CHAPTER 1  

				A DEFINITION OF "ROCK"

	When you enter into a discussion of Christian rock music, you invariably 
run into a semantic problem over the word "rock" or "rock and roll".  The 
variety of definition in people's minds of what is rock is staggering.  
It is much like discussing the Bible with a Jehovah's Witness: when you 
say "Jesus" or "born again", each of you have completely different 
definitions of the terms, and because of that, the conversation is 
stillborn.  To some people, rock is anything with drums and electric 
guitars in it, to others it is only the heaviest of hard rock, anything 
less thought to be "sissy".
	For our purposes, let me offer a definition of rock.  It started out as 
the music of youth, usually played by youth, for youth. It has grown into 
a music that all ages enjoy, and we are just now experiencing the answer 
to the question, "What will rock stars do when they get old?"   Whether 
we agree with what they say and do or not, Mick Jagger, the Beatles, Tina 
Turner , are all examples of rockers who have remained vital and active 
well into their '50s, and it will be interesting yet to see if there is 
an age when they will retire. Jazz players played until they died, will 
rockers do the same?  Whether you are a young or an old rocker, the music 
is  played with youthful abandon, total commitment, with an emphasis on 
the heart and the emotions, rather than on the technical, the 
intellectual.  It has something to do with bass, drums, electric guitars, 
all that, but so do many other styles of music.  More than that it is a 
feeling, an intangible wonderfulness, hard to define but easy to 
recognize by the true fan.
For this reason, it's not always about fast rhythms, ear splitting 
volumes, or screaming vocals.  Sometimes it is the sparest of ballads, 
accenting bass and drums, but still velvety and deeply emotional.  An 
example of a Christian rock ballad is Phil Driscoll's "I Exalt Thee", 
heavy with rock production sensibilities, but  very, anointed.  Rock is 
Smashing Pumpkins, and Steely Dan. It is Alanis Morissette, it is Annie 
Lennox. It is Elton John, Jane Siberry, AC-DC, U2, even at times Neil 
Diamond.  It is too wide of a palette to be boxed, categorized and 
dismissed.
It would serve everyone well to discard the term "Rock and Roll" 
completely for the sake of the discussions to come in this book.  What we 
call "rock" WAS born partly out of rebellion in the mid-fifties when it 
first began to emerge.  It was a music that reflected and embodied the 
life experiences and philosophies of a generation of disenfranchised 
young people who, for the first time, really had a music they could call 
their own.  It was the music of the teenage experience, and a great deal 
of the attraction of the music was the fact that most parents didn't 
understand it, and, in fact, out and out rejected it.  The earliest 
pioneers of rock transcended the mere influence of their music, becoming 
symbols of rebellion, wearing leather jackets, wearing their hair long 
and doing outrageous things in their private lives.  There was a strong 
identification with these heroes as they lived out the fantasies of many 
teenagers who were at odds with parents and would have liked themselves 
to be doing some of the things their heroes were doing in real life.
	This was the atmosphere in which rock was born, and there is no question 
that it was for many, an escape from the repression of their teenage 
years, and a stimulus to rebellion and discontent for many.
	So we grant all this, and yet I must ask the question, is there 
something redeemable in this music?  Is there something we could tap into 
which would serve the purposes of God uniquely, which would produce a 
music which could effect the world in a positive way, just as so much 
secular music has effected negatively?  Or is it, as some say, all "of 
the Devil", and has no place whatsoever in the life of the Christian or 
the church, and should be categorically discarded by all Christians?  We 
will examine these questions, but before we do, let me suggest that we 
take a look at this music based on its own potential, and merit, and 
strip away our biases for a minute.  What if it wasn't called "Rock and 
Roll", and hadn't emerged as it did?  What if we could truly be convinced 
that God could have something to do with it, and might even inspire some 
of it?  If man had not fallen, would there be a music that would have the 
substance of rock, but still be in harmony with the purposes and will of 
God?  I believe we would see it differently, as a potential tool to 
effect lives in a very positive and unique way.
	I don't believe that every style of rock is something that would be 
inspired and produced by the Holy Spirit, but then I don't believe that 
of any kind of music.  But I do believe that there is something available 
spiritually that has not yet been tapped into, for reasons to be 
discussed in upcoming chapters.  I don't believe that Christian rock has 
yet 
properly or effectively served the purposes of God , but I believe there 
is a change coming and that we will see rock music used with maximum 
effectiveness in the days to come.  If we can put aside our prejudice for 
now, and examine this issue with an open mind, I believe that many of us 
would and will come to different conclusion that we have so far.
But don't judge what's to come by this chapter.  There's much to discuss, 
and I believe you will be surprised, no matter what is your present 
position.

Read on...

©1998 Chuck Girard Ministries