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Featured Is Contemporary Christian Music/Christian Rock wordly and sinful?

Discussion in 'Baptist Theology & Bible Study' started by Jordan Kurecki, Apr 22, 2014.

  1. Jordan Kurecki

    Jordan Kurecki Well-Known Member
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    Do you think Christian Contemporary music is sinful because it is very similiar to the worlds music?

    What do you think about artists like Lecrae? who seek to blend the message of Christ with the message of hip hop music?

    What are your thoughts about whether or not a musical style is acceptable?

    Do you think Music is Amoral?

    What would be your response to an article like this:
    http://www.wayoflife.org/database/charismatic_Style_Worship_high_on_music.html
     
    #1 Jordan Kurecki, Apr 22, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 22, 2014
  2. Greektim

    Greektim Well-Known Member

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    I think the reformed Christian rap is a burgeoning field that has better theology than most of your modern praise songs and even some older hymns. It is lyrical, poetic theology set to a beat. It is awesome! Shai Linne is one of my favs.

    BTW... Lecrae is not blending the message of Jesus w/ the message of hip hop music b/c that music doesn't have a message. Artists have messages. He is blending sounds. But the message he is rapping is far different than most thug rappers. So there is no blend. You're question is flawed.
     
  3. nodak

    nodak Active Member
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    Ok, here goes. I suppose music is neutral until culture gets involved. But it always gets involved. There are beats or musical phrases (like the va va voom most associate with strippers) that because of cultural baggage should not be used in church. That will vary by cultural setting.

    And then there is "who are you trying to reach" thing. If your aim is pulling people OUT of the honky tonky scene, don't do my beloved country gospel, please. You make it very hard for your brothers and sisters in Christ to make a clean break.

    The same might be said if you are trying to bring people out of the rock and roll clubs and party scene. I've known of folks recently immigrated from Africa that are more rabid than any southern bigot at wanting "devil music" out of the church. It absolutely returns them to the paganism they have come out of, and they abhor it. It might not hurt the lily white suburban kid at the local mega full of lily white suburbanites.

    Here are some things to consider: no matter the musical genre, it can be used manipulatively. Don't. No matter the genre, excessive dim lights and repeat the same few words dozens of times can become quite the mantra opening folks to suggestion. Don't. And no matter the genre, make sure the words accurately reflect your theology.

    My personal bias? I hate any song of any genre that sounds like you could substitute the name of your girlfriend or boyfriend and sell it as a love song. And I'm connected enough to the industry to know it may have been written as a secular love song, didn't sell, and with that minor rewrite of adding "Lord" sold as "Christian" music. Gag, ack.
     
  4. Jordan Kurecki

    Jordan Kurecki Well-Known Member
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    But what about the nature of the sounds that hes using?

    Are these sounds really Holy?

    Should we really place the message of Christ to a sound that the world has used to promote drugs, sex, and other thug related activities?
     
    #4 Jordan Kurecki, Apr 22, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 22, 2014
  5. Jordan Kurecki

    Jordan Kurecki Well-Known Member
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    I find your statement that music does not have a message as not true.

    Music definately sends a message.

    When I was a drug addict the music i listened to was mainly instrumental, it was actually a form of electronic music,

    It definately sent me a message, just because it didnt use words doesn't mean it didn't.

    I fear that CCM and Christian Rock is sending a different message with its lyrics than it is with its actual sound.
     
  6. Winman

    Winman Active Member

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    If music appeals to the flesh, I believe it is not good.

    Here is a song I really like, and I used to play this song in a Christian band, but I had to put that stuff away.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjJjf6KkyI4

    This song rocks. I love it. That is why it is NOT good.

    Anybody who says this doesn't appeal to the flesh knows absolutely nothing about music.
     
  7. evenifigoalone

    evenifigoalone Well-Known Member

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    My basic mentality: Why let Satan have all the good music?
    Some of the music used for our beloved hymns were originally played in bars.

    Personally, there are hymns I like, but I tend to find CCM more relatable. Even when I was against CCM, as I was raised to be, on occasions when I was in a setting playing CCM I found myself able to worship to it.
    LeCrae isn't my style, but from what I've seen of his work his message is sound.

    Is music evil simply because it's been used for evil at one point or another? I don't think so. Plus, some rock music, including metal, is actually based off parts of classical compsitions, or is influenced by them.
    And I don't have time to dig up specific examples right now, but the instruments mentioned in the Psalms have their modern equivalents in the instruments used for rock music. Tambourines: relative of drum sets. Stringed instruments: guitars.

    I normally avoid these threads here because I can get a little too argumentative, but I'll try not to argue.
     
    #7 evenifigoalone, Apr 22, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 22, 2014
  8. Jordan Kurecki

    Jordan Kurecki Well-Known Member
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    So what about eating? that appeals to the flesh, so does that mean when we eat it is wrong?

    Or what about a man when he goes to bed with his wife? That pleases the flesh does it not? so with that logic does that make it wrong as well?
     
  9. Jordan Kurecki

    Jordan Kurecki Well-Known Member
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    I do not think guitars and drums are wicked.

    But when we look at rock music at its roots and where it comes from, It's was all built upon drugs and sex.

    Are we just trying to take of the Lords Table and the table of devils at the same time when we do this very thing with CCM and Christian Rock?

    I have been going back and forth on this issue for a while, and the thing I keep coming back to this is that we are to be holy and different, and that we are not love the world or the things in this world, also that no man can serve two masters...

    It seems to me that Christians of the CCM and Christian Rock scene are doing this very thing.

    Aren't they taking the Lord Jesus Christ and trying to combine him with something that is unclean?
     
  10. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    Yes it is....and no it isn't. I don't believe music is sinful but I believe the lyrics can be not God honoring and I believe the bands and artists can be the same way.

    I've met LeCrae, his wife and his kids. He's an awesome guy with a heart that is absolutely for the Lord. He loves his wife, he loves his kids and he LOVES to serve God. I've seen him skip the limelight to be able to sit and minister to kids who responded to the Gospel at his concert. He is definitely, hands down, the real deal. But I can't stand that kind of music and won't listen to it. :) It's just not my thing. But for those who like it, I will absolutely recommend they listen to LeCrae.

    But we had a concert here once with a number of well-known Christian bands and let me tell you, one that was quite popular at the time turned me off completely to them. Talk about hypocrites!! Yeah, their message in their songs was good but their lives reflected something else and I no longer encouraged my kids to listen to them and explained why.

    I love modern worship music and have a number of favorite artists. I love their hearts for God and their using their talents to bring the Gospel to people that maybe I couldn't reach. I do not at all think that doing this is sinful or worldly in the least.
     
  11. Jordan Kurecki

    Jordan Kurecki Well-Known Member
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    Thanks for your input.


    I am struggling at the moment with the issue of music,

    I am beginning to question whether or not CCM and other new styles of Christian music are wrong or not.

    I was saved in a super conservative Baptist Church where our Pastor preaches against Rock music.

    I want to make sure when I stand before God that I am not guilty of condemning what he has not condemned, But I also do not want to stand before the Lord as a compromiser.

    Pray for me please that the Lord would show me his will.
     
  12. OldRegular

    OldRegular Well-Known Member

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    All I heard was noise!
     
  13. Winman

    Winman Active Member

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    If you eat too much it is wrong, and you can destroy your health being overweight.

    Now, sleeping with your wife is one of those wonderful gifts God gives us, and it is not wrong, although if you want sex constantly it could become a problem. You have to be considerate of your spouse, not everybody wants sex every day. It can also work the other way, you don't want to withhold from your spouse if they have reasonable needs.

    There are different kinds of Christian music, some is beautiful and mellow, and that can be alright. But the kind of song I showed is nothing but Rock and Roll disguised as Christian music. In my heart I knew it wasn't right, it was not glorifying the Lord, but self.

    But I will be the first to say I loved it, it rocked. I grew up playing Rock, and it is difficult for me to stay away from it.
     
  14. OldRegular

    OldRegular Well-Known Member

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    Eating in the worship service is wrong unless you are a very young child!
     
  15. thisnumbersdisconnected

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    You're kidding, right? What, exactly, makes a sound "holy"? Does the pastor have to pray over it, do you call down the Holy Spirit and ask Him to bless it before it "comes out"? How exactly is a sound "holy"? That's absurd.

    Sounds, words, music, art, poems, prose, whatever -- in and of themselves are nothing but noise or sight or writing. It is the attitude of the creator of those things that makes them what they are, and that includes the reverence and spirituality intended when they are created.

    Your question is based on a personal prejudice of supposition regarding intent, which isn't your purview in determining why someone else created something.
    Should we use our computers to send messages of hope, beauty, Christ, the Gospel out over the Internet when the same wires, cables and fiber optics have also been used to promote evil, sin, degradation and debauchery?

    Really? :rolleyes:
    If possible, this is more absurd than Jordan's blathering.
     
    #15 thisnumbersdisconnected, Apr 22, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 22, 2014
  16. Jordan Kurecki

    Jordan Kurecki Well-Known Member
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    My blathering is simply me trying to come to a knowledge of how to please the Lord Jesus Christ in the area of music, While I find your statements and rebuttal to be well thought out, I'm concerned with the spirit you are having as you are making your statements, I hope you realize that everything we say should be for the edification of others. I'm merely being honest in how I am viewing this topic, please don't bash me for that, as I won't bash you for having your view. I'd rather you bash the arguments, not resort to redicule.

    Remember we need to please the Lord in how we deal with other brothers and sisters.

    Here is a post I made earlier on Facebook.

    As I have been thinking, I wonder, who will get more rewards in heaven, those who had every theological position correct such as the timing of the rapture, the right music standards, and was King James Only, or the person who denied themselves in day to day living and faithfully prayed for others and preached the gospel to them, even though they may be off on some doctrine.. Note I am not saying that doctrine is not important, because it is, but I think we as Independant Fundamnetal Baptist become super critical harsh Pharisees condemning others, all while excusing the lust,pride, and selfishness we have in our own hearts, all because others may disagree with us on standards or particular doctrines. We are still to love others, even if they disagree with us.

    Mat 23:23-27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
    Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
    Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
    Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
    Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
     
  17. Winman

    Winman Active Member

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    Oh yeah? Ever play in a band?
     
  18. thisnumbersdisconnected

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    Not since high school, and we were horrible, but could occasionally convince some poor unsuspecting group of kids holding a special event of some kind we could make music.

    Given that, I don't have to have been in a band, ever, to know that there is nothing about the music, particularly by a Christian group as solidly biblical as Casting Crowns, that is ungodly or a temptation. Those factors come from within, not from the music.

    It isn't the nature of the music. It is the nature of person who hears the music. That's not an indictment. It is simply a statement of fact. If the music was the problem, Casting Crowns would all have "fallen away" by now.
     
  19. Winman

    Winman Active Member

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    You don't know what you are talking about. You don't have a clue.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL9fimhemjY
     
  20. thisnumbersdisconnected

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    And ... ? Do you know the lyrics to that song?

    The words are the words. How they are received is a matter no different than how the gospel is received by one who doesn't want to hear it. This song can be edifying to one open to the message. The words of the Casting Crown song are edifying. The fact the beat of these songs drives you where you don't want to go is relevant only to you. Others may feel the same, but they, also, are finding it difficult to listen for reasons relevant only to them. It isn't a church-body decision.

    There are those who will hear Stryper's music and begin to seek the truth. There are those who will read the words of Paul and cast the Bible as far from them as they can throw it.

    These are matters for which the individual determines his/her own choice. It isn't right or wrong. It just is.
     
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