Carriers of Truth

There is a place in the Christian life for music - the Bible speaks about entering into God's presence,
and music can help us remember who God is and elements of His truth. Psalm 95 says:
1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods.

When you think about it, while the spoken word is certainly meaningful and effective, the sung word has the potential to penetrate the human spirit.  And, that is by design, I believe, from the Creator of music.  We should be discerning in our musical choices and make sure that we are avoiding music that would be detrimental to our spirit and that contains messages that run contrary to God's ways. But, music is a powerful gift that can be used to enhance our awareness of God.

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Daily, a Christian can be challenged to walk closely with Christ, to draw near to Him, and to grow in our spiritual life.  Music is a component that can be used to remind us of God's truth and His presence with us. Colossians 3 states:
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Along the journey of my Christian walk, I discovered contemporary Christian music.  One summer, after my freshman year, through the recommendation of someone in my youth group, I discovered the local Christian radio station.  The next year, I met a friend who was from Nashville, who had quite the Christian music knowledge; he was quite familiar with what God was doing there through the ministry of Belmont Church and the Koinonia Coffeehouse.

The Tennessean newspaper, in a column, provided this description of the event:

...the Nashville Historical Commission, in partnership with the Metro Council and the Gospel Music Association, unveiled a marker on Music Row, which recognizes the musical legacy of Koinonia Coffeehouse, Belmont Church and the contemporary Christian music industry, or CCM.

Koinonia Coffeehouse proved to be the gathering place of some of the CCM’s most seminal artists and Christian label execs. In that space, many prayed, sang and created with such significance that an entirely new musical genre was born. Can you grasp the significance of that? There’s jazz, rock ‘n roll, country, but before then, nothing recognizable as what we call “Christian music” today.

Certainly this historical marker was well-deserved, and the ceremony had a nice turnout.  And, that is something to celebrate.  But, the column had an agenda, and following these glowing words at the beginning, it took what I would regard as a more sinister tone.  The authors, Jennifer Knapp and Nancy VanReese, are both involved with an LGBT advocacy organization called Inside Out Faith; VanReese, who is on the Nashville City Council, reportedly was behind the effort to establish the marker.  They wrote:

But more profoundly, their path is one which has impacted, if not helped create, our current American evangelical Christian culture. A culture that is beginning to acknowledge its ugly heritage of religious harm in the form of racism, homophobia, colonization, patriarchy and more, yet still struggles to break the yoke.

Uh-oh.  The organization's website states:

In the 40 plus years of growing LGBTQ awareness, the pain caused by religious prejudice has only served to remind us of how deeply powerful, personal and spiritually nourishing accepting one’s own sexual orientation and gender identity can be. Inside Out Faith Foundation strives to highlight positive voices coming from within spiritual communities seeking to support LGBTQ dignity.

The Tennessean article reflects on the counter-cultural nature of the contemporary Christian music movement, and in the closing paragraphs of the article, there is this chilling declaration:

Right now, there are plenty faith rebels “out there” shaping the future of religious culture. Some are queer, cuss, drink and have sex. No different really from the generations before, just less apologetic about ruffling feathers. Some of them know the Bible and Christian history better than their pastors, if they even have one.

They are fiercely “woke,” and deadly serious about social justice as seen through the lens of Jesus. And we’re pretty sure they’ll sing you a song. The question is, when will you hand them a mic?

They're welcome to take a mic, but they misrepresent the "lens of Jesus" if they are using His gifts to promote sin, to seek to gain approval for ways that run counter to the ways of God.  Jennifer Knapp, you may remember, came out as gay a number of years ago and has essentially disappeared from Christian radio.  Same with Ray Boltz.

The early CCM musicians were fiercely in love with Jesus and devoted to Godly obedience - it was reflected in their song lyrics and their lifestyles.  Now, of course, you have flawed individuals and some rather high-profile stumbles along the way.  But, the impact on culture has been profound.  It continues to this day, but we also have to be aware of where some would like for Christian music to head, and it's reflected in this newspaper article.

We have to be discerning of music that is devoid of doctrine and sloppy in its application of Scripture.  And, Christian musicians have a tremendous responsibility to uphold the truth and resist the trends and ideas of the world.  A cautionary tale would be the major faux pas by a hugely popular Christian musician, who stated on a radio talk show she did not know whether or not homosexuality is a sin.

John Stonestreet commented on that incident in a Breakpoint commentary, saying:

There’s a real cost that comes with taking a stand for the Christian view of sex and marriage. Deciding to pay that price in a split second with a microphone shoved in your face is something better-trained theologians and pastors have failed to do.

But this whole story reveals something else—the deep crisis of authority plaguing evangelicalism right now. First, we should be past the point of answering this question, because the Christian view of sex and marriage should be so clear and our commitment to it should be so well-known by now that there should be no longer any point in asking the question!

His second "angle:" "When theological training is de-prioritized and even avoided, then our celebrities become our experts." He adds, "we should know better than to hold celebrities up as theological authorities."

Related to this situation involving Lauren Daigle, Stonestreet questions how we will respond, stating: "What will you say [emphasis mine] when someone with the power to seriously damage your career asks you what you think about a culturally popular sin? For that matter, what will you say at Christmas dinner when that one relative—maybe a relative who identifies as gay—asks you the same question?"

That's the first takeaway.  We, including a person called to full-time Christian ministry or a layperson, must represent Christ well and be grounded in His Word.

And, we can ask if our Christian musicians who write incredible worship songs and perform brilliantly, are informed by the Scriptures for their lyrics - and their lives. We acknowledge that worship leaders and musical artists are ministers of the gospel, and they set an example for all of us.

We can also consider if we are discerning about the compatibility with God's Word regarding the Christian music to which we listen.  Music is a carrier of messages, and a song can influence someone's life in four minutes in perhaps more profound ways than forty minutes of a sermon. Those messages can be positive, even worshipful, and consistent with Scripture; or they can be relatively neutral; or the music we expose ourselves to can be contrary to the teachings of God's Word and even weigh down our spirits.  There is power in music.

Faith Radio places a priority of music, and it is our desire that the music we play each day helps to create an atmosphere of worship that can build you up, inspire you, and help you draw closer to God. We air over 15 hours per day of music, and we trust that you are encouraged by what you hear.