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Music

Does the Devil have all the good music? Robert Marchant finds out.

I once heard a Christian speaker explain his desire for the church to regain its status as the leading producer of works of art, music, and so on. Thinking back a few hundred years, most of the finest paintings were on Christian subjects, churches and cathedrals contained the most beautiful works of sculpture, and, in terms of music, many of the best works by composers such as Byrd, Bach and Handel were composed to glorify God. The reason, of course, was that the church could afford to pay artists and musicians, while few others could.

Comparing this with the situation nowadays, the differences are obvious. So many of today’s pop songs contain lyrics which are blatantly opposed to God’s standards. One of those which hits me the most is the song by Lou Vega in which a man goes through the list of his girlfriends: “a little bit of Monica … a little bit of Jessica” etc. etc. What does this say to the present generation about faithfulness in relationships? Other songs talk about astrology, for example: “We’ve got stars directing our fate” (Robbie Williams). All this reflects the general way in which most in our society fail to see their need of God, which is exemplified by Noel Gallagher’s claim to be “bigger than God”.

But is it as bad as it seems? If we look more closely, there are many very visible examples of glory being given to God through music. Cliff Richard’s Millennium Prayer was a hot contender for the Christmas No. 1 slot just over a year ago. The Christian band Delirious? reached No. 20 in the charts on two occasions, and were described by Radio 1 as “pop’s best-kept secret” (a sharp lesson to the church, when we realise that salvation through Jesus Christ is probably the world’s best-kept secret). How many times last Christmas were carols sung or heard on the radio telling, for example, that Jesus was “born to raise the sons of earth/Born to give them second birth”? There is a vast army of Christian songwriters in this country and elsewhere — including several gifted students at this university — some of whom write traditional-style hymns, some modern-style worship songs, and others songs intended for us to listen to rather than join in with, each of which can be equally blessing. Unfortunately, these songs often do not get a very wide circulation, whereas in America it is reported that “ contemporary Christian music” sells more than classical and jazz combined. (One of the reasons is the presence of Christian radio in America - see http://www.ucb.co.uk if you would like to find out about the campaign to allow Christian radio in this country.) These are just some examples, and, in short, I would like to suggest that maybe Christian music has not declined since the seventeenth century - it is still going strong, but it is just that secular music has grown enormously and has dominated the market. This truly is Christian music in a secular music world.

Music has always been used to help people praise and worship God, from David’s Psalms and earlier, to the present day. This is because music touches us much more deeply than words, and helps us express our feelings towards God. But there is a danger in this, for music can equally be used for purposes contrary to God’s, as we have seen. How often do you have a song going round in your head for some time after you have heard it? Surely it can be unhelpful to us, and start to threaten our walk with God, if we are constantly hearing words which are against his standards. On the other hand, I have found that listening to songs which praise God can be enormously helpful, by helping us to come close to God when we feel far from him, by helping us to praise him, and by helping us to keep focused on him during the day. Paul tells us: “Speak to each other with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord” (Eph 5:19 NCV). This comes in a passage urging us to keep focused on Jesus and to make sure we are living in the right way, and Christian songs can help us to do this.

Obviously I am not suggesting that we refuse to listen to non-Christian music, but maybe we should just think a bit more carefully about what we listen to and how helpful it is to us, and perhaps consider listening to Christian music a bit more regularly. In terms of the music itself, no style is wrong — it is up to us to find whatever helps us the most.

Robert Marchant

If you would like to find out about some different styles of music there are many places to look, but one idea is http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk for music in a more contemporary style, and http://www.ucb.co.uk for a broader range of styles. Alternatively you could visit a Christian bookshop, such as Barbican Books on Fossgate.

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Last modified: 25th November 2005