Music God Loves

"It was when I was happiest that I longed most... The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing... to find the place where all the beauty came from." -- C.S. Lewis


I have heard a lot of criticism regarding Christian music that does not specifically reference Jesus Christ and how it is just like all the other mainstream junk, doesn't really glorify God, and even that it is from Satan himself. Likewise, I have seen criticism of Christian music that falls under the genres of metal, screamo, hard rock, rap, etc. I have wanted to address this for a while and for many reasons.

God is the Source of all that is good and beautiful. Because He created all the world, we can see elements of His beauty in all things. I believe this is the same case with music. God made us in His image, and thus, we are also creative beings. We use a variety of instruments to praise Him, and I believe He appreciates that. Only singing Him one genre of songs is enough to bore anyone. Just as He created a variety of flowers, He created a variety of music. To say that God only wants to be praised with traditional hymns is to say that He only created roses, pushing aside all the lilies, pansies, tulips, daisies, clovers, and missing a whole lot of beauty. The God who created such a variety of animals and people must surely appreciate a variety of music.

All the things that God creates reflect some of His personality. I see His passion and consuming love and desire for us in fire. We should be on fire for Him-- passionate, hungry, enthusiastic, white-hot. I can see His fire reflected in some hard rock and metal music. I love to use the band Red as an example-- they have a song called "Breathe Into Me" is a song shouting out to God, pleaing for His Spirit. "Let Go" reflects the rage and hatred toward sin, the thing that kills us.

Water might reflect the patience of God. Perhaps that is one thing He had in mind when he poured the cool ponds into their holes in the ground. When a man works hard and spashes water onto his hot red face, surely he appreciates what God has made. Sometimes it's peaceful to praise God with slow, calm music. One of the best examples that I know of is "Overjoyed" by Jars of Clay.

And what if the music that does not specifically mention Jesus? I suppose that depends on the song. Some lament of friends who have strayed away from Jesus, such as the DC Talk songs "It's Killing Me" and "So Long, My Friend." Another song I once heard criticized was "Catchafire (Whoopsie-Daisy)" by TobyMac, a song about reigniting the fire for God. Some songs are not specifically about the resurrection, but are written and sung by Christians. Some may say that this is not Christian music. But the day we seperate Christian from secular is the day we declare it impossible to glorify God in all we do (1 Corinthians 10:31). Even Jesus Himself attended a wedding party. He gave children laughter, designed the deliciousness of chocolate, and gives us time to think during solitary walks. If we should glorify Him in all we do, and experience Him in all things good, then why should we not express these things through music (Colossians 1:16, Exodus 15:20, 2 Samuel 16:14, Psalm 100)?
And we must not mistake the beauty we recognize in music for anything but the beauty of God. When you listen to music, seek Him. It may not be the top song on the Christian charts, or one of the songs you sing in church, but you might just catch a glimpse of Him as you listen.
 
"The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust in them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing... If they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only a scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited." -- C.S. Lewis

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