The Issues We Face
Music has become a vast industry, and it pervades our environment. Advances in technology that invent new sounds that please the ear along with the media networks that make it readily available force us to deal with the issue of what is good and what is harmful about music.
We are faced with many difficult decisions in life, and those who are parents must constantly seek to shelter their young from things that are harmful, including music. As each generation grows up, there are new challenges; it may not be sufficient just to do what the previous generation has done (though there is safety in it when things are unclear). We must evaluate the issues based on the Word of God. It is my purpose to give tools to evaluate why music may be good or harmful, rather than to dictate rules about what music we should or should not allow. This approach should lead us to restrict certain kinds of music.
Personal Preferences
There is a prevalent thought that the difference between the various kinds of music is only a matter of personal preference. One says, “I like one kind of music and you like another. We are all different, so it is right that you have your preference and I have mine.” The issue is not that simple. It is true that we are all different in our appreciation of things, but simply having an appreciation of something does not make it right. God is the judge of what is right and wrong. Moreover, there is good music and there is harmful music. The purpose of this article is to call to our attention the features of music that may make it good or harmful. It is not just a matter of personal preference. The Word of God gives us examples of good and harmful music, as well as right and wrong purposes for its use. To evaluate music properly, we must consider both these issues.
Spirit, Soul and Body
To evaluate music more precisely, let us consider how it affects the three parts of our being — the spirit, the soul and the body. God created us as tripartite beings. Music affects all three parts of our being, and understanding how music affects us is helpful in assessing its value.
We have an example of the effect music has on the spirit, soul and body in 1 Samuel 16:15-23. “Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on a harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. . . . And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took a harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.” The servants of Saul were looking for a remedy to make him well, but when David played the harp there were three results. The king was refreshed in his soul, he was well in body and the evil spirit departed from him. The three parts of our being are interconnected, and in this case, the remedy dealt with all three.
We have another case in 1 Thessalonians. Some of the Thessalonians were having difficulty learning how to possess their bodies unto “sanctification and honor.” At the close of the epistle, Paul wrote, “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23). God desires that all three parts — spirit, soul and body — be preserved blameless. It is necessary to guard all three, for all three are under attack. Let us consider these three parts of our being, and then how music affects each one.
Our Spirit
The spirit is the God-conscious part of our being, that part which enables us to know God. It is often connected with the mind but is not limited to the mind. “What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?” “We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit [Spirit] which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” (1 Cor. 2:11-12). The spirit is our state of awareness before one another and God, and only living beings possessing a spirit have that awareness. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:1616The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:16)). God communicates by His Spirit to our spirit. Animals do not have it. As humans with a spirit, we have “the state of awareness”; we know, we think, we have both self-awareness and awareness of God. Music affects this part of us. Our state of awareness can be altered by music, even to the point of putting a person into a hypnotic-like trance. We have an example of music having this effect in 1 Samuel 10:56. Saul prophesied when music was played. In that case, the Lord used music to cause him to prophesy by His Spirit, but in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, music was used to cause the people to bow down to the idolatrous image he made.
Our Soul
What is our soul? It is our moral and emotional nature — our feelings and appetites. It has been said, “Music is the language of the emotions—the soul.” That is what music is all about — it is made to satisfy the soul. For example, when we enter a funeral home sad of heart because of the departure of a loved one, the soft tones of music can have a calming effect on us. This is not necessarily a spiritual issue as much as sorrow of soul.
There is a warfare going on for our souls. “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles” (2 Peter 2:11-12). Music has a power over our souls. We must never let down our guard, giving ourselves over to its influence when our spirit knows it is wrong. There is a proper time to allow the soul to be influenced and there is a time not to do so.
Our Body
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and should be kept pure. The body is for the Lord and the Lord for the body. Music can have a direct impact on our body, even without the feelings of the soul, though these usually go together. Certain kinds of music affect our body, especially loud bass music or music with heavily punctuated rhythm. Medical studies have been done to describe the chemical changes in the body that music may cause. This reaction in turn affects other parts of the body, such as the brain, the muscles and so forth. As Christians we are to present our bodies “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.”
The Three Parts of Music
Having considered how music affects the parts of our being, let us now consider the parts of music. All music is composed of three parts or elements: melody, harmony and rhythm. There are vast varieties of sounds that compose music, but all of them are formed from these three basic parts: melody, harmony and rhythm. When we compare different types of music, such as classical, country, jazz and rock music, it is readily noticed that the different types emphasize one of the three parts more than the others, and different instruments are used to emphasize the desired part of the composition. These differences enable us to easily distinguish different classes of music. It takes only a few seconds while flipping through the radio channels to know what kind of music is being played, for each one has its own style. The distinction in the types of music develops from the emphasis placed on each of the three parts — melody, harmony or rhythm.
Melody is the first and most important part of music. When a harmony is added, the music takes on a new dimension, and we say it sounds better. If too much harmony is played, the melody becomes obscure. Rhythm is the third part of music, and it should give an orderly tempo to the music. The rhythm affects the body and should be structured so the music flows in an orderly way. Some music is purposely made to be erratic in its rhythm or beat. It has the same effect on the audience. Too much emphasis on rhythm takes away from the more important parts of music.
Regarding rhythm in music, consider how it is used in a regiment of marching soldiers. No general would exchange his drummers for a symphony when he was marching a band of soldiers to battle. He knows that the soldiers need rhythm. He wants to keep them in step without thinking. The soldiers are made to be totally engaged in their bodies, and music with a strong beat is important for them. All musical marching bands use this technique to maintain unison. Rhythm affects the body —our bodies respond to it. There are rhythms that are good for the body and others that are not.
The Right Balance
God has given an order of importance regarding the spirit, the soul, and the body. The three parts of music follow neatly the same order of importance: first the melody, then the harmony, and lastly the rhythm. Wholesome music is composed in a way that gives the melody the predominant place. The tunes we use in our hymns lend themselves well to being played and sung in this way —the melody leads. The harmony should have a secondary place in music and in our singing. For example, if we were to ask someone to play only the harmony for us, we would have difficulty joining together to sing. Rhythm is necessary to keep the music flowing together, and if one person plays or sings out of time with the others it is discordant. The rhythm should be controlled.
The melody of music caters to our spirit. It should be dominant in music. It closely associates with the words that accompany the music. Our spirit is edified when, in our understanding, we relate the words with the melody that is sung. “I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also” (1 Cor. 14:15). When our spirit and understanding are together with the melody, we can “with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The harmony caters to our soul and should be secondary in the composition. It should not distract from the melody. If a song is played with too much harmony, the soul can get so taken up with it that the words and melody are left languishing. But, on the other hand, if all harmony were disallowed and the feelings of the soul remained untouched, it would hardly be music. “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. 3:1616Let 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. (Colossians 3:16)).
The rhythm caters to the body. It is natural for us to tap the beat with our foot on the floor while playing or singing. It is natural to our bodies. But if the rhythm takes precedence over the melody and harmony, it is out of balance and can produce bad results. Let us look at an example of this in the Word.
The Noise in the Camp
“The Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. . . . And Moses turned, and went down from the mount. . . . And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. . . . And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me” (Ex. 32:7-267And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: 8They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 9And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 10Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. 11And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? 12Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. 14And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. 15And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. 16And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. 17And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. 18And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. 19And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. 20And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. 21And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? 22And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. 23For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 24And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. 25And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) 26Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. (Exodus 32:7‑26)). We cannot help but notice what kind of music or noise was used to lead the people of Israel into this great fall. There were two opinions as to what kind of sound it was. Joshua thought it was the noise of war, but Moses, the more mature one, said it was of them that sing. Needless to say, it was filled with heavy rhythm that was provocative to their bodies, and it led them to shame and idolatry.
Rhythm
Music with a loud or distorted beat provokes sensuality and disorder. Good music has an orderly or regular beat. There are many ways of distorting sounds in music, of adding lyrics that leave the audience with vague imaginations that are harmful. They promote loose morals, teach defiling thoughts and sanction rebellion. That kind of music gives very little place to the melody of the song, and even the harmony is used to emphasize the rhythm. The characteristics of the music we listen to will provoke the same things in us, even without our being aware of it.
The Power of Music
Satan is a master of music. In the Old Testament, he is likened to the three major classes of musical instruments (wind, stringed and percussion). See Isaiah 14:1111Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. (Isaiah 14:11); Ezekiel 28:1313Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. (Ezekiel 28:13). The enemy of our souls understands the power of music far more than we do. He rules over the hearts of men by means of their seeking pleasure from it. As the prince of this world, he often uses music in his rule over the hearts of men, causing an addiction to it. It is important to evaluate music before we let it get a hold on our souls or bodies. Paul clearly warns us what our position should be when he said, “All things are lawful for me . . . but I will not be brought under the power of any” (1 Cor. 6:12).
Because of the way the enemy holds power through music, those who are more gifted in music or have more appreciation of it need to be the most careful. The potential such have makes them the most vulnerable to becoming victims of the power it can have over those who let down their guard. This is not to say that we should not all be on our guard concerning what we listen to.
The Conscience
In connection with the need to be aware of what we are listening to, notice the two following quotations about how music affects us. The first is from J. N. Darby. He wrote the following to Mrs. Bevan, who composed the hymn, “From the Palace of His Glory”: “As a rule, music is a very dangerous occupation; it cultivates sentiment without conscience.” The second quote is from Leonard Bernstein, the renowned American composer. He said, “Music is something terribly special. . . . It doesn’t have to pass through the censor of the brain before it can reach the heart.” These two prominent men in their field give a common theme. They both say that music affects us without passing through a thought process. The conscience is bypassed. The feelings are reached without dealing with the issue of right and wrong. The Christian sees this as a danger, and the musician sees it as special. They have different objectives, but both realize that the conscience is untouched. For this reason, it is important for us to be careful about what we listen to. It makes us realize in our singing the importance of the melody accompanied by wholesome words.
The Rockers Creed
The November 1988 issue of the Christian Contemporary Music magazine states the following creed of Christian Rockers. This comes from those who compose so-called “Christian rock music.” It says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all music was created equal, that no instrument in itself is evil, that the diversity of music which flows forth from man is but one evidence of the boundless creativity of our heavenly Father.” This thought-provoking and high-sounding creed says that all music is created equal. But though all may have liberty to create music, not all of it is the same quality, nor does it produce the same reaction. The experts in music know how to use music to produce the desired effect. Music filled with rhythm is gratifying to the flesh. It provoked the people of Israel when they fell into fornication. Music that is made for the body and soul is much more dangerous than balanced music. Most rock music and others of its kind do not have much melody; it is predominately rhythm and harmony. This is intentional and the audience is affected by it.
Excessive Harmony
We have noticed the more serious danger of music that has excessive emphasis on rhythm. There is also the danger of music with excessive harmony. In the modern musical world, all kinds of new sounds have been invented that are full of resonating harmony. These new techniques make it possible to fill the ear with music, but when the melody is left in the background, it leaves an uncertainty about what is played. This often is done intentionally with the design to fill the soul while leaving the audience with vagueness of thought. This goes hand in hand with the movement in the world to flirt with immorality or even throw out morality. Along with this kind of music, lyrics are incorporated that are vague, or can be interpreted in various ways, or which only those who are “in the know” can interpret. This music is deceptively destructive to morality, which makes it more dangerous than the same music with lyrics that are blatantly vulgar. This kind of music is like the trumpet that gives an uncertain sound, and souls are filled with emotion but are not helped in spirit or mind. “Even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?” (1 Cor. 14:7).
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Eph. 6:10-1310Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:10‑13)).
D. C. Buchanan