Music and Finding the Image of God
January 27th, 2007 by Stephen
Should Christians listen to secular rock music? Someone said to me:
> The Bible says ‘to prove all things and hold fast to that which is
> good’ Have you proved secular Rock Music and do you think it is
> good?
Some of it is very good. 
But the serious answer is “yes”. I apply the same criterion to rock
music as to books. There is a great deal of rock music I would never
purchase, nor willingly listen to. There is also a great deal that I
*do* listen to. In some cases, I find the *message* in the music is a
powerful one. Occasionally I will use a song in order to make a
spiritual point to teenagers.
Non Christians have things to say too!
The answer this comment drew was:
> No kidding! I notice they have a lot to say on just about everything.
> Some of them are under the delusion that they are the answer to the
> world’s problems (their ability to make money that is); but I fail to
> see any image of God in them,
I think this is a core problem. If you do not see God’s image in our
fellow humans then it is all to easy to lack compassion for them
Every one of us bears God’s image. The image may be diminished and
marred, especially so in the lives of an evil and adulterous generation,
but it is still true that every one of us *is* an image bearer of the
living God.
We need to be less judgemental of our fellow image bearers, and scratch
beneath the surface. A singer is just another flawed human being, loved
by God, just like every one of us.
The cult of fame and fortune in our society blinds us sometimes to the
humanity of those we idolise or envy, but when all is said and done,
these people are still worth listening to (if *anyone* is worth
listening to).
Music is such a hard issue– because it is so ingrained in us to respond on multiple levels. I find that most of the hard questions come when you try to merge secular and sacred, but one also wonders what that is secular is tolerable.
It is far easier to say “you should stay away from music X” than it is to say “some of music X is ok and some of it’s not”– especially when dealing with children. I think that some children have a problem discerning the difference, and therefore think their parent hypocritical if they accept the genre but not the particular kind and throw back at their parent “but it’s just your opinion.”
It’s definitely more work to not have black and white lines.
I agree – the lack of black and white lines is difficult, and we need to be careful that we are not hypocritical in the way we deal with the issue. Also, when our children have difficulty in discerning the dividing line, we need to use the opportunity this provides us to teach them how to make these decisions themselves.
Sounds easy when I write it. It isn’t easy, of course. But training in righteousness is meant to include some hard work.
Thanks for the comment.
Stephen