Music has a unique and powerful ability to stir the affections. Back in high school, music albums became the backdrop for my life, fueling my happiness or sadness, introspection or extraversion. My emotions were often out of line with reality largely because of how the music amplified them.
Music is pervasively used to create or build emotion. Watch almost any scene of a movie and you will find music accompanying the action. Different genres use different music, but we can usually identify the genre by the music used. For example, if I were to mention suspense thriller, a genre that depends upon the emotions of anxiety and fear, you might immediately imagine hearing high pitched strings in a dissonant chord or the foreboding rumble of a minor step like the famous melody from Jaws. Or if music is absent, the lack creates a stark, often bleak silence, that will probably later be contrasted with music.
Now that I’ve gotten a little older, I’ve learned that beyond just elevating emotions, music can have a redemptive, energizing affect when it glorifies God. I think of artists who have made music that fed my passion for God, artists like Rich Mullins. In college, I was listening to his song Creed and told my pastor that the lyrics to the song were amazing. For those who aren’t familiar with Mullins, he took the Apostle’s Creed and created a song around it. It is worth noting that it was through that song that I was first introduced to the ancient creed.
While I would affirm that the Apostle’s creed is powerful in its simple, concise presentation of the Gospel, it was the words and the music that combined to raise my affections for God.
Music holds power. That is why it is important that we think properly about the music and words that we listen to. I don’t mean that a person must just listening to self-proclaimed “Christian music.” I do think it is important to filter all incoming messages through a biblical grid. Here are three questions that I find helpful when I think about the music I listen to:
- What is the song or album communicating about God and the world? All communication is coming from a particular worldview. What worldview is being expressed in the lyrics? Does its representation of God or humanity line up with the testimony of the Bible? Does it give me insight into a particular cultural worldview?
- What sorts of emotions does the music elicit? This is a very subjective question, but an important one nonetheless. Music elicits emotion. I think that is a design by God. However, do these emotions coincide with a message that glorifies God? Or do they create an attitude that dishonors God?
- Does the message of the music correspond to the emotions that the music evokes? Sometimes the lyrics of a song will present a sad truth, but be contrasted by a happy tune. I don’t think this is right or wrong in and of itself. But it is important to be aware of what the artist is doing. Does the message line up with the music?
I am concerned with the last question, because if sin or a wrong worldview is presented with music that evokes a happiness or joy, my emotions can be confused with reality. That is not a good thing. On the other side of the spectrum, if a glorious reality of God is communicated through music that does not inspire the same sense of glory, then the music has worked against the message.
Music moves us all. Let us be both mindful and intentional about how we allow it to affect us.
“My emotions were often out of line with reality largely because of how the music amplified them.”