whilst onstage and ‘receiving’ songs whilst on drugs.

Discernment Needed

This has been a very sweeping analysis and I am aware that there are plenty of anomalies that don’t fit with the broader trends outlined here. That’s why there is great need for discernment in these days, for ourselves and for our loved ones.

The average Briton listens to 3,500 songs per year and spends more than 1/10 of their waking hours listening to music, according to a recent study.⁹ For 18-24 year olds this rises to a whopping 3½ hours of music per day. Christians need to wake up to the music we are allowing to become the backdrop of our lives.

We know that how we use our bodies is important (1 Cor 6:19-20). With our bodies we can glorify God, or we can rebel and be defiled. Just as it matters what we let pass in front of our eyes (Ps 101:3) and what we let come out of our mouths (Matt 15:11), so it matters what we allow to go into our ears (and the ears of our children and grandchildren), how we dance and, if we are musical, what we play. God calls us to focus on “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…excellent or praiseworthy” (Phil 4:8).

With this in mind, next week we will consider how the spirit of the age has infiltrated modern worship music.

References

1 Generally accepted dates for the Baroque period in music are 1600-1750, and for the Classical period 1750-c.1810.

2 E.g. see here.

3 See here.

4 Hit Parade, July 1985. Quoted here.

5 Taken from JD Farag’s update of 18 February, Youtube. All subsequent quotes likewise.

6 For a detailed analysis of the symbolism employed in Beyonce's performance, click here.

7 I am indebted to this article for the details about rock music's components.

8 See note 5.

9 See here.

A new mini-series on the spiritual significance of music.

On 18 February, in the immediate aftermath of the Florida school shooting that took 17 lives, Hawaiian Calvary Chapel pastor JD Farag bravely drew people’s attention to the two common denominators in mass shootings committed by teenagers in the USA: drugs and satanic music.¹

The unbelieving world is quick to scoff when connections are made between video games and real-world violence – and it’s the same with music. Of course, direct causal connections are difficult to establish; no mass murderer could plausibly get away with pleading ‘The music made me do it!’ in a court of law.

But on the other hand, this doesn’t mean that the emotional, psychological and spiritual power of music should just be ignored. Music has an extraordinary capacity to affect people, which can be turned for good or for evil.

Musical by Design

While tastes obviously vary and not everyone is gifted with the genius of Mozart or Beethoven, we are all created with an innate capacity to enjoy music. Our brains and bodies are designed to appreciate it and respond to it – whether by humming, singing, dancing or playing an instrument.²

Science affirms that music has an extraordinary capacity to affect our minds, emotions and spirits, whether to uplift or soothe, to express grief or joy. Studies have shown that the right music at the right time can increase creativity and learning ability, reduce stress, lift one’s mood, help both emotional and physical healing and better one’s interpersonal skills.

“Music is the universal language of mankind.” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Medics, psychologists and therapists will tell you that music can literally work miracles – helping in therapy for the disabled, in treatment for mental illness, and in ‘waking up’ parts of the brain in dementia patients that were previously thought to be defunct.³

Scientifically speaking, our brains, hearts and bodies are designed to sync in with the music we hear and respond accordingly. That’s why up-beat music boosts our energy levels, while down-beat music soothes and relaxes. We tune into what we hear and it affects us – whether we notice it or not. This applies to the mind and the body – and also to the soul.

Gifted Music

We shouldn’t be surprised at this, for the Bible shows us that music is a divine and innately spiritual gift: a heavenly gift given to humankind by God as an expression of His creativity, with intention that it be used for His glory and our blessing.

The Songs of Joy, by James Jacques Joseph TissotMusic is recorded in Scripture as being a blessed part of family and community life, helping give expression to both merry-making and mourning (e.g. Isa 16:10; Luke 15:25; Matt 9:23). The symbolic and evocative power of music was designed for communal good, accompanying important ceremonies such as coronations, feasts and dedications (e.g. 1 Kings 1:40; Matt 26:30; Neh 12:27; Ezra 3).

Music has also proven a powerful weapon in warfare (e.g. 1 Cor 14:8; Neh 4:20), helping to win important biblical victories (e.g. Josh 6; Jud 7:16-22).

After victory, spontaneous songs were often poured out in celebration (e.g. Ex 15; Jud 5, 11:34; 1 Sam 18), which draws our attention to the most important purpose for music: to help express worship of God (e.g. 1 Chron 6:31-32, 25:6-7; Psalms; Eph 5:19; James 5:13; Col 3:16) and commemorate His faithfulness (e.g. Deut 32; Ps 90). The Lord is even recorded in Scripture as giving us songs to sing (Ps 40:3; Job 35:10).

“Music is an outburst of the soul.” ~ Frederick Delius

It is no wonder, given all this, that Christianity has for centuries been known as ‘the singing faith’. God clearly loves music – and has designed us to enjoy musical expression as part of our adoration and praise, and as a way of articulating and strengthening our hope.

Turned to Idolatry

However, just like all of God’s good gifts, music can also be turned for ungodly ends. Both Amos and Isaiah recorded the complacent, self-satisfied use of music by the rich and powerful in Israel (e.g. Amos 6:1-7; Isa 5:12). The Prophet Daniel wrote of how the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar used all manner of musical instruments to call the people to idolatry (Dan 3:5-7).

Through the ages, music has been used to torture as well as to entertain, to depress as well as to uplift, to ignite rebellion as well as to soothe. It has become the soundtrack to pagan ritual, being employed by mediums to enter trances, by shamans to enter the spirit realm, and by new age practitioners to facilitate meditation. It has almost always accompanied drunken revelry and sexual seduction, and has featured strongly in genocidal dictatorships (e.g. Hitler’s Third Reich, Stalin’s Russia, Communist China).

Sadly, this corruption of such a wonderful, Godly gift was only to be expected. satan himself has a close association with music (some assert that he used to be chief worship leader in Heaven, citing Ezekiel 28:12-15) and, as the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2), has temporary dominion over all the unbelieving world – including its musical activity. Desiring the worship of all, of course he will be looking to use the power of music in order to garner it.

Power, Spirituality, Community

The upshot of this is that music has, from one end of time to the other, been a key battleground for the heart and soul of mankind.

This is partly because the composing, performing and imbibing of music are all potentially powerful acts – not just physically and psychologically, but also spiritually. Music springs forth from and sinks deep into the soul, and so, knowingly or not, it is an expression of worship. At each stage those involved can choose to commit their activity to God, or to idols. 

It is also because music is, for the most part, a communal phenomenon. Whether musicians playing with and learning from one another, fans enjoying concerts, or dancers taking to the dance-floor, music is often a shared experience.

This gains power the more people are involved – think of the stirring anthems of the Last Night of the Proms, or the weighty hymns of football crowds, or of thousands at the Olympics joining in with the national anthem. At these times, music is a deeply moving – and often positive - expression of community togetherness.

Because music is a communal endeavour, it helps to define and express culture (this is even more the case today with mass media and the internet exporting ‘pop’ music to millions every second). And because music is deeply powerful and spiritual, popular music trends always reflect the spirit of the age.

“Who hears music, feels his solitude peopled at once.” ~ Robert Browning

In other words, shared trends in music say something about the spiritual health and direction of a society. They form the collective cry of souls – whether glorifying God, searching for meaning, indulging in degeneracy, or pursuing a satanic agenda.

Next week, we will see to how this applies to the field of Western popular music.

References

1 Click here to watch Pastor Farag's full sermon.

2 Music is one of the only activities that is processed using every single part of the brain, and the auditory nervous system is incredibly well-connected to the rest of the body. Playing an instrument requires muscle movements and nervous control that are unique to humankind - no other species is so equipped.

3 E.g. read more here.