“… Music is a powerful communicator. Do you see that music is not neutral? It is never entirely neutral. Sure, words say more than music, but nevertheless, music in varying degrees will move both the spirit and the body. It has 
content. It gives out a message and that message then can either rightly or wrongly represent Christianity and the living God.
Now we have this question: does ‘Christian rock’ represent Christianity? Is it Christian? Does it fit amongst the saints?
Listen to these testimonies:
The testimony of godly men. I could list several men of God whom others and I highly esteem in the faith who cry out against so-called Christian rock – its music, its worldliness, and its carnality. Some years back, two leaders of the underground church in Russia sent a message to the USA churches asking them to not send Christian rock over there. Now, we know, man’s word is not conclusive when it comes to making an absolute. But, nevertheless, when men, many men, men greatly used of God in turning hundreds of souls to righteousness, speak out against a thing, it is at the very least significant. (See: 2 Chr. 36:15,16).
The testimony of the secular artists themselves. If you won’t believe the men of God, hear what the secular leaders say about the music.
LITA FORD: “Sex and rock go together like wheels on a car.”
LITTLE RICHARD: “I was using dope, marijuana, angel dust, cocaine and heroin with pills and drinking and all I wanted to do was have orgies … rock & roll doesn’t glorify God. You can’t drink out of God’s cup and the devil’s cup at the same time. I was one of the pioneers of that music, one of the builders. I know what the blocks are made of because I built them.”
FRANK ZAPPA: (quoting Hal Zeiger, one of the first big promoters of rock) “The big beat matched the great rhythms of the human body. I knew it and I knew there was nothing that anyone could do to knock that out of them (the youth). And I further knew that they would carry this with them the rest of their lives. The ways in which sound effects the human body are myriad and subtle. The loud sounds and bright lights of today are tremendous indoctrination tools.”
DAVID BOWIE: “Rock has always been the devil’s music and you can’t convince me that it isn’t.” TED NUGENT: “Rock is the perfect primal method of releasing our violent instincts.” He calls his music ‘combat rock’ and speaks of raping his audience.
MICK JAGGER: “We communicate aggression and frustration to an audience, musically and visually.”
ALLEN LANIER of Blue Oyster Cult: “Rock and roll brings out violent emotions. There’s a lot of violence, a lot of aggression in the music.”
JERRY LEE LEWIS: “I am sorry that I was involved in the beginnings of rock and roll. It has helped to destroy untold millions of young people the world over.”
JIM STEINMAN: “Rock is the perfect idiom for the supernatural.”
LINDA RONDSTADT: The purpose of rhythm “is to get into an orgiastic state of losing yourself.” TOM MCSLOY: “To get into rock you have to give in to it, let it inside, flow with it to the point where it consumes you, and all you can feel or hear or think about is the music.”
GRAHAM NASH: “Pop music is the mass medium for conditioning the way people think.”
TIMOTHY LEARY: “Don’t listen to the words, it’s the music that has its own message…I’ve been stoned on the music many times.”
BOB DYLAN: “If I told you what our music is really about, we’d probably all get arrested.”
RICHARD OLDEN: (manager of Rolling Stones) “Rock music is sex and you have to hit teenagers in the face with it.”
JANIS JOPLIN: “I couldn’t believe it — all that rhythm and power. When I first heard rock and roll, I got stoned just listening to it. Like, it’s the best dope in the world. It was so sensual.”
JAN BERRY: “The throbbing beat of rock and roll provides a vital sexual release for its adolescent audience.”
PETE TOWNSEND of The Who: “When performing I don’t know who I am. If someone walked on the stage I’d probably kill.” “We wanted to blow their minds with our music, turn up the amplifiers so they could not hear themselves think.”
The testimony of sociologists, psychologists, doctors, lawmen and newsmen. These make connections between violence and rock.
Drs. Daniel and Bernadette Skubik say, “Indeed, as rock music has moved farther away from its historical roots and medium (viz. folk music) it both causes and expresses an increasing association of overt aggression linked with sexuality.” It should be apparent that more than just the lyrics are involved in producing such powerful effects as seen at concerts and in lives. The content of the Beatle’s “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” and of Elvis’ “Teddy Bear” is fairly mild and hardly worthy of the fame accorded them, but the music is gas to the fire in the words.
Professor William Shafer, a non-Christian sociologist, says, “What is undeniable about rock is its hypnotic power.” Jimi Hendrix, one of the devil’s best pipers who died early and miserably, as many of them have, said, “Atmospheres are going to come through music, because music is a spiritual thing of its own…you can hypnotize people (with music)…and when they get to the weakest point we can preach into the subconscious what we want to say. Our music is just as spiritual as going to church.” He called his concerts “the electric church.” Yes, music is a very spiritual thing. It speaks to our spirit. Sin and bondage can be ministered by music. Righteousness and deliverance can be produced by music (2 Chr. 20:22, Ps. 149:6,7, 1 Sam. 16:23, Ac. 16:25).
Think. If David’s harpistry could drive away demons (1 Sam. 16:23), we should not be surprised if certain other music could also invoke them. Think. If Elisha’s musicians could invoke the Holy Spirit (2 Kg. 3:15), we should not be surprised if certain music could invoke evil spirits. Hendrix often used a young African from Ghana, Kwasi Dzidzornu, a skilled conga drum player. Kwasi said Hendrix’ rhythms were identical to those used by his father in demon-raising voodoo ceremonies. The devil is a musician. If his demons can inspire doctrines (1Tim.4:1), it should not surprise us that they can also inspire music. Admittedly, music is not as much a hard science as math or chemistry. Room must be left for personal taste. There are gray lines. But music is not at all entirely subjective, and we who profess Christ would do well to exercise discernment, to be as objective as possible, and to stay away from devilish music. “Do not touch what is unclean” (2 Cor. 6:17). There is such a thing as good music produced by ungodly men, which nevertheless fits the Christian worldview. There is such a thing as bad music, produced by true Christians with the best of motives, but nevertheless, music that simply does not fit Christianity. It does not communicate a Christian worldview. Music can be a powerful tool for good or evil. Music matters, and the right music with the right words sung by a right heart is more pleasing to God than the offering of a herd of cattle on some altar (Psa. 69:30,31). May it be so amongst the saints for Jesus’ sake to whom be glory forever. Amen.”
The testimony of Scripture. What does God say? Is there a direct scripture? No, there is no scripture that directly says that Christian rock is not Christian, just like there is none that directly says that cocaine or pornography or abortion is wrong. We must look at underlying scriptural principles and then make applications and conclusions, just as has been done, for example, with the doctrine of the Trinity.
Ephesians 5:3,4 tells us to consider what is “FITTING” and “PROPER”. Just as we would consider what clothing fits the occasion or what food fits the occasion, so we must ask if this music fits Christianity. Does rock music communicate attributes and virtues of God? Is it Godly? Does the music exalt God? Specifically, does it minister submission to Him or does it communicate aggression and rebellion? Does the music minister cheer or tension? Does it suggest order or disorder and chaos? Does it suggest hope (tension followed by resolution) or despair? The answer is obvious. Look at rock. It is loud and pushy. It is daring and tough. It is lawless. Pete McRae, a disc jockey pushing for Ted Nugent’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, said, “He embodies the spirit, energy and wild abandon that rock and roll is all about.” Wild abandon! Well said! And, rock is sensual; it calls me to move my hips. None of this fits the deepness, the richness, the seriousness, the urgency, and the majesty of the great God of heaven and His glorious gospel. These C-rock singers snarl out a commitment to God. This does not fit the contrite disciple of Jesus. None of this fits the God of the Bible. It is a different message. It is a different worldview.
Ephesians 5:19 calls for “MELODIOUS” music. The music of heaven is “like harpists playing on their harps” (Rev. 14:2). David was called the “sweet” psalmist (2 Sam. 23:1). There should be a sweetness in Christian music. But rock is (in varying degrees) harsh, strident, snarling, distorted and kind of nasty. Furthermore, in rock music, the beat is generally very dominant and competes with the melody. The body must have a (heart)beat, yet when the beat becomes predominant, you’ve got trouble. Rock is not Christian. Rolling Stone Mick Jagger said, “It’s a noise we make. That’s all. You could be kind and call it music.”
I Corinthians 14:33, similarly, tells us our God is “the author of PEACE.” Again, the strident, harsh, and driving elements of rock are condemned. Rock is a pounding music; it won’t let you rest. There is indeed virtue in lively music but the roar and the scream of rock makes it anti-Christian.
Colossians 3:16 says that Christian music is to “TEACH and ADMONISH.” But the characteristic high volume of rock music is not only unapologetically, sinfully injurious to the hearing, but it disgustingly covers the words. Dave Roberts, a columnist for Buzz, a CCM (contemporary Christian music) magazine, agrees, “Heavy rock is body music designed to bypass your brain and with an unrelenting brutality induce a frenzied state amongst the audience.” Content should be preeminent for the Christian.
James 4:4 condemns WORLDLIKENESS. Contrary to this, Christian rock often is a deliberate, professed attempt at friendship with the non-Christians to try to identify with them and win them. Amy Grant’s manager says her music gives Christian kids something to be proud of so they can say, ‘Hey, we’re normal’. But God does not need the world’s tunes to carry His message any more than a Philistine ox cart to carry the ark (1 Chr. 16:13). That is not Christian. 1
Corinthians 10:31 says, “DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD.” Rock music is generally so wild that it is quite incompatible with congregational singing. Thus, these musicians are not able to be worship leaders; they are performers. Their ministry is more like a showboat than a lifeboat. What so often comes across is not ‘Look, the Lamb of God’, but ‘Look at me saying, “Look, the Lamb of God”.’ Thus, the musicians steal the glory. The girls even scream at these fellows! Someone asks, “Are they servants or stars? Are they producing followers or fans?” It has all the smell of flesh. It is idolatry. Contrast this show business with Paul’s ministry — “night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears” (Acts 20:31). Let’s look at some of the leaders of Christian rock. Are they doing “ALL to the glory of God”? Consider their lyrics and their conduct, as well as their music. One leader unashamedly says that his intent is to entertain. The crowd laughs, yells, and claps at his blasphemous skit, “Are You the One?”, a mock conversation between Jesus and John the Baptist. Now entertainment may have its place, but the gifts of God are given by God, not to divert, not to amuse, not to entertain, but to edify the church (1 Cor. 14:12, 26). This fellow is cute. His music is cute; it is clever — the very thing the apostle Paul says “nullifies the gospel” (1 Cor. 1:17).
Another CCM leader’s music so ambiguous that it sells equally well to the devil’s crowd. She says, “If an audience feels I’ve walked away from God because I no longer talk about Him on-stage, then that’s their loss.” On another occasion she says, “I’m a singer, not a preacher … I’m not trying to convert anybody.” Beer companies sponsor her TV shows. Another CCM group’s performance was so vile and violent that MTV would not even tolerate it without some changes. Probably the most prominent, in one album, The Big Picture, uses the name of Jesus once in the nine songs.
One Reunion Records promo says, “[He] took the stage with some twirling dance steps that sent the crowd into rocking frenzy.” Glory to God? Another says, “We’ve been careful to avoid any religious terminology in this record that would turn people off.” Jesus turned people off so much that they killed Him! Another takes their song, “Bargain”, from an old secular song by The Who. No wonder it is a little thin on doctrine. One Christian music magazine says of another’s album, Live to Die, “It is a sound your parents will hate.” Christian? Glory to God? Another: In one album you could count the references to Christ on two fingers. They say the reason they don’t give altar calls is that the crowd might mob them and rip their clothes off (what little they have). Christian? These “effeminates will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9,10).
Here’s another group that makes reference to the resurrection of Christ by saying, “You can’t keep a good man down.” This is not Christian. This is cheap blasphemy! Remember, these are the leaders! Can you see, there is a yellow streak right through the Christian rock scene revealed by, not only the music, but also, the lyrics and the manners of these C-rock idols? And these concert-hopping, money-loving, fame-promoting, merchandizing, compromising entertainers are ashamed to be too different from the world. They are ashamed to come out for Christ entirely (Mk. 8:38). They are ashamed to “glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:3).”
