"Christian" music you say? (WARNING: SEMI-LONG READ)

Well this may be a bit of sad news to any fans of this band (such as myself,) in a recent interview with Billboard magazine, the "Christian" artist Anberlin recently denied Jesus and the whole premise of [their] "Christian" music. In the words of Freddie Mercury "bum bum bum bum, another one bites the dust."

There is a growing hazard in the Christian youth area; one to which I have started to look at seriously and not turn a blind eye to, the issue has to do with "Christian" music. As of lately God has been really convicting me and has been putting numerous things in my path to try and get my attention, so finally I stopped ignoring it and prayed to God on what he was wanting to show me. So, after much thought and prayer I finally got the memo (the transition from God to me was the hardest part,) and that is the increasing threat that is posed from musicians, claiming to be serving Christ, who are really in it for their own gain; or people, for more nefarious purposes, who are in it to lead Christian teens away from Jesus. Now, this is not going to be one of those "Rock N Roll is from the devil" type things, but to sit back and ignore the obvious danger in the medium that calls itself Christian music, would be dangerous and wrong to do. I love music, I love it A LOT! So for me to sit here and type this and evaluate my own choices is hard to do, but it is better to live without certain artists than to possibly be led astray. This has been spurred by the many stories I keep hearing from within the Christian music industry, which the name "industry" alone tells you what is happening, Christian music should be a ministry to use our talents to serve God, not to make money and have fame. Anyways, moving on, there is an increasing number of "Christian" artists sitting here going on tours, making CD's, and doing all the Christian things one thinks they must do; but then in a few years they sit here and DENY JESUS!!! Which, Jesus said, "If you deny me before men, I will before my Father in Heaven." That leaves us as teens who actually seek Jesus to wonder, if these people are denying Jesus, but are making "Christian" music, isn't something wrong here? You cannot serve two masters, you cannot deny Jesus and sit here and serve him, you cannot, that is an oxymoron, remember what we have been learning in church my friends. ;)

The problem is even bigger than just one artist though, it is a whole generation of musicians, and it is time for us Christian teens to stand up and learn to pray for a gift of the Spirit called discernment. Because, Satan owns the mainstream music industry, that is so plainly obvious; so if he is a roaring lion, seeking to devour us as the Bible says. And if he REALLY has his eyes on us (as he does,) he will use the most influential medium he can to lead people astray, and his winning ticket is music. There are SOOO many "Christian" artists out there, we have become like the world, when the music becomes more important than the message there is a problem. When I see fellow peers of mine in the past, who will sit here and diss older artists because they view them as old and outdated; yes they may not be your cup of tea, and no one is saying you HAVE to listen to that only. You know what though, there is a real problem if you CAN'T listen to any of it though, if worship really is just that; if you cannot separate music from worship than maybe we need to re-evaluate our hearts. It is said that Satan and his minions come as ministers of light, can we not expect the same for musicians? Since Satan has ruled the arts for so long, he knows how to work them, but they do not belong to him; God owns the arts and he owns music. I just have a real issue when I read a secular review on a "Christian" artist, that reads, "the great thing about this band is that they are not preachy or anything, they do not where their faith on their sleeves. You have to really dig into their music to find Jesus." That is terrifying! That means that it is not affecting the world, and when they see it and see no difference, why should we be so careless?

Now I do realize something else that others that make similar accusations may not take into consideration, and that is that it is not sinful to try and use a talent for God. If you like Rock N, Roll, Hip-Hop, Country, etc... And want to honestly want to share Christ with your talents, than He will bless you; but when the music or the artist becomes more important than the message of Christ, there is a problem. Sometimes, even though an artist may be serving Christ, it is the fans that will distort this line; they would place the artist over Jesus, which is called idolatry, it can happen to anyone with anything, even placing Christianity over Christ himself! So it is a two-fold issue with many Satanic variables, and I am not saying that Christian music is evil or that rock n roll is evil, I am simply talking about the motives of the artists today. Anybody who knows me, knows I am not saying this to condemn anyone or am trying to make myself better, because I am probably the one struggling with this the most right now BECAUSE I love music so much. So if even I can realize this, I know that those teens who I know who are much smarter than I will be able to do better; and as I said, I am warning people out of love and care for my friends and family, and fellow believers who may read this. In some sense, I am also writing this to me! So please, do not take this personally and do not think I am saying Christian music is evil; all I am saying is before you pick up the next hot "Christian" artist's CD, do some research and see If they believe the right things. If not, you may put yourself at risk, Satan is too crafty and is so focused on us, we CANNOT make a mistake and ruin our lives falling into his snares. Trust me, this also applies to Christians who may listen to questionable secular music. That issue however; is for a different time and place, the result is the same though, discernment.


So, if you are done reading this, you are feeling one of three ways offended, convicted or nothing at all. If you are offended, ask yourself why? Pray to God and see if it may be something in your own life that you do not want to see, or maybe I completely fumbled my point, in which case constructive criticism is helpful. If you are convicted in even the least of ways, be happy! You would not feel convicted if you did not care about the things of Christ, so it is a good sign, but let that conviction prompt you too action, even if it may be just one artist at a time, at least you are attempting to change. If you are the latter this can be either good or bad. It may be good, because maybe you already know this and are better off than I in making the necessary cuts in your life. Or in the case of the bad, you do not care whether or not there is any danger and that is the worst attitude one can have, one to which maybe you need to recheck your walk with Christ and see if you need a spiritual heart transplant.

So, I hope I said this right, and I hope you guys have learned from it. I will be having to make A LOT of changes in my life, I have been lax on some secular and not-so-Christian music I have been listening to. So I will be the first in trying to make these changes, it will be hard, but If I cannot give up my "Christian" music to God, is it worth listening too in the first place?

Anyways, I will be waiting for those lovely responses to come in... >_>