Catchy Tunes and Compromise

    It may be hard for some people to see secular music as a possible weapon of mass destruction, but that is what it has become in America. Whether music is emanating from the car radio, echoing in a supermarket, or snaking into people’s minds through the speakers on ear buds, Americans are daily assaulted by the twisted melodies wrought by the Deceiver. People are not only forced to face this music, but to tolerate it and all that it stands for. Wrapped in illusive, undeserved beauty, ideas like sexual immorality, drug abuse, and homosexuality are glorified by attractive voices and catchy tunes. God does not mean for music to be used in such a vulgar way. He created music as a means to worship Him and unify and uplift the Body of Christ. Music, and even passionate dancing, are found all throughout the Bible. Through song, one’s heart and mind are united, and there is greater potential to draw closer to the Creator as a result. Satan hates this. That is why this fallen angel strives so hard to taint music’s inherent purity. When the Devil tricks people into using music to inflame their egos and feed their dark passions, he succeeds in hurting the cause of Christ. Even though Satan has temporarily succeeded in his evil musical endeavors, Christians will ultimately be the victors if they stand against dirty music and hold fast to what is right and true. Satan’s scheme for music is to defile hearts and distract people from God’s love and power; the Father’s intention for melodic thought is to captivate hearts with His love and bind people together in unity.

 

    Music is an extremely powerful artistic medium—it creates opportunities for God to reveal His power, unites believers in worship, and brings people closer to God. Paul writes in Ephesians 5:18-20, 

“...be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord…” 

 This God-fearing apostle was writing from personal experience as well as from divine inspiration. In Acts 16:25, Paul and Silas sing hymns and pray from their jail cells while in the midst of fellow prisoners, and God makes the earth quake to set them free. After witnessing this miracle, the prison guard accepts Christ as his Savior. When the joy in believers’ hearts pours forth from their lips in song, the heart of the Lord is delighted, and powerful things can happen. As Christians worship together at church, armed only with mutual words of adoration for their Creator, they become likeminded, unhindered by spiritual divisions such as controversial theology. Most importantly, when people sing to the Lord He is blessed. David joyfully writes in Psalm 92:1, 

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High…" 

 According to Zephaniah 3:17, God sings over His people. The verse reads, 

“For the Lord your God has arrived to live among you.  He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With His love, He will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing you a happy song.” 

 Clearly, God highly values the power of music, considering the fact that He inspired two books about music to be included in His Word. If music is important to God, it should be important to all believers as well.

    Christians must be aware of the hold Satan has on today’s music industry in America, among other places. People tend to think of secular music as both harmless and entertaining—myself included—when in reality there is a spirit behind every song played. While some songs are truly harmless, other seemingly innocuous songs cause people to consider normally revolting ideas as acceptable and cool. These thoughts lead to actions, and soon compromise swallows our lives. 

    For instance, a few weeks ago, I found myself absentmindedly enjoying a song playing in the background at a local store. I enjoyed it—that is, until I listened more carefully to the lyrics: I kissed a girl and I liked it; it tasted like cherry chapstick. The voice singing these words was female. If a random girl at the mall had said these words to me, I would have been horrified. Dressed in a mesmeric melody, however, these same vulgar words sounded both attractive and edgy—two things that really appeal to my flesh. I walked out of the thrift store feeling very disturbed. God did not mean for music to be used in such a confusing, deleterious way. 

    Satan, the dark prince of this world, knows how potent music’s effects can be on the human heart and mind. For example, a boy brought up in the church might start listening to rap music because he thinks that it is “cool.” While this might be initially harmless, the boy may begin to grow comfortable with the profanity and immorality glorified in the songs. The next thing the boy knows, he is compromising in other, more crucial areas of his life, and is wandering farther and farther away from Jesus. Colossians 3:5 says, 

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” 

 If the Devil can convince Christians that compromise—allowing our earthly desires to exist within us—is an acceptable element in our walk with Christ, then his work is complete. Do not mistake my meaning; God saves us each daily from the sins we commit against Him, and there is no person alive whose sins are so monstrous that God cannot save them with His amazing grace. I am living proof of this truth. But when we believers allow an idol such as unwholesome music to come between us and God, it keeps us from experiencing the full power of Jesus’ saving blood. Music is not just a way for us to connect with God; it is a medium that the enemy uses to lure us away from Christ. In 1 Peter 5:8, Peter cautions, 

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

    So what is the big deal? Sure, music can lead to compromise, but it is overall a pretty harmless source of pleasure…right? Wrong. Like all other areas in a person’s life, God has placed boundaries on what sorts of music believers should allow themselves to be exposed to. He does not specifically mention “melodious” boundaries, but Jesus does say very clearly in Matthew 12:30 that 

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

 Basically, Jesus is saying that there is no “neutral” side; every person is either on Jesus’ team or on Satan’s team. This applies to music as well, because behind every song there is a songwriter. Did you know that the average American teenager listens to two and a half hours of music a day? I know I listen to as much. By drawing attention to these things I do not mean to condemn people who listen to Justin Beiber and Taylor Swift…I am as guilty of listening to secular music as anybody. A lot of secular music is exciting and makes us feel good. 

    Regardless, no one can deny Paul’s words of truth in Ephesians 5:11 when he writes 

“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” 

    Music is not always a harmless source of entertainment; it is a way for people to universally connect with God with their hearts and minds, and a way that the enemy tempts our flesh. My final plea to the reader is to not content yourself with listening to music for the sake of social acceptance or lethal compromise. Be judicious when choosing what music you will allow yourself to be exposed to. Do not just listen to a song’s melody—pay attention to its lyrics and to the deeper message that broods just beneath the song’s surface. If it is contradictory to the Word of God, rethink your decision to tune in. Hate what is evil and cling to what is good (Rom 12:9).  Take a serious stand against the evil of compromise in a society in which people stumble like brainwashed zombies through the yawning gates of hell with ear buds fixed scrupulously in their ears. God challenges us all to be seekers of the truth. This is crucial. John 8:32 sums up this point well when it declares 

“…you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

DREAMER'S CHALLENGE: Day 2

    It is so true what people say about beauty rising out of the ashes of pain. Last night, after my rocky beginnings with Day 1 of the Dreamer's Challenge, I crawled into the back of my dad's truck, threw my head back, and soaked in the awesome sight of God's stars...and the occasional plane taking off from a nearby airport. Somehow, the combination of these sights prompted me to think of the song Keith Green wrote about God's beauty, "Oh Lord, You're Beautiful."

    I had a good conversation with God, and read Psalm 37 by the light of the stars, street lights, and passing cars' headlights. This psalm is especially meaningful and beautiful, I discovered, when read aloud. I have tried to read this particular psalm before without really "getting it," but last night was different. It was as if I had never read it before. I especially love verses 3-4 and 34-40, but the whole piece is both delicious and rejuvenating.

    The Psalm begins by declaring, "Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart," and ends on a similar note, " But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the LORD shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him."

    We are not only blessed, but SAVED by God for trusting in Him!  Trust must be pretty important to God, huh?  What separated many of the heroes of the Bible from the people that lived around them in their time was not their own holiness--some of them were drunks, liars, hypocrites, and cowards--but instead was the trust that they had in God.  Sure, they had their doubts at times--many times, in fact--but for some of the time, they trusted God, and it was during those times that God moved them the most.

    I guess the theme of the day must be Keith Green, because I've got another song for you called "He'll Take Care of the Rest" that relates beautifully to this topic:

    After spending some time with God, I slipped back into my house and plopped onto a couch next to two of my younger brothers, twins.  They were watching the movie Eight Below with my dad.  Not wanting to watch TV or leave their company, I ultimately chose to sit at a nearby table and draw illustrations for a possible future installment story idea of mine (HINT HINT).  I prayed a short prayer before crawling into bed, and slept soundly.

    I only remember having one dream, and the details I remember are vague: something exciting was going on, possibly a wedding, and I wrote "I love something" on my arm.  I still don't remember what that "something" was, but the dream was bright, clean, refreshing--not nightmarish.  I feel that God has blessed me for going to Him first.  Psalm 4, the verse that was so ironic to my sleep experience two nights ago, now echoes the peace I experienced last night.

    God's mercies really ARE new each day; praise the LORD!

STARS

    Sometimes it is hard to believe that God is with us, that He is alive.  When I am in doubt, I need only to look up into the night sky and see His stars to be reassured once more that He is real.  
Sometimes when I can't make sense of life, I climb into the back of my dad's truck at night, lie on my back, look up at the stars, and allow the beauty of His universe to swallow me up...and I talk to God.  Talk to Him unhindered by my earthly troubles, because I am too aware of His glory--and His love--to notice.

    I believe this sentiment is universal; people all around the world look up at the stars every night and are faced with the reality that there is a Creator behind the celestial splendor that they see.  King David proclaims in Psalm 19:

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.

    
    Jon Foreman continues this thought beautifully in his song "Stars."  I included the words below.

Maybe I've been the problem, maybe I'm the one to blame
But even when I turn it off and blame myself, the outcome feels the same
I've been thinkin maybe I've been partly cloudy, maybe I'm the chance of rain
Maybe I'm overcast, and maybe all my lucks washed down the drain

I've been thinking 'bout everyone, everyone you look so lonely

But when I look at the stars,
when I look at the stars,
when I look at the stars I see someone else
When I look at the stars,
the stars, I feel like myself

Stars lookin at our planet watching entropy and pain
And maybe start to wonder how the chaos in our lives could pass as sane
I've been thinking bout the meaning of resistance, of a hope beyond my own
And suddenly the infinite and penitent begin to look like home

I've been thinking bout everyone, everyone you look so empty

But when I look at the stars,
when I look at the stars,
when I look at the stars I see someone else...

Here's the music video:

    The video is admittedly a little strange and theatrical, but that somehow seems appropriate considering the profound subject matter.

    Next time you look at the stars, think of Who created them.  Think of Who created you.  Remember that only God is truly capable of filling the emptiness in your life.  Remember that God, bigger, greater than the entire universe, loves you so much that He became a human and  humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross to make it possible for you to come to Him, despite your flaws.  Despite my flaws.  

    Thank God that there IS Someone Else, and that His name is Jesus Christ, because I could never make it here on earth without Him by my side!