September 19, 2003
once upon a time, steph and i maintained a fairly-daily poll by posting questions on our away messages. the poll was retired sometime probably second semester of our freshman year. however, every now and then, i like to revive the 'ol poll, if something good comes up. if you still want to respond, im me (torchsonghero), and let me know what you think.
not-too-annual poll: read the quote (previous post) from david adedokun about Christian music and Christian bands. now, respond to this quote over im to me. because it's already piqued some interest, and i'm curious to hear other opinions.
sshoger82: here's a good test - when you wake up sunday morning and are getting ready for church, what songs are going through your head? are the lyrics uplifting and prepare you to worship God? so, here's how i look at it: i, in general, prefer to listen to Christian music, but there are some secular songs i like too.
lunamayonaise617: well i don't really care. most of the music i don't pay too much attention to the words. but most of the christian music that i happen to stumble upon seems to less creatvie and good as their secular counterparts. and i disagree with some of the theology behind some songs. so i like to stick with the secular music most of the time just to keep from getting frustrated at a bad line in a song that makes God seem some way he's not. But i do like to flip the radio station to bob jones before going to church. just because i like the classical music and it puts me in a good frame of mind. i don't care what the song is though. i just like the orchestra sound. i think all music is in some way glorifying to God. listening to pour some sugar on me by def leopard doesn't make me wanna get it on with some chick. it does however make me wanna beat up the lead singer. so i guess that's not too good. bummer.
stickfigureblack: i would like to say that i was wrong: not all christian music is glorifying to God, and yes, secular music can be glorifying to God. the important issue is focus on God. i beleive we can do anything short of sinning and it be glorifying to God as long as you do it for Him. i also beleive that God is awesome enough to attain glory from anything He wants to. however, the verse in philipians 4:8 speaking of what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy means by God's standards, not our own, so its important to ask: what would God think about this music youre listening to? realistically, i just think its so much harder to reach a higher level of spiritual "closeness" to God when we indulge in things created of this world. if you can maintain a healthy focus on God while listening to music that promotes unconscious idolatry of loved ones, money, drugs, sex, culture, etc. then more power to you because youre stronger than i. "if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. it is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. and if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it awy. it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell." matt. 18:8-9 maybe it's not "wrong" for a Christian to listen to secular music, but it's surely more "right" to listen to music that is intentionally glorifying to God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 more: click for response.
cherlygirlJ12: I completely agree. we are too focused on an easy checklist, that's not to say listen to music that screams profanity all the time, be discerning, that's what we are called to do as Christians living in a world created in God's image, but that is fallen and is now a distorted view of that image.
screwtape617: for all you lovers of christian music may i address you attention to www.corruptchristianmusic.com. in all seroiusness though, its pretty ridiculous and uncritical to assert 1. all "christian" music is glorifying to God, and 2. no "secular" music is glorifying to God. this is especially evident in today's christian music industry which is characterized by trite, unthoughtful lyrics. i also find it terribly unBiblical to assert that love songs, songs about the pain of life, or any number of different themes for that matter, are unilaterally non-glorifying to God. not mentioning God is not a sin. in case someone missed that, not mentioning God in a piece of art or literature does not make that piece of art or literature unholy. if you think it does then look through esther and song of solomon and count up the number of times that God is mentioned explicitally. if you find any, you'll be the first. the real determining factor as to wheter something glorifies God can be found in philippians 4:8. we see there that it is not how many times you can sing jesus' name that makes your song pleasing to God, but rather God has an objective scale by which he measures things, and as pitiful as the christian music scene often is, i would argue that God recieves the most glory when something that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy reaches his ears. oh, i would also like to mention that i am not endorsing that website, but it is funny to look at. funny in a sad way. that people really believe that. oh well.
AraVs HwiN: that David is one smart fellow. And I would have to concur with his quote. While I do find most Christian music more uplifting & encouraging, especially in one's walk, that's not to rule out those not deemed "Christian" bands. There are a lot of seekers out there (Zwan comes to mind) and sometimes its good to hear where they are coming from & being reminded of where we ourselves once were. And some of it's just good music by principle. I also have to wonder..do you really think Jesus ever stopped some piper playing & refused to listen to his song just b/c the man was of ill repute... No..in fact, the Man even ate in their houses with those of questionable reputations & background.. He listened and ministered to them according to their needs.. Anyhow..the short of it is..we need to be in the world (not in a hole, not in a box) but not of it...and that involves those around us & such music--- Which I happen to like a lot of..well, some of it anyway..
not-too-annual poll: read the quote (previous post) from david adedokun about Christian music and Christian bands. now, respond to this quote over im to me. because it's already piqued some interest, and i'm curious to hear other opinions.
sshoger82: here's a good test - when you wake up sunday morning and are getting ready for church, what songs are going through your head? are the lyrics uplifting and prepare you to worship God? so, here's how i look at it: i, in general, prefer to listen to Christian music, but there are some secular songs i like too.
lunamayonaise617: well i don't really care. most of the music i don't pay too much attention to the words. but most of the christian music that i happen to stumble upon seems to less creatvie and good as their secular counterparts. and i disagree with some of the theology behind some songs. so i like to stick with the secular music most of the time just to keep from getting frustrated at a bad line in a song that makes God seem some way he's not. But i do like to flip the radio station to bob jones before going to church. just because i like the classical music and it puts me in a good frame of mind. i don't care what the song is though. i just like the orchestra sound. i think all music is in some way glorifying to God. listening to pour some sugar on me by def leopard doesn't make me wanna get it on with some chick. it does however make me wanna beat up the lead singer. so i guess that's not too good. bummer.
stickfigureblack: i would like to say that i was wrong: not all christian music is glorifying to God, and yes, secular music can be glorifying to God. the important issue is focus on God. i beleive we can do anything short of sinning and it be glorifying to God as long as you do it for Him. i also beleive that God is awesome enough to attain glory from anything He wants to. however, the verse in philipians 4:8 speaking of what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy means by God's standards, not our own, so its important to ask: what would God think about this music youre listening to? realistically, i just think its so much harder to reach a higher level of spiritual "closeness" to God when we indulge in things created of this world. if you can maintain a healthy focus on God while listening to music that promotes unconscious idolatry of loved ones, money, drugs, sex, culture, etc. then more power to you because youre stronger than i. "if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. it is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. and if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it awy. it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell." matt. 18:8-9 maybe it's not "wrong" for a Christian to listen to secular music, but it's surely more "right" to listen to music that is intentionally glorifying to God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 more: click for response.
cherlygirlJ12: I completely agree. we are too focused on an easy checklist, that's not to say listen to music that screams profanity all the time, be discerning, that's what we are called to do as Christians living in a world created in God's image, but that is fallen and is now a distorted view of that image.
screwtape617: for all you lovers of christian music may i address you attention to www.corruptchristianmusic.com. in all seroiusness though, its pretty ridiculous and uncritical to assert 1. all "christian" music is glorifying to God, and 2. no "secular" music is glorifying to God. this is especially evident in today's christian music industry which is characterized by trite, unthoughtful lyrics. i also find it terribly unBiblical to assert that love songs, songs about the pain of life, or any number of different themes for that matter, are unilaterally non-glorifying to God. not mentioning God is not a sin. in case someone missed that, not mentioning God in a piece of art or literature does not make that piece of art or literature unholy. if you think it does then look through esther and song of solomon and count up the number of times that God is mentioned explicitally. if you find any, you'll be the first. the real determining factor as to wheter something glorifies God can be found in philippians 4:8. we see there that it is not how many times you can sing jesus' name that makes your song pleasing to God, but rather God has an objective scale by which he measures things, and as pitiful as the christian music scene often is, i would argue that God recieves the most glory when something that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy reaches his ears. oh, i would also like to mention that i am not endorsing that website, but it is funny to look at. funny in a sad way. that people really believe that. oh well.
AraVs HwiN: that David is one smart fellow. And I would have to concur with his quote. While I do find most Christian music more uplifting & encouraging, especially in one's walk, that's not to rule out those not deemed "Christian" bands. There are a lot of seekers out there (Zwan comes to mind) and sometimes its good to hear where they are coming from & being reminded of where we ourselves once were. And some of it's just good music by principle. I also have to wonder..do you really think Jesus ever stopped some piper playing & refused to listen to his song just b/c the man was of ill repute... No..in fact, the Man even ate in their houses with those of questionable reputations & background.. He listened and ministered to them according to their needs.. Anyhow..the short of it is..we need to be in the world (not in a hole, not in a box) but not of it...and that involves those around us & such music--- Which I happen to like a lot of..well, some of it anyway..
