When our children were young they often asked, "Why does God have so many names?" Our Western culture does not value names like the Jewish culture does. The various names of God give us insight and understanding into His character and His nature. Let us consider a few examples. God is called Elohim meaning, the great Creator. Jehovah Jirah the Lord our provider. The Great I AM, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, King of kings, Lord of lords, Saviour, Spirit of Holiness. Each of these names helps us to comprehend and understand the nature and character of God. It helps our finite minds to grasp a little of the nature of our infinite God. In Jewish and mid-eastern cultures, names are significant and have much meaning. Even in our western culture names do have meanings.
If names are important and can tell us about the character and nature of something, we need to examine and understand the term "Christian Rock". What does it mean? What is the character and nature of "Christian rock"? Let us first separate the terms and examine their meanings.
The word "Christian" is only used a few times in the New Testament. Acts 11:26 says
"And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch."The Greek word for Christian is "Christianos"(5546) which means a follower of Christ.
Throughout His ministry on earth Jesus clearly told the disciples what the standards were for those who would be His followers. First of all a disciple would be known because of the similarity to the teacher.
Luke 6:40Even the Apostle Paul said that the Corinthians should, "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1) A disciple of Jesus will be LIKE HIM. Christlikeness is what we should expect in a disciple of the Lord. "...As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct..." 1 Peter 1:15 "But we all ... are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 3:18
"A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher."
Second, the disciples had to "follow" Jesus. Jesus taught His disciples by example and He instructed them to do as He did. They were to be imitators of Christ. This required obedience to the commands, directions, methods, and standards of the Lord.
John 10:7
7My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
John 12:26
26"If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also..."
John 21:22
22Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me."
Third, Jesus required total commitment from His disciples.
Luke 14:33
So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
Luke 9:62
But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
Fourth, and continuing on from the third, Jesus said that if anyone was to follow Him they had to die to self. Dying to self is the very opposite to today’s priority of pampering self.
Mark 8:34-36
34When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?"
Therefore, the picture of a Christian is of someone who follows and is like Jesus Christ, and who is totally committed to the ways, commands and purposes of God.
To complete our understanding of "Christian Rock", what does the term "rock" mean?
The word "rock" is an abbreviation of the term ‘rock n’ roll’. In 1955 Alan Freed, a disc jockey in the USA, used the slang term, "rock n’ roll", to describe the new music that they were playing on the radio. This slang terminology referred to unmarried, and usually young, people having sex in the back seat of a car. This sexual revolution was accompanied by the "new music" which was a combination of the black man’s blues music with the European Tin Pan Alley music. The new music style and the new sexual freedoms were equal partners in the culture known as rock n’ roll. This music not only sanctioned fornication, but also encouraged it. Hardly surprising then that rock n’ roll championed the sexual revolution of the 60’s. Since the 50’s and 60’s there have been many varieties of rock music, but two factors have stood out above all the rest and have remained: the strong beat and its "marriage" to sexual immorality.
Now if we consider the meanings of these two words, "Christian" and "rock n’ roll", we can clearly see that these have nothing to do with each other. Clearly, "rock n’ roll" is associated with a musical style that promotes sexual immorality and rebellion. On the other hand, Christianity is a lifestyle associated with purity, self-control, restraint, respect and obedience to those in authority. It begs the question: Is it appropriate to put these two opposing terms in the same sentence? Or worse still, to bring these two opposing cultures together by trying to "marry" music that reflects our commitment to Christ with the music that reflects a lifestyle governed by the world the flesh and the devil?
The scriptures are clear about aligning Christ’s name with anything impure.
2 Corinthians 6:14- 18
14Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:"I will dwell in them And walk among them.17Therefore
I will be their God, And they shall be My people."
"Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you."
18"I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the Lord Almighty."
When man tries to worship the Lord while also worshipping other things at the same time it does not work! Israel’s failure with the golden calf was not just because they had an idol. They added insult upon insult and then had the audacity to say that they were having a feast to the Lord, but did it with the golden calf! It is bad enough that man would choose to worship other gods, yet to try and pass off that idolatry as worshipping God, i.e. mixed worship, seems to be an insult of the highest order.
Israel’s idolatry that resulted in captivity was actually mixed worship. They didn’t just worship Baal, Moloch or whatever, but they said they were also worshipping the Lord. They tried to worship Jehovah at the same time as Moloch!
Amos 5:22-27
22Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
23Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments...
25"Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
26You also carried Sikkuth (Moloch’s tabernacle) your king...
27Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,"
Says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts."
God was and is a jealous God. Mixed worship resulted in Israel’s captivity. And notice that the Lord rejected their worship songs that were sung while they were in this condition!
And what about the names of some of these "Christian Rock" bands? Some of these names reflect the mixture when the music is unequally yoked.
One popular group at the moment is called "Delirious". The word delirious means: raving, demented, irrational, insane, ranting, frenzied. So much for the scripture that says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind."!
Delirious has an album out called "King of fools". Jesus is the King of kings not the King of fools! And this album is said to "nod at U2". Lead singer of the former "Christian" group U2, Bono Hewson, "dislikes the label ‘born-again Christian’ " and he doesn’t go to church either. Despite the fact that he is supposed to be born again he admits, ‘I’m a very, very bad advertisement for God.’ He also comments about idolatry in that much of our culture worships money and the material world. True enough. However he concludes his statement about idolatry to say that ‘Myself, I prefer to worship the moon...’[i] So why would Delirious be wanting to "nod at U2"? Delirious’ latest album, "Live and in the Can" is being advertised as, "A Dynamic worship experience from England that breaks down all misconceptions about Praise and Worship". supposedly it is a "misconception" to believe that "rock n’ roll" music is incompatible with praise and worship. Sadly, anyone who questions the validity of using worldly music for praise and worship is quickly accused of being "religious". And of course, if you buy a delirious product you will get a free pair of Deliriou5 Sunglasses! (Notice that Delirious writes the "s" with a 5)
Another group is called "Audio Adrenaline". Adrenaline is a chemical in the body that is stimulated by sudden fear and excitement. It is a stimulant, an energizer and considered as a drug. Loud sounds and pulsating rhythms as used by rock groups cause adrenaline in the body to be released, hence Audio Adrenaline is an apt name for a rock group! When this chemical is released into the blood stream, it produces energy so that we are in a state of ready alert, ready to flee and fight for survival. This is necessary in an emergency, but a continual state of stimulation produces serious behavioral and health problems. A constant state of adrenaline arousal, although physically damaging, is often experienced as pleasant excitement and stimulation. It becomes dangerous because people can think it is the "normal" state. Worse than that, it is easy to confuse adrenaline arousal with spirituality and this can lead to worshipping our bodies instead of God. We need to be constantly on guard against the errors of confusing feelings with anointing, with sensations for the spirit.[ii]
What’s in a name? The name "Christian Rock" tells quite a story!
As a result of the mixed worship of "Christian rock" multitudes of believers are not able to discern the difference between the anointing and presence of God and the hype and manipulation involved with adrenaline arousal! Even spirit filled believers that are astute on other matters are being blinded when it comes to this music. Many Christians who would not tolerate a demonic object or pagan idol in their homes because of the curse it brings readily allow equally contaminated music into their homes. Much of the populace of the Christian community is being deceived when it comes to "Christian Rock". Even worse than this is that the music is unequally yoked and is forcing Christ into an unholy alliance with Belial. "The name of this sneaky New Age game is deception... The purpose is to merge Christ with Belial until the two are one. This is New Age synergy in action, making something new out of two opposites."[iii] A former Satanist high priest who came to the Lord testified that, "when I first became involved in the occult, music had a big influence on my life... The beat and style of the music used in the occult rituals is the same that I now hear in ‘Christian rock n’ roll’." A Christian from Zimbabwe arrived in the USA for the first time and was shocked when he heard the Christian radio. "The same beat that I used to play to call up the evil spirits is in the music I heard on the Christian station."[iv]
In the context of this article it seems difficult to work out how there can be any such genuine title as "Christian Rock".