Within the church, there
seem to be two polarized viewpoints on Christian music. On one end of the spectrum, you have
this idea that Christians should only listen to Christian stuff. On the other end is the idea that that
stuff is outdated and no one in their right mind should listen to any of it.
When I first became a
Christian, I subscribed to the former viewpoint. When Christian friends began to make fun of me for listening
to only Christian music, I followed their lead and didn’t listen to any
Christian music, even though I truly liked a lot of it.
After spending a few
years in each camp, I’ve decided that both sides are right. And both sides are wrong.
There is certainly
nothing inherently harmful about listening to Christian music. I’ll readily admit that there’s a lot
of junk out there, and Christian music can be a viable alternative. But I have issue with the idea of
presenting Christian music as the only alternative. I’ve come
to the conclusion that that’s bad theology. Philippians 4:8 reads as follows:
“Finally,
brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (NIV)
Both
of these extreme viewpoints are in violation of this verse. If everything on your Ipod is laden
with colorful metaphors, you are not dwelling on things that are right or pure. At the same time, to say that Christian
music is the only music that fits this description is to miss out.
My stance on movies is similar in some ways but there are some exceptions, so I'll have to do another post on that at some point.
