The Power of Music

Man, here I am once again, writing about a topic that will cut me too. But God does what God does. It’s odd, this blog seems to have come at a ‘perfect’ point in my life. I’ve been really reevaluating the music I listen to, while trying to be more intentional about the words I allow into my system. Music has been a big part of my life for a very long time. When I was a baby, my parents used to make up songs for me, because it’s all that would work sometimes. Whenever I’m upset: I sing; when I’m angry: I sing (scream is more accurate); when I’m happy: I’m singing (screaming works here too). And as far in my walk as I am, filtering the music I listen to is still something that I continue to struggle with and am actively working to fix.

Music is powerful. Music has the ability to make us all feel a certain type of way depending on the words of the songs and the spirits within. One thing I truly believe is that like with everything in life, music has a purpose. That purpose can either be to edify your spirit, or break it down and leave you vulnerable to temptation. I think we can all agree that though secular music is very entertaining and honestly really really good, the themes we find are very dangerous to our spirits. Many of the songs focus on topics such as sex, drugs, crimes, and other worldly things that as children of God, we should not be dwelling on. In the Bible, it tells us in Philippians 4:8 that we should think about things that are honorable, just, pure, lovely and commendable. It also tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that we should allow every thought we have to become captive to God. This is because our minds are the gateway to our hearts. Whatever we think of, and focus on, all the time will end up being what drives our actions, our behaviors, and eventually the way we live our lives. So, if we are constantly focusing on things that aren't the word of God, then we will soon forget that we are living to do the will of God.

I want to try a little analogy to help us understand. Assuming we've all been to a really powerful church service, or just spent time in some deep worship, has there ever been a time you felt the presence of God when a song was raised? If so, why do you think you felt that way? It is because the spirit of God was behind the songs or was in that place. I also recently listened to a sermon in which the pastor says that ‘worship is God’s entrance’ to our situations, So, if the spirit of God was behind those songs which speak about the word of God, or about the gospel, or about holy and spiritual things, then wouldn't that mean that songs about sex, drugs, and crimes would also have spirits that align with what was being sung? And wouldn’t that also mean we’d be allowing their spirits in as well? The answer is yes. As Christians, we are not fighting physical battles. Every battle we fight is on a spiritual battle ground, and there are different areas or planes in which the devil tries to attack us. Music is one of them.

Two mistakes I think we have all made are: assuming the devil to be ‘stupid’ and assuming we’re ‘all set.’ The devil is obviously mad slow, he thought he could actually overthrow the one and only God.. awkwardddd. But we have to remember he was once an angel, one of God’s best. The bible informs us that satan “corrupted his wisdom” (Ezekiel 28:17), but it has has not told us that satan lost his knowledge. Satan knows the ways to get us, he knows that music enters into our hearts and that putting it in a nice package can make us easily succumb. And because of this reason, we must apply our knowledge and gain wisdom concerning what music we should be entering into our hearts on a daily basis.

The other mistake, thinking that we are all set, causes us to walk without caution and that is dangerous. We are alway being tested, and just because we are more spiritually sound than others around us — that does not mean we wouldn’t be tempted and tainted like they might be. For example, just because a song hasn’t convicted you yet doesn’t mean it’s ‘all clear.’ I believe we all get convicted, but our convictions are also based upon our knowledge and the lens with which we see our faith walk. That sounds like a lot, but what I mean is, if you think yourself and your mind to be so invincible, you may listen to every song that a very secular and vulgar artist would write — and see no issue with that because you weren’t convicted. And maybe you weren’t convicted, because you allowed the devil to tell you you could have it all. But the Bible tells us we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24) and even worse, God will reject those who are in the middle (Revelation 3:16). Another possible reason you weren’t convicted is because of your lack of knowledge. Conviction is unbiased, it is solely based on the truth that is God’s Word. If you lack the knowledge of what God has declared, certain things won’t convict you because you never knew of them in the context for your new Christian life.

This allows me to segue into the last but not least part of this blog: personal convictions DO EXIST. Romans 14:5 says, “One person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.” (MSG) This means that in the context of music, while you may be convicted to never listen to another afro-beat artist again because it takes your mind to certain places, another christian friend of yours may never have that issue. We are all in different spots in this walk, some are just starting out while others have been in it for years, don’t forget that. For this reason it is so important to make sure you are strengthening your spirit so that you can be able to really take advantage (you know what I mean) of convictions from the Holy Spirit. James 4:17 tell us that, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (NKJV) If you have been convicted of something but allow another Christian’s convictions to move you in the opposite direction… that is sin.

I know I kind of did a little more than just how powerful music can be, but I felt and believed that we needed to understand how important conviction is when talking about secular music in Christian contexts.