CHAPTER 2

 

				NO MUSIC INHERENTLY EVIL



	Anyone who has been a Christian for any length of time at all and who is 

interested in rock music, has heard somebody tell a story, ostensibly 

always true, about missionaries who played a tape of some rock music for  

natives in an African village somewhere, who recoil in horror, 

recognizing the rhythms of the music to be the same as that which the 

local witch doctor uses to drum up demonic spirits in rituals.  I'm not 

even saying that this couldn't happen, but to use this story as a basis 

for categorizing rock music as evil, is to me naive at best. I've never 

personally known anybody who reported this story, and it's my take that 

this story is just another urban legend, passed down as true but never 

substantiated by any proof.

	It's my conviction that no pattern of notes, rhythm, or melody is 

inherently evil.  Much has been said in recent years by well meaning men 

of God about the spiritual darkness of ALL rock music and even Christian 

rock being branded as being "of the devil". I see this as a very narrow 

view, and that people who espouse this opinion have not really thought it 

through.  Conversely, I also do not believe that all rock is of God.  

It's not my intention in this book to try to prove that rock is either 

good or bad, as I believe both those positions to be extremes, and naive 

opinions at best.  What I will attempt to do is to present some ideas 

that will expand the horizons of thought for the reader which will 

hopefully produce a more thoughtful dialogue that we have been able to 

have up until now.  It is my hope to provide some tools by which we can 

properly spiritually discern what is appropriate for us to listen to and 

what is not. I've thought and meditated on this subject for many years, 

and having been a forerunner in the field of contemporary Christian music 

in my days with LOVE SONG, the first Christian "rock" group, I feel 

qualified to present some of my insights formed out of my years of 

experience.

	Let me begin by explaining my opening statement that "no pattern of 

notes, rhythm or melody is inherently evil."  In order to understand 

this, we have to differentiate between the "stuff", or substance of 

music, and the morals of the music.  The "stuff" of music, the notes, the 

rhythm, man's capacity to respond to that rhythm and melody, were all 

created by God, out of nothing. God is the only one who can create 

something out of nothing. The system of music, the laws of music, our 

capacity to respond, all were created by God.  Neither Satan nor man can 

create something out of nothing.  The best man can do is take the raw 

material that is already there, and build something out of it.  That's 

the best that Satan can do, too.  Although I believe that he's a master 

musician all he can do is make music that is derived from the original 

gift of music which is from God.  Therefore, what he does is pervert and 

counterfeit the music of God to accomplish his own purposes.  He may even 

create a whole style of music that would not be something the Holy Spirit 

would have anything to do with, but he's still working with the 

substance, the laws, the system that God created.  So the morals of such 

music would be evil in intent and function, but the "stuff" is just 

music.  A simplification of the real question here then is "is the stuff  

of rock music inherently immoral?"  I really don't think so but I think 

that the stuff can be put together to produce an immoral result.

	For further clarity, let us compare music to the written word.  No 

letter or group of letters is evil in itself.  It's just ink on paper, 

but if you form a word with the right four letters, you can produce a 

negative response on the part of the person reading that word.  This 

response is not based on any inherent evil in the letters, but on the 

background, the social upbringing of the reader and once again, laws and 

systems which God established, in this case, of language and 

communication.  Speak that word into the atmosphere, and it's not the 

sound waves that are evil, or the motion of the vocal chords, but rather 

the response of the listener to the meaning of the word, often based on 

his cultural background.  It has been my experience that some words have 

different meanings in different countries.  Some words that we think 

quite innocent here in the United States have very lewd meanings in other 

countries,  and I have learned the hard way, having been graciously 

corrected by a host in those countries when I used the offensive word, to 

me, quite innocently.  I think this works as an allegory to demonstrate 

the truth about music, specifically rock, as that is the basic subject of 

this book.  Although I contend that no music is inherently evil, I do 

believe that there are many ways that music can be used for evil 

purposes, and be a conveyor of spiritual evil, even to the point of being 

a vehicle for evil spirits to gain entry into the listener's life.  By 

and large, the negative response that a Christian listener would have to 

any form of music would be due to factors other than inherent evil in the 

music.  He might react negatively due to memory associations, the music 

acting as a link to his past life before Jesus, or to other unpleasant 

times or experiences in his life.  Negative reactions could be 

precipitated by prejudices and biases which were taught him my parents, 

toward some music which they don't like.  And of course, many kinds of 

negative responses could be the result of a reaction to the spirit of the 

music, that is the way that Satan has put the music together and uses it 

to accomplish his purposes, but not by some inherent evil in the music 

itself.

	 But all this does not negate the reality that if music is producing 

negative responses in a person, then it could be wrong for that person to 

listen to it in good conscience.  Let's take "cocktail room" jazz for 

instance.  For me the sound of that music conjures up memories of a 

drink in my hand, a cigarette in my lips, and would have very little 

ability to minister life to me in any capacity.  And yet when I listen to 

some of the jazzy praise music that is available, the spirit is 

different, and although by personal taste I would probably not listen to 

it often, it doesn't offend me, and when I have listened to it I've 

enjoyed it.

	A huge area of consideration is the sexual element.  Some people relate 

to music on a much more sensual level than others, and certain secular 

music, even just the music part, will conjure up impure responses.  Some 

soul and R&B type rhythms have a strong sexual attitude, and this kind of 

rhythm coupled with the right bass line and other sounds, would probably 

not ever be produced by the Holy Spirit.  An interesting and fun exercise 

was put together by the Christian group "Glad" many years ago, and 

performed in their concerts, where they took an old hymn, and performed 

it in a range of styles from different eras of history.  They did it in a 

baroque style, classical, blues, jazz styles, they did it as the Beach 

Boys might do it, then in a more rock oriented style, and the result is 

hilarious and challenging.  You find yourself reacting in different ways 

as the different styles are performed, and it really opens up your mind 

to the importance of the way that music is treated and presented in any 

given song.  Some of the styles were offensive to my musical and 

spiritual sensibilities, but a couple I thought were a vast improvement 

over the original style.  This video, incidentally, is available through 

Al Menconi Ministries, who's address is found in the back of this book.

	Now Satan may combine elements of music that will result in music that 

would never be produced by the Holy Spirit ever, and that music could 

probably be rightfully called evil, but in the area of rock this would be 

limited in my opinion mostly to the "heavy metal" "death rock" and some 

hard rock kind of music.  Now unless you think I'm contradicting myself, 

let me clarify that I said I didn't believe that the notes, the rhythm in 

itself, the melody, the actual components of the song are in themselves 

evil.  But I do believe that when these elements are properly combined, 

they can produce an evil effect, and be used of the Devil.  In that sense 

then, that music could be termed "evil". 

	Let me also say here, that I believe there are many styles of music, or 

individual compositions within a style category that would not be 

produced by the Holy Spirit, not just rock music.



RIGHTEOUS AND UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGMENTS



	I don't believe there is much of a question on the part of discerning 

Christians that some music by certain groups such as AC/DC, Slayer, 

Motley Crew, is born in hell, and truly is "of the devil".  But when we 

say a song was "born in hell", it's really the spirit of the music that 

we are objecting to, which is made up of many elements.  The life style 

and intent of the performer, the meaning of the lyrics, the manner in 

which the song is performed, etc., all play a part in how the music comes 

across and in how we receive it.

	Where I think Christian musicians often miss it, is that they often 

combine some elements that are born of the spirit, with elements that are 

of the wrong spirit, and the same rules as above apply.  Their life 

style, their intent, their relationship with God is often shallow, their 

knowledge of the word is limited, so their ability to be led of the 

Spirit is limited.  What results is a reflection of their immaturity, a 

perverted mix of elements, some with the wrong spirit, and the resulting 

song is unable or at least limited in it's ability to convey the 

anointing of God.  Sometimes their judgment, or their ignorance of what 

may be acceptable or not results in a perverted mix which brings us to 

another problem.  Who becomes the standard of orthodoxy by which we all 

comply?  Well I believe that it is a subjective matter, and will be 

different for different people.  What stumbles one may not stumble 

another.  The same rules apply in making this discernment.  The maturity 

of the believer, how renewed his mind is to the things of God, his 

musical background and tastes, will all have a hand in deciding how he 

will respond to different kinds of music.  I'm not denying that some 

Christian rock seems to be unable to carry the anointing of God at all, 

and may even be more harmful than good, but the bottom line is that the 

judgment of whether any music made by Christians is of God or not is up 

to God.  To brand any music that is composed by people who confess to be 

Christian as "of the devil" is dangerous.

	What I do believe we have the right to do is make a judgment call on 

whether that music is part of our life or not, and frankly, there's some 

secular music I would be more comfortable that my kids listen to than 

some Christian rock.  At least with some "neutral" or "G-rated" music, (I 

will deal with this concept in a later chapter) because it is clearly 

secular but may have a few or no offensive elements, the lines can be 

more clearly drawn, and my kids would know that this music is just for 

entertainment, will not necessarily enrich them spiritually, and that's 

that.  On the other hand, some of the music made by Christians is so 

confusing, that it's more difficult to keep clear lines by which to guide 

them.  "Well honey, I know they're Christians but that song really 

doesn't have a lot of spiritual value." etc.  But I do have the right to 

judge Christian music (music made by Christians) in regard to whether it 

ministers to me or my family, and much Christian music would never be a 

part of our lives.  You have the same right, but remember what's wrong 

for you may be OK for someone else.  The same rules apply for a pastor 

discerning what groups to have in to play at church, except now he's 

making a subjective judgment for the whole congregation, which is his 

job.

	Later on, we will have some discussion of how some music could be right 

for some, and wrong for others in the chapter dealing with the unrenewed 

mind, and the worshippers heart.

	So although rock music can and is being used for evil purposes, I also 

believe that it can and is also being used by God for righteous purposes. 

	If I haven't lost you yet, read on as we discuss...





(c)1998 Chuck Girard Ministries