Rock Music in Church
I like Rock’n’Roll. Not just any Rock’n’Roll but I like the music of the 50’s and 60’s. This is the music of my youth. My high school and college years. It seemed harmless. Adults didn’t like it much. My Sunday school teacher warned us about it. Our pastor spoke against it. I thought they were a little extreme. I never felt like doing anything nasty while listening to it. My son, though, as a high school junior, threw out his music collection because he said listening to it caused him to rebel against doing homework. I thought that was interesting. He was a very popular kid in school. Funny, good looking, outgoing. But he did have the courage of his convictions and he quit listening to Rock. I still like it though.
But not in church.
In the 60’s, guitars started to appear in Catholic Mass. They didn’t play with a rock beat. They played traditional Roman Catholic music. Then they switched over to more modern “folksy” music with Christian words. I even heard this on a Sunday at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. Some of these songs have been shared by the Protestant community. They used them at camps and other informal settings and quickly wrote more, but the Sunday morning services were all still hymn-book oriented with a piano or organ, or both, to accompany.
Sometime in the 70’s, there was a wonderful LP produced by Bill Gaither called “Alleluia: A Praise Gathering of Believers” in which they sang rousing praise songs to the accompaniment of a Rock band. The Rock beat permeated it as well. It spawned some of our standard Christian songs like “Let’s Just Praise the Lord”, “Something About That Name” and “Because He lives”. After that, many others got on the trend and since then, Christian recorded music has evolved to what is now called Christian Contemporary Music. “Christian Rock”, “Christian Rap”, “Christian Easy Listening” and just about every other type of music has been adopted by Christians and put under this umbrella. You won’t find many current Christian artists confining their repertoire to hymns out of the old hymnals. It’s all up-beat. Many of the songs have terrific words. Some are whole psalms set to music, but again, the elements of the Rock beat are the underpinnings. Just so we know what a Rock beat is, let me explain. It is a dance beat that differs from the waltz or the polka or the foxtrot in that its up-beat or off-beat is more prominent than its down-beat. “It’s got a back-beat, you can’t lose it….” Was a line in a popular song of the 60’s. This is true whether the tempo is slow or fast. Rock music can be both slow and fast. Most Christian Rock is slow.
Just in the past 10 years, we have seen a major change in the music that is made inside the church building at the Sunday services. The invention of the “worship team” has taken the place of the song leader and pianist. Now you will find keyboards, drums, guitars and even some wind and string instruments accompanying a group of professional-sounding singers who stand on the stage or platform and “lead” the congregation in a stream of praise singing. This can last a half-hour and can be spontaneous or pre-planned.
As I said, I don’t like Rock music in church. I think it is an offense and an abomination to God. I have biblical basis for this idea. God told Israel that when they gained access to their land, they should be careful not to adopt any of the ways of the people who had inhabited it before them. The Hittites, the Jebusites, the Perrizites, and especially the Canaanites and Philistines all had pagan rituals for worshipping their gods. They had statues, groves of trees, altars, and practices to enact in relation to them that were horrible. They burned their children as sacrifices and they fornicated with priestesses just to name a couple. God told his people to not adopt any of those ways of worshipping in their worship of Himself. He had strict instructions for worship which can be read in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy. The Israelites were to confine their worship to those ways. No where is music mentioned.
We know that, later, music was introduced. David wrote and sang Psalms to the Lord but there was nothing in the Law about doing that in formal worship in the tabernacle or, later, in the temple. We must remember that the Law of God given to Moses was not flexible. This was something it absolutely was NOT. It didn’t change. There was nothing added. There was no “further word”. The only changes that were ever announced by God came through the mouth of His Son, much later. We have no scriptural basis for thinking that what the Israelites may have begun to practice in the way of music, they did in their worship. We do have His instructions, though, for what He originally wanted. It is hard to think that He had forgotten or neglected to mention that He wanted instrumental music and later added it as an afterthought.
Why would God not want this kind of musical production in His worship? God, we know, is wiser than mankind. He knows our structure and how we can be tempted by Satan. He knows that some things which seem innocent enough now, open the door to trouble for us later. Could it be that antiphonal singing, as called for in the Psalms, was to be done somewhere else and not in the temple? If we compare scripture with scripture to find help with interpretation, we can come to that conclusion. Today’s Evangelical church room arrangement is patterned after the Roman Catholic basilica form. This was copied from the Roman temple worship of pagan deities. You have a clergyman up front facing the people who are massed below. Worship is “led” or administered, depending on the denomination. It has little resemblance to the Old Testament Hebrew configuration where people brought things to be killed and burned in a courtyard. Citing the use of Israel’s antiphonal singing as basis for using it in church today is comparing apples to oranges. There is no argument for it. So, then, Saturday night hymn sings or praise gatherings can be the place for musical ensembles, not Sunday morning church services. This is the only thing that can be derived from an honest reading of the Bible on this subject.
But even if it can be proven that God wants a rich musical program in the church's worship, is Rock acceptable at the praise gatherings?
Do we know the origin of Rock’n’Roll? The term is a Black slang expression for having sex. Before we demure, let’s think about what the reaction of regular Rock listeners would be if it was found out that this was untrue. Would they be glad? The name fits because it is risqué. The music itself is risqué. I won’t make that argument here. We ALL know it is risqué. It comes from pagan usage among people worshipping idols. This is documented and is actually boasted by Rock music aficionados. And not only that but celebrities as well as casual friends have said, at least in my hearing, that Rock music is their "religion". So, do we take this element and bring it up on the platform of our church, where many of us were saved from our sins, where we have heard about the Saviour shedding His blood to wash us, going through 3 hours of who-knows-what, after praying to the point of bleeding in the Garden, and we are going to offer this to Him?! Think about it.
I only have a couple of more thoughts. One is that I am sure Satan was already thinking up ways to deep-six the worship of God the day Adam was created. Is that a fair assumption? How would you go about contaminating man’s expression of love for his creator? Wouldn’t all the idol-worship up to the time of Israel’s establishment be an example? And then God selected Abraham. Satan was out-maneuvered. But he quickly adjusted and brought the idols in to the people of God. Whoa. Big victory for him, right? And it caused the Captivity and will still have ramifications in the End Times. But, God sent His Son. And, He established the Church. And, again, Satan is left behind. But not for long. Here he is again with his junk. He knows what God doesn’t like even if we don’t. Can’t we recognize that Rock music in church is just another of his devices? Aren’t there other ways of incorporating music in the church service? We COULD pray about that. I think God would show us.
But not in church.
In the 60’s, guitars started to appear in Catholic Mass. They didn’t play with a rock beat. They played traditional Roman Catholic music. Then they switched over to more modern “folksy” music with Christian words. I even heard this on a Sunday at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. Some of these songs have been shared by the Protestant community. They used them at camps and other informal settings and quickly wrote more, but the Sunday morning services were all still hymn-book oriented with a piano or organ, or both, to accompany.
Sometime in the 70’s, there was a wonderful LP produced by Bill Gaither called “Alleluia: A Praise Gathering of Believers” in which they sang rousing praise songs to the accompaniment of a Rock band. The Rock beat permeated it as well. It spawned some of our standard Christian songs like “Let’s Just Praise the Lord”, “Something About That Name” and “Because He lives”. After that, many others got on the trend and since then, Christian recorded music has evolved to what is now called Christian Contemporary Music. “Christian Rock”, “Christian Rap”, “Christian Easy Listening” and just about every other type of music has been adopted by Christians and put under this umbrella. You won’t find many current Christian artists confining their repertoire to hymns out of the old hymnals. It’s all up-beat. Many of the songs have terrific words. Some are whole psalms set to music, but again, the elements of the Rock beat are the underpinnings. Just so we know what a Rock beat is, let me explain. It is a dance beat that differs from the waltz or the polka or the foxtrot in that its up-beat or off-beat is more prominent than its down-beat. “It’s got a back-beat, you can’t lose it….” Was a line in a popular song of the 60’s. This is true whether the tempo is slow or fast. Rock music can be both slow and fast. Most Christian Rock is slow.
Just in the past 10 years, we have seen a major change in the music that is made inside the church building at the Sunday services. The invention of the “worship team” has taken the place of the song leader and pianist. Now you will find keyboards, drums, guitars and even some wind and string instruments accompanying a group of professional-sounding singers who stand on the stage or platform and “lead” the congregation in a stream of praise singing. This can last a half-hour and can be spontaneous or pre-planned.
As I said, I don’t like Rock music in church. I think it is an offense and an abomination to God. I have biblical basis for this idea. God told Israel that when they gained access to their land, they should be careful not to adopt any of the ways of the people who had inhabited it before them. The Hittites, the Jebusites, the Perrizites, and especially the Canaanites and Philistines all had pagan rituals for worshipping their gods. They had statues, groves of trees, altars, and practices to enact in relation to them that were horrible. They burned their children as sacrifices and they fornicated with priestesses just to name a couple. God told his people to not adopt any of those ways of worshipping in their worship of Himself. He had strict instructions for worship which can be read in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy. The Israelites were to confine their worship to those ways. No where is music mentioned.
We know that, later, music was introduced. David wrote and sang Psalms to the Lord but there was nothing in the Law about doing that in formal worship in the tabernacle or, later, in the temple. We must remember that the Law of God given to Moses was not flexible. This was something it absolutely was NOT. It didn’t change. There was nothing added. There was no “further word”. The only changes that were ever announced by God came through the mouth of His Son, much later. We have no scriptural basis for thinking that what the Israelites may have begun to practice in the way of music, they did in their worship. We do have His instructions, though, for what He originally wanted. It is hard to think that He had forgotten or neglected to mention that He wanted instrumental music and later added it as an afterthought.
Why would God not want this kind of musical production in His worship? God, we know, is wiser than mankind. He knows our structure and how we can be tempted by Satan. He knows that some things which seem innocent enough now, open the door to trouble for us later. Could it be that antiphonal singing, as called for in the Psalms, was to be done somewhere else and not in the temple? If we compare scripture with scripture to find help with interpretation, we can come to that conclusion. Today’s Evangelical church room arrangement is patterned after the Roman Catholic basilica form. This was copied from the Roman temple worship of pagan deities. You have a clergyman up front facing the people who are massed below. Worship is “led” or administered, depending on the denomination. It has little resemblance to the Old Testament Hebrew configuration where people brought things to be killed and burned in a courtyard. Citing the use of Israel’s antiphonal singing as basis for using it in church today is comparing apples to oranges. There is no argument for it. So, then, Saturday night hymn sings or praise gatherings can be the place for musical ensembles, not Sunday morning church services. This is the only thing that can be derived from an honest reading of the Bible on this subject.
But even if it can be proven that God wants a rich musical program in the church's worship, is Rock acceptable at the praise gatherings?
Do we know the origin of Rock’n’Roll? The term is a Black slang expression for having sex. Before we demure, let’s think about what the reaction of regular Rock listeners would be if it was found out that this was untrue. Would they be glad? The name fits because it is risqué. The music itself is risqué. I won’t make that argument here. We ALL know it is risqué. It comes from pagan usage among people worshipping idols. This is documented and is actually boasted by Rock music aficionados. And not only that but celebrities as well as casual friends have said, at least in my hearing, that Rock music is their "religion". So, do we take this element and bring it up on the platform of our church, where many of us were saved from our sins, where we have heard about the Saviour shedding His blood to wash us, going through 3 hours of who-knows-what, after praying to the point of bleeding in the Garden, and we are going to offer this to Him?! Think about it.
I only have a couple of more thoughts. One is that I am sure Satan was already thinking up ways to deep-six the worship of God the day Adam was created. Is that a fair assumption? How would you go about contaminating man’s expression of love for his creator? Wouldn’t all the idol-worship up to the time of Israel’s establishment be an example? And then God selected Abraham. Satan was out-maneuvered. But he quickly adjusted and brought the idols in to the people of God. Whoa. Big victory for him, right? And it caused the Captivity and will still have ramifications in the End Times. But, God sent His Son. And, He established the Church. And, again, Satan is left behind. But not for long. Here he is again with his junk. He knows what God doesn’t like even if we don’t. Can’t we recognize that Rock music in church is just another of his devices? Aren’t there other ways of incorporating music in the church service? We COULD pray about that. I think God would show us.
posted by Biblical Christianity at 5:19 AM
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