Now, I’m not saying that all of those songs are bad and “are of the devil”. I still listen to secular songs from time to time but I most certainly listen to them in a different way than I did in the past. I now listen to make sure that the songs I listen to are not in opposition to the way I want to live my life before a holy, sovereign God. I do not want to fill my mind with garbage just like I would not view pornography for the same reason. Let’s face it; there are some songs out there that Christians should not listen to and they most certainly should not be used to reach the lost. Also make note that throughout I have not said music. I do not believe there is secular music; just secular lyrics.
I know many churches use secular songs every service but I have to wonder just how many secular songs bring us to a heart of worship. I would think not many if any. I pray that churches are not using secular songs just to say “Hey look at us, we are not that much different from you.” I believe that we are to be different. That is what makes people take at look at us and say, “What is up with you?” The answer is Jesus!
Another trend is the increasing popularity of bands under the banner of the Christian genre. I really enjoy listening to some of these groups but there is something that bothers me and that is the absence of God and/or Jesus from their vocabulary. Unfortunately I don’t make it out much so I have never seen these bands live. I hope and pray that they are at least presenting the gospel message at their concerts. I mean that is why we are here, right? We are to bring glory to God with our gifts and to go and make disciples. Like I said I have not attended any concerts of the bands I’m speaking of but recent appearances on several late night shows and shopping for CDs as gifts for Christmas got me to taking a deeper look. The only source I have is album reviews and the groups own web sites. A look at those web site home pages seemingly shows what is important and that would be chart ratings, albums sold, television appearances and where their videos are getting airtime. It looks and reads just like any other band that is out there for themselves.
P.O.D. (Payable On Death) web site has no mention of God, Jesus or their faith.
Switchfoot has vague references to scripture when they write;It was another jewish man who said something like this a while back. "All is meaningless," Declares the teacher. "Meaningless, meaningless, Everything is meaningless"
And also,
These references are to Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1:2 NIV which is in the Bible and not just Jewish scripture.There’s this moment in Jewish scripture, in Ecclesiastes, where it says, ‘Meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless.’ That’s the place where our new record starts.”
Another place on the web site has this;
It was another jewish man who said something like this, "If you seek to gain your soul you will lose it."
This other Jewish man was Jesus and what He said was;
Matthew 16:25-26 NIVFor whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?
Jon Foreman the frontman for Switchfoot writes:
So at the end of our time as a band perhaps we will have only one song to sing- just one very long, rambling, eclectic song that touches on life, death, pain, sex, anger, joy, peace, politics, God and the other elements of a searching soul in the twenty first century. Maybe at the end of my life I will sing only one song, a song that has been refined and purified. A lonely group of notes that will be a sweet, sweet sound for an audience of one. Or maybe I'm still trying to figure out this broken, beautiful planet-
writing songs as a way of therapy in the hopes of a better understanding of this existence that we call life. Either way, the bitter struggle for meaning and truth in the postmodern world is a subject matter that I don't think I could ever exhaust.
I gather from this web site that this band is not comfortable with even mentioning the name of Jesus but are trying hard to be politically correct. I wonder if they are saying “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas”? It appears that God is just one element in their search for meaning. At the least they are still searching. I pray that they discover that the answer is Jesus and only Jesus.
Thousand Foot Krutch is another completely commercial site with no mention of the bands values only their tour dates and where they rank in the world.
Relient K website looks a lot like what I have already mentioned. Although there is a
biography page which did give some insight. On the description of a song off their new CD says;“Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been” launches with a reflective piano arrangement that builds up with intensity to address life’s moments when everything seems to be failing, while reminding all that God provides second chances.
That is so true. Our God is most certainly full of grace and mercy.
A couple of paragraphs later Matthew Theissen says;
“We’re not trying to hide anything with the songs on this record, just to get what we feel out there,” Thiessen summarizes. “We’ve also found it to be the hardest thing in the world to say ‘Jesus’ in a song and not be cheesy, so we definitely have our own way of singing about spirituality. But in the end that’s who we are and what we believe in. We hope between that and the music, it connects with someone out there.”
Singing the name of who should be Lord of your life is cheesy? The Son of God who died for our sins sounds cheesy? That is absolute nonsense. I really believe that the members of Relient K are Christians but they need to assess who they are really glorifying.
Kutless home page is fairly simple with a couple of tour dates and a news snippet. But when you dig deeper into the site, wow, what a departure from the previous bands and groups that I have mentioned. There is no doubt what these guys purpose is and that is worship of God. There is testimony and actual scripture references throughout. I guess I now know why this band has been sounding much better to me that the others here lately. This is a band that truly belongs in the genre of Christian.
I know that there are many, many more bands out there but these are the ones that people, the kids, are listening to and watching. If they are going to put out in market place as Christian then they have an awesome responsibility for showing Jesus to those that so desperately need Him. I pray that all of the bands that have at some point professed to be Christians, otherwise they wouldn’t be place in the music genre, to remember the scripture passage of
2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
6 comments:
I went to a concert with TFK and they meantioned that there is a God and he sent his son to die for us. It's crazy I guess they use the music to reel them in and then give them a message face to face
That is what I was praying that Jesus is being shared.
I tend to agree with you. I feel that if one of these "Christian" bands has a concert and the do not, somewhere in the show, stop and have a little preaching on who Christ was and why he came, then they are, to me, a band that has members that happen to be saved. Then there are the groups that mascarade as Christian such as Rivertribe. Awesome music. They have a Christian themed album with poplular Christian songs. But that doesn't change the fact that they are a new age group and their past and other recent works reflect that.
True. Rivertribe does acknowledge God but that is about it. Therefore they are placed under the Christian genre banner. They seem to also have an underlying anti-american, liberal view that is so prevalent among "artistic" types that have been given a platform and choose to spout off on issues they really have no clue about. They would rather speak on worldly issues than tell about Jesus.
In Your article you focus a lot on the fact that the name of JESUS himself is not mentioned in the songs. But you would then have to realise that there are SOOO many worship songs that don't mention the name of JESUS, Songs like Let it rain, Above all. I am not saying that we should be ashamed of HIS name. For I know that it is the name Above all names. But I've been to concerts of "Contempo. Christian" their album is Very often an "excuse" so as to assemble none christians, to their concert, So as to be able to talk about the cross. One testimony, my friend at school is a non christian, and he listens to a LOT of heavy stuff. I gave him a P.O.D album once. He came to me after, and said that usually heavy music in his own words "make me feel down, like a weight on me, but after listening to this, is feel really good" words from a 16 year old boy. And after all who are we to judge people. If they believe that they are doing that God has called them to do, who are we to say that our thought are higher than HIS thoughs. We cannot put God in a box. Peace Out
Thanks for the comments. I'm not condemning these artists. I guess that is what you mean by judging. My place is not to condemn but I will bring things to light. My issue is not that don't use the name of Jesus but deliberately avoid saying or invoking the name of Jesus. Oh how I believe that we can't put God in a box or hold back Jesus name.
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