Well, I
was of the opinion that the sound or style of the music was not the point, but the lyrics. I have always believed in reaching people where they were at. I use the "past tense" because I listened to some of the music on this thread, which is actually Christian metal.
WOE!! Now that is demonic. You can say the name of Jesus is used all through it, but is it worship?? Nay! And again I say no!
I have been a musician my whole life. I played secular music before I got saved, and even then, recognized some music was not acceptable, even for bars and concerts. I have taught music, and play multiple instruments and I have been a worship leader, a worship director in various churches that span the spectrum of styles and theologies.
I also recognize that styles change, as that one hilarious video posted illustrated. And that we do need to find a heart music to worship God.
But when it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck it probably is a duck. So if extreme metal sounds demonic, the graphics look demonic, it probably is demonic.
I feel grieved for those who feel they have to play this kind of music. I know pride and making it big, are powerful motivators in music. These musicians are caught in the trap of trying to please an audience, in the hopes of making money. They are caught in a style of music that is likely going to trap them into a lifestyle that is ungodly and unchristian. No blanket condemnation, just very concerned, based on my own knowledge of the music scene, and trying to imitate the world.
As for Christian pop, I find most of it is the same tedious and boring chords, with the same grating voices, and the same arrangements. I do listen to some modern Christian music, but I am extremely selective.
As for the Bible, I have not seen many Scriptures in this entire long (from when it was started to now!) thread. We always need to go back to the Bible to find the kind of music that praises God.
"Praise the Lord!Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
[SUP]2 [/SUP]Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
[SUP]3 [/SUP]Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
[SUP]4 [/SUP]Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
[SUP]5 [/SUP]Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
[SUP]6 [/SUP]Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!" Psalm 150
Note that it starts with praising God, it instructs to praise God for his greatness, his deeds and his excellent greatness. Then a huge variety of instruments, including loud clashing symbols. Like the end of Tchaichovsky's 1812 Overture, many effects can glorify God, no doubt about it. (Not that he was in anyway a Christian, just an example to show creative use of sound to create an effect!)
But music that sounds like it comes from hell? I really have some strong reservations about whether people can continue to listen to that kind of sound and not be affected in their spiritual walk.
I have my own preferences in music, and that includes classical, jazz and blues. Not too many Christian jazz and blues bands, I acknowledge. Perhaps that is because blues is a sad form of music, using the Dorian mode, and Jazz is basically happy, but a happiness that is based on human love, not God's love or joy. So, if I listen to JS Bach, who wrote all his music "To the glory of God" I know that I am listening to music that is based on the same values that I have, by a man who was gifted in amazing ways and who spent his life worshiping God.
Which brings me to being trained to play music.
"The number of them along with their brothers, who were trained in singing to the Lord, all who were skillful, was 288." 1 Chronicles 25:7
How much time have these metal musicians spent training to play their instruments? We are talking about public performers, not someone singing a praise song to God, out of tune, because their heart is filled with God's love and forgiveness.
I hear a few tricks and some very poor musicianship on the parts I could get through on those metal links.
So when I see a quote by someone in their signature, saying that "Music is my religion" by Jimi Hendrix, the man who died of a heroin overdose (regardless of the unique and skilled talent that he had on the guitar) or a quote by Nietzsche, the man who first said, "God is dead," I think we are walking away from the central purpose of music.
It is to glorify God!
"[SUP]13 [/SUP]and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord,
“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever,”
the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud,[SUP]14 [/SUP]so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord." 1 Chronicles 25:7
I don’t want to condemn anyone who got saved listening to Christian metal, or even the musicians that play it, but I have to strongly suggest that this is a sound that is not of God! I would urge you to expand your tastes, and perhaps find some styles that are more uplifting than the examples I have heard in this thread. Glorify God in everything you do, and you will not go wrong.
And here's a link to some radical, rock and roll by Keith Green in the late 70's.
The Lord is My Shepherd - keith green - YouTube