MUSIC

Soaring invisibly through the air and finding our ears, it sends sweet sounds to our minds. We all listen to it and we like certain kinds of it. It sends innumerable emotions and it brings all kinds of images with it. And with much creativity and skill, music makes its way to our heart and touches us in ways that no other thing can.
As Americans we listen to a lot of music. We play it in our cars, we listen to it during homework, we sing it in the shower, and most of us have at least one instrument we can play. In movies there are orchestras and choirs completing the feeling of the film. In restaurants or stores the radio is playing to entertain. Music plays during our favorite video games, television programs, or commercials. It is obvious that music is very popular and we listen to it a lot! As a result, maybe we should ask ourselves, "Am I listening to the right music?"
Some of you might be thinking right now, “What do you know about music, buster? It’s all good and I like it all so turn it up!” Now, wait just a minute! God invented music and designed it for a purpose just like everything else. Don’t you think knowing what God created music for would be smart? Our best example is that the Bible is full of songs dedicated to and written for God. Take a look at the first and last songs in the Bible: Exodus chapter fifteen and Revelation chapter fifteen. Check out what they have in common: They are both all about God, all about praising Him for His holiness, and all about worshiping Him for His great works. By the looks of this, it seems that music was maybe created for worshiping God.
“Big deal,” you say. “I can worship Him when I pray.” God also knows that there are some things that words alone just cannot describe. Therefore, He created music so we can reach those emotions that can’t be found otherwise. I hope we all know that there are not near enough words in the English language to be able to express what God is. With music we are able to praise and glorify God in new and awesome ways.
What an opportunity to worship the One who deserves every praise we can give Him! But what are you doing with this opportunity?
It is pretty obvious that most Americans use music to have fun. Bringing thoughts or images with it, music entertains us in a very unique way and there are a couple ways music entertains us. Sometimes we like to listen to music because it helps us think or imagine things from in a new way. We even enjoy sad or depressing music sometimes because of the new angle it looks at life. Now, nothing’s wrong with expanding our imagination or knowledge. But, believe it or not, some songs bring sinful pictures and images that should not be allowed in our minds. You have probably read Philippians 4:8 which says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” Is this what your music brings to your mind?
There are others, though, that enjoy music because of the feeling it gives them. Depending on the person, he or she might like to feel joyful, victorious, excited, scared, proud, passionate, inspired, crazy, romantic, angry, selfish, rebellious… uh oh! Where is this going? Some of these feelings can be dangerous. These feelings can lead to sinful desires. These desires lead to sinful actions. And these actions can lead to life-long consequences.
Let me tell you a little story. Once upon a time, my family and I were on our way to church in Mexico. As we were stopped at a stop light, we could feel the presence of an approaching vehicle – literally. An incredibly loud BOOM, BOOM, BOOM was blaring out of this little, old, beat-up car. Talk about power! It was obvious that this car some sound system!
As it pulled up next to us at the stop light, I noticed that the glass on that thing was vibrating like I thought they were going to burst! You know how cartoon cars bounce when they have loud music on? Well, now I know that this is possible in real life too! The front of the car was almost bouncing off the ground! Of course, the driver of the car was a teenager and he was wildly bobbing his head with the music. He was also screaming at the top of his lungs the lyrics to the song but there was no way we could hear his voice over the constant BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
To our relief, the light turned green. But I noticed one last thing as we were pulling away. Next to the teenager, in the passenger seat, was a little girl about four or five years old. The poor thing looked terrified! But the teenager didn’t care. He loved his music so much that the little girl’s ear drums didn’t matter much to him.
The way I see it is that music is like a persuasive speech and maybe even more powerful. Music has the same goal as I do right now: to motivate the audience to action. The rhythm pumps you up, the lyrics convince you, the instruments move you, and the music pierces you to your core motivating you to action.
Music can motivate people to do whatever they want. It motivated the teenager to love himself. It can motivate greedy people to steel. It can motivate lovers to go too far. It can even motivate angry people to kill.
Still don’t believe me? Watch a secular rock concert on TV and see fights break out and drugs be passed. See how people get out of control while dancing and swaying their bodies in ways they shouldn’t. Look at (or better yet, don’t look at) the artists on the cover of their CDs and notice the obvious message they are sending with their pose and the clothes they are wearing – or aren’t wearing.
Music motivates us to action. This can be a very bad thing. But this can also be a very good thing. If the music you are playing is dedicated to glorifying, praising and worshiping God what does that motivate you to do? You will not only be impacted while you sing, but you will be motivated to glorify God! Psalms 63:3 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It says, “Because your love is better than life, my lips will always glorify you!” Is this what your music does to you?
I’d like to encourage all of you to go through all your music CDs sometime and ask yourself these questions: What images does this music bring to me? What feelings does this music bring to me? And what does this music motivate me to do?
The lyrics should obviously be against God or for God. As for the style there really isn’t a right or wrong for everybody. This is up to you and what that style brings to you. If you find that your music pushes you to do something you know is wrong, maybe you should consider changing what you listen to!
But if you know that this music glorifies God and it motivates you to love Him more than ever, then, by all means, listen to it, enjoy it, memorize it, and sing it to God with all of your heart! Then God will look down from heaven and smile as he says, “Well done.”