Has Conservative Music Had It

HAS CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN MUSIC HAD IT?

by Dr. Harold E. Richards, Jr.

Recent comments from some religious leaders and broadcasters lead me to believe that some people have given up on the old hymns and Gospel songs. Apparently they believe that God can work only through contemporary music to reach sinners. Some who once condemned rock music now extol its virtues if it is used by Christians to reach the world.

I believe that everyone is entitled to his own opinion on matters on which God has not stated His opinion very clearly. For this reason, we use conservative, traditional Christian hymns and Gospel songs on our radio network. God has seen fit to bless it abundantly. We are reaching the unsaved and ministering to the saved. Since 1971 we have grown from one station to 19, and we have applied to the Federal Communications Commission for 14 more.

Many times in the Bible we are told to sing unto the Lord a new song, implying that it is to be a different song, unlike the music of the world. Psalm 98:1 states: “O sing unto the Lord a new song.” Matthew Henry commented on this verse, “Converts sing a new song, very different from what they had sung. If the grace of God put a new heart into our breasts, it will put a new song into our mouths.” The Psalmist said, “I will sing a new song onto thee, O God” (Ps. 144:9).

The singer is to be a new person, with old things passed away and all things become new (see II Cor. 5:17). Because he is new, he will have a new message to sing that is out of harmony with the song of the world. He has a relationship to God now that enables him to sing that new song – a relationship that he did not have as a sinner. Again it is the psalmist who exhorts, “Sing unto the Lord, bless His name; shew forth His salvation from day to day” (Ps. 96:2).

The Bible also says that the song is to be sung “unto the Lord,” not to man. Consider Exodus 15:1: “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord.” Isaiah said, “Sing unto the Lord a new song” (Isa. 42:10). The apostles directed their songs to God: “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God” (Acts 16:25).

When the Philippian jailer heard Paul and Silas singing praises unto God and saw the miracle, he asked for salvation. God is far more concerned for the lost man than we could ever be. Yet, He has put bounds on the ways to approach sinners, and He has given instruction for the use of music by His people. He has never told us to address a song to the sinner, or to try to make the song or music acceptable to him. To do so is to violate Scripture and to disobey God. We violate His rules at our own peril.

God has promised to bless obedience, and when His people have used the right kind of music under His direction, He has honored it and used it greatly. Many of us have read of the prayer of Solomon in II Chronicles 6 that resulted in the house of God being filled with His glory so that the priests could not enter. But few realize that this was the second time that God displayed His glory in His house. The first time was in response to the singing and music of the Levites.

“It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth forever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God” (II Chron. 5:13,14).

Notice that the singers and musicians were all Levites, those who had separated themselves from the world, had renounced their earthly inheritance and had consecrated themselves to God and His service. A Levite did not perform for God on one day and in a nightclub the next evening, as do some present-day performers.

Another incident of God’s blessing obedience in performing music directed to God’s praise rather than toward sinners is mentioned in II Chronicles 20. Here God told Jehoshaphat to have the singers lead the army to battle against the Moabites and Ammonites. When they obeyed and sang the praises of God, the enemy was defeated.

Music is made up of words (the message), melody (tune and rhythm) and performers (singers and/or musicians). There are those who insist that music of itself is neither moral nor immoral, right or wrong. However, it does take on the moral character of its three parts. Paint and print are both neutral in character, but there are decent and indecent paintings and writings.

The lyrics which God honored in the Bible were somewhat different from the average contemporary Christian song. They extolled the greatness of God and His mighty works. His glory was the central theme, and His praise was the aim. If one were to remove all the first and second personal pronouns from much of contemporary Christian music, the singers would be humming most of the time. God said through Isaiah, “I will not give my glory unto another” (Isa. 48:11).

Much contemporary music is performed with the rhythm section accented to appeal to the rhythm of the body. It appeals to the flesh and produces a reaction in the flesh. Some contemporary Christian music even goes beyond this and weds supposedly Christian lyrics to the rock rhythms that are out of harmony with the natural rhythms of the body. This establishes a conflict within the listener that produces a restlessness.

The character of the musician finds its way through the music and affects the listener. This is why God tells us that music should be the outgrowth of the Spirit-filled life. Ephesians 5:19 says, “Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Paul admonished the Colossians: “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” (Col. 3:16).

Matthew Henry wrote that when we sing, “we make no melody, unless we sing with grace in our hearts, unless we are suitably affected with what we sing, and have true devotion and understanding.”

David’s character was able to come through when he played for King Saul to soothe his troubled spirit. In God’s wisdom, He has instructed that our music is to be that which will teach and admonish one another and minister to the heart and soul, not to the flesh and body. In writing to the church in corinth that had problems keeping the flesh under control, Paul said that he would “sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also” (I Cor. 14:15).

Perhaps one of the most interesting passages in the Bible related to music is II Chronicles 29, which describes the music of the revival under Hezekiah. All of the elements of music are in this passage, and the Levites were told to use only those types of music which God, through His servant David, had directed (see v. 25).

The proper lyrics for Godly music are mentioned in verse 30. They will be scriptural and truthful, and will manifest praise to the Lord. Whether we sing a psalm (a song composed on a divine subject and praising to God, usually taken from Old Testament Scriptures), a hymn (a song with New Testament themes used mainly for worship in joy and praise to God) or a spiritual song (a simpler music form, but testifying of God), the words must be truthful and biblical, for the Spirit of Truth guides us into all Truth (see John 6:13).

Second Chronicles 29:27 describes the melody as the song of the Lord – a new or different song. Verses 25-27 mentions who should perform and what instruments they should use: “the instruments ordained by David king of Israel” (v. 27). Evidently, there were some instruments not ordained by David! They may have been used so much in heathen worship that he did not want to cheapen God’s worship with their use.

Christian music – God’s music – ought to be distinctive. It is deceitful and demeaning to God to try to “sneak His message” over on some unsuspecting sinner as he listens to the music of the world. Our music on earth is a prelude to heaven, where, we’re told, “They sung a new song (Rev. 5:9).

We advertise our radio stations as “an oasis in the desert of sound.” We do not want our sound to match the sand of the desert. The sound of the oasis is so much more refreshing.

Reprint permission was granted to Computers for Christ #22 for the expressed purpose of posting this tract in electronic form. Please DO NOT modify this file nor distribute hard copies of this file.

Reprinted from the January, 1991 issue of The Voice, a BBN newsletter with permission from BBN (The Bible Broadcasting Network), P.O. Box 1818, Chesapeake, Virginia, 23320.