For the common things of every day, God gave man speech in the common way. For the deeper things men think and feel, God gave the poet words to reveal. For the heights and depths no word can reach, God gave man music, the soul's own speech.1

The Current State of Church Music

Howard Hanson, American composer and long-time music director of the Eastman School of Music, once said, "Music is a curiously subtle art with innumerable varying emotional connotations. It is made up of many ingredients and, according to the proportions of these components, it can be soothing or invigorating, ennobling or vulgarizing, philosophical or orgiastic. It has powers for evil as well as for good."2 Music was God's idea—a wonderful gift to mankind enriching our lives since the beginning of time. Christianity more than all other world religions has contributed to the great music of the world. In the Old Testament, God joined music and worship into a glorious union which still stands today. God takes church music seriously, but how many of His people share His attitude?

Most observers conclude that the state of music in American churches is mixed. On the one hand, church music is enjoying unparalleled acceptance, with many new hymnals of great depth, breadth, and balance appearing from various publishers. The vast quantity of sacred music now being composed, published, and recorded staggers the imagination. This growth and vitality of church music is positive and encouraging.

On the other hand, some aspects of the current church music scene are not quite so encouraging or positive.

Secular, Superficial

Bruce Leafblad notes: "Much contemporary church music is shaped more by secular values than by theological principles. Commercial interests rather than spiritual objectives motivate much sacred music. Church music is often aimed at satisfying a popular musical taste at the expense of a balanced ministry designed to meet a variety of spiritual needs. Many of the basic (and unbiblical) assumptions and objectives of the entertainment industry are eroding an already thin concept of ministry through music.

"Moreover, a nagging tendency towards the trite and the superficial only serves to point up the avoidance and neglect of real substance and depth in much of today's church music. Quantity substitutes for quality, as mediocrity surges over excellence. Few people in the church take church music seriously enough to think about it Biblically and theologically."3

Music continues to remain a major area of church life largely untouched by Biblical theology. This should make Seventh-day Adventists nervous. Since one fourth to one half of a worship service involves music, it would seem vital to give our church music a thoughtful, wise, and prayerful review. Music forms a part of God's worship in heaven; it is intended to elevate the soul and awaken a spirit of devotion and gratitude.4 It is as much an act of worship as is prayer. So to simply "perform" sacred music is not enough. Since the ultimate goal in worship is to glorify Him, it is God's pleasure—not man's delight—that should be our objective. In worship, God is the audience.

Two Approaches

In spite of this lofty standard, however, two prevalent approaches to church music have emerged, neither of which enjoy Scriptural support. The first approach, rooted in musical taste, has as its goal maximum pleasure of the audience. "Good" music, by this definition, is usually equated with what is familiar or easy. Solid text material is less important than the way the music sounds; as long as the majority of the congregation likes this sound, the music is deemed appropriate. Perhaps unconsciously, those who take this approach view music primarily as a form of "sacred" entertainment, and hence, a form of escape from reality. There is a place for entertainment—but is it appropriate in the worship of God?

The second approach uses music that expresses cultural values and ideals. Here preserving the church's heritage of musical art treasures is paramount. This view, however, is also flawed. Music used in worship as an end in itself—art for art's sake—is in theological trouble. Everything in the church service must have a purpose rooted in something greater than itself. The role of music in the church must be no different from the mission of the church itself: ministry to the Lord, the body of Christ, and the world for whom Christ died.5

"In religious worship the singing must be directed toward God, otherwise it is little more than an exhibition of self.... Music does not exist for its own sake, but, like a prayer, as a means of approach to God."6 This article will suggest that there are identifiable wrong uses of music in worship that violate this objective of God-directed worship. These wrong uses have prevailed particularly in charismatic circles for some time, and now seek to encroach upon Seventh-day Adventist worship. We will look at current popular religious music styles and uses, how music is perceived in the brain and how that perception relates to worship, and some standards and criteria for church music today.

Current Popular Music Styles and Uses

Some trend setters hold that any musical song style, as long as it contains a sacred text, is usable in a worship setting. The mass media have so thoroughly conditioned the public with a diet of rock rhythms that anything but this seems bland and dull to many. An obsession to clothe all gospel music with some sort of rock beat seems to have arisen among many of today's gospel performers. Musicians among us are taking over styles developed by the world, and all too often, the rock rhythms of the dance hall have become the music of the church—all done in the name of communication to reach people where they are.

Long before the arrival of rock music, one writer noted dangers in melding popular styles into religious music: "There has been a considerable rage for 'jazz gospel music' in the churches of the country during the last several years. It is in many respects an evil thing. If it does nothing more, it puts the church in league with cheap and inartistic music expression. The fact of the matter is that the evil is greater than this, for the cheap music seems naturally to ally itself with banal texts, with careless and inconsequential, if not absolutely trivial and sentimental thought."7

Pop Is Rock

Most popular music today is, by definition, rock. Basically, rock is a repetitious, rhythmically driven musical form which derives much of its power from accenting secondary beats in the music rather than primary beats. This characteristic is not limited to "hard" rock only. Much "soft" rock and "easy listening" popular music fits this definition. Medical research has found that this alteration of beat accent patterns can have a negative effect on natural body rhythms.8 High levels of volume often in excess of one hundred decibels is another feature of rock music and source of its power. Such loudness has been shown to be damaging to the sense of hearing.

Drum sets, electric guitars, synthesizers, and elaborate amplification systems, which greatly intensify the rhythmic effect and loudness of the music, are making dramatic inroads into Christian worship, as are commercially produced accompaniment tapes, many of which are in the rock idiom. A strong emotional and physical "moving" experience can be created by repetitious rhythms and carefully calculated orchestral effects. Irwin Sonenfield writes:

"For some time, the use of massive power through electronic technology has played a major role in popular music. Electrical instruments, along with amplification, manipulation, and synthesis, are almost inevitably associated with the new sounds. These are more than tools; they are controlling factors. They determine the nature of the music and its effects. The power of high wattage and decibels is worshiped for its own sake and also for the sake of the intense physical and psychic experiences that can be evoked. It is a human alliance with, and subjugation to, superhuman technological power, through which the sensations of pain and ecstasy become mystically united."9

Hypnotic Power

William Schaefer observed, "What is undeniable about rock is its hypnotic power. It has gripped millions of young people around the world and transformed their lives."10

Obviously, then, any use of popular rock-type music in the worship of God at least calls for a high degree of discernment. An emotional or physical response must never be confused with a spiritual response. Could confusion of a spiritual high with an emotional high be an aspect of the false latter rain? Could this occur within Adventist churches today which seek to promote this new music in their worship?

The creation of emotional and physical responses is one of the natural outcomes of contemporary rock music. Although it is easy to see the potential dangers of utilizing these styles in church music, a whole new genre of music has nevertheless developed, much of which contains all the elements of secular rock. Such music used to be called "Christian Rock," but the media have given it a new "vegetarianized" label—"Contemporary Christian Music." Long a part of charismatic worship, it is now being used in Adventist worship, especially among congregations which have adopted more "informal" worship styles.

Musical Theatrics

A parallel issue to that of popular, rock style and emotionalism is that of theatrics. Many performers find that much contemporary religious music evokes a Broadway-like theatrical interpretation, both physically and vocally. The Pentecostal religions of today have led the way in promoting such physical-emotional-theatrical music performance, and it appears that Seventh-day Adventists are becoming increasingly intrigued with it as well. One may ask who is the object of attention in this type of worship—God or the performer? Notice this warning from Ellen White:

Justified by Success?

Many attempt to justify these popular means by pointing out apparent successes. But Ellen White offers this valuable insight:

Never are we to "bring the truth down to a low level in order to obtain converts, but seek to bring the sinful and corrupted up to the high standard of the law of God."13 Job asks: "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one" (14:4); and the wise man adds in Proverbs 6:28: "Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?"

The following letter, written by a student in Bible college, sums up the searching of many as they grapple with the issue of current Christian music:

"God has called me to work among youth to win them to Christ. I have one question yet in my mind. Can a person play rock music with a beat and really be effective for Christ? I wonder if the sound is of the flesh or not. I know that there is no true Christian 'anointing' in the music yet the words sometimes have a message. I know others use this medium to reach youth but do they get a cheap conversion because of the compromise? Do they think because they were won under this type of music that rock isn't wrong? I'll be going into full-time Christian work this summer and I don't want to be deceiving kids by compromise. Do youth actually look up to a Christian who uses this type of music as a spiritual leader or as just another entertainer? Can I really be an effective spiritual leader and use this music and afterwards preach to them?"14

Questionable Results

A major evangelist discovered that when he switched to folk-rock music in his meetings the numbers of commitments rose sharply. Later he found that the percentage of these that completed his follow-up program had fallen from his previous twenty percent to less than one percent.15 Former rock musicians who have become Christians make it clear that no compromise with this music is possible, that total abstinence is the only way. The nature of the sound is so surely "of the flesh" and part of "the world" that it must be eliminated altogether from the life. Can Seventh-day Adventist Christians afford to support what others have found to be anti-spiritual?

Inspiration is clear that there is acceptable and unacceptable music in worship. When descending Mt. Sinai after having received God's law, Joshua thought he heard sounds of war. The "sounds of war" turned out to be sounds of singing in the worship of the golden calf—a service which had been proclaimed a feast day to the Lord. In Daniel's day, a "Babylonian orchestra" was influential in setting the mood for the worship of Nebuchadnezzar's image. The prophet Amos pictures a day when God will tell His people, "Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs: for I will not hear the melody of thy viols" (5:23).16

At the turn of this century, Ellen White described a type of worship music at an Indiana camp meeting in 1900, which she said would be repeated just before the close of probation. Her assessment of the musical performance is revealing: "Better never have the worship of God blended with music than to use musical instruments to do the work which last January was represented to me would be brought into our camp meetings. The truth for this time needs nothing of this kind in its work of converting souls."17 She added, "Those things which have been in the past will be in the future. Satan will make music a snare by the way in which it is conducted."18

Satan's Methods

According to Mrs. White, what are some of Satan's methods? "Satan will work with his deceptive power to influence the heart and becloud the understanding, to make evil appear good, and good evil."19 How does he do that? "Satan does not enter with his array of temptations at once. He disguises these temptations with a semblance of good. He mingles with amusements and folly some little improvements, and deceived souls make it an excuse that great good is to be derived by engaging in them. This is only the deceptive part. It is Satan's hellish arts masked. Beguiled souls take one step, then are prepared for the next."20

As noted earlier, many new hymnals have been published in recent years. In most cases, the hymns included in them represent a shift in emphasis, back to the great hymns of the church. It seems that many denominations feel they have missed out on something deeper, due to their limited use of the great hymns of the church.21 While many Seventh-day Adventists look to simple, informal choruses and contemporary sounds, other Christians who have experienced these are apparently looking for something more substantial.

In a recent Adventist Review editorial, Eugene Durand pointed out that the Assembly of God churches (a notable Pentecostal group) have come to view Christian rock music as out of tune with the gospel. He wrote, "The church of Jesus Christ has come under special attack from Satan through the entertainment media and has been provoked to emulate the world in its degraded art forms.... Putting the label 'Jesus' on rock music doesn't change the essential nature of it. They take something that is basically unacceptable to Christians and relabel it, but it is still just as bad as before.

"How strange that charismatic, exuberant Pentecostals sound a warning against Christian rock music, while many supposedly conservative high-minded Seventh-day Adventists just eat it up! I'm not talking only about hard rock, but about the soft rock and nightclub type of music that is often heard at Adventist gatherings."22

How Music Is Perceived in the Human Brain

In a 1973 article in The Ministry, H. Lloyd Leno stated that "probably the most important development in the scientific investigation of music was the discovery that music is perceived through that portion of the brain receiving the stimuli of emotions, sensations, and feelings without being first subjected to the brain centers involving reason and intelligence."23 Schullian and Schoen explain this phenomenon:

"Music, which does not depend upon the master brain to gain entrance into the organism, can still arouse by way of the thalamus—the relay station of all emotions, sensations, and feelings. Once a stimulus has been able to reach the thalamus, the master brain is automatically invaded, and if the stimulus is continued for some time, a closer contact between the master brain and the world of reality can be thus established."24

This mechanism makes it possible to reach mentally ill patients who cannot be contacted through the spoken word. Could Satan, heaven's former chief musician, possibly use it as well?

Physical Response

There can also be little doubt that rhythmic music has strong appeal for nearly everyone. Van de Wall explains why: "Much of what we call irresistible in music is so because we react on this sensory-motor level of functioning."25

This sensory-motor, or physical response to rhythm can be illustrated further by the "ecstatic seizure," an essential element of ceremonial dancing in West Africa, and by other similar trance-inducing, highly rhythmic and repetitious ceremonial dances among American Indians and the Aztecs.26 A rhythmically driven Chippewa dance ceremony culminated in the prostration of the participants, at which time they were thought to receive visions promising victory over their enemies. Of the Aztec culture's repetitive rhythms, Gaston says, "One is reminded of rock and roll."27 One is also reminded of Indiana in 1900, and of certain charismatic services in which worshipers are induced to receive the supposed gift of tongues. Music used to induce a response must be used with a great degree of caution.

Music's Effects

Time and space do not permit a thorough treatment of musical perception. Suffice it to say that studies over the past fifty years have brought to light some rather significant findings which Leno summarizes as follows:

Music is perceived and enjoyed without necessarily being interpreted by the higher centers of the brain involving reason and judgment.

Response to music is measurable even though the listener is not giving conscious attention to it.

There is evidence that music can bring about mood changes by affecting body chemistry and electrolyte balance.

By lowering the level of sensory perception, music heightens the responses to color, touch, and other sensory perceptions.

It has been demonstrated that music effects changes in muscular energy and promotes or inhibits body movement.

Highly repetitive rhythmic music has a hypnotic effect.

The sense of hearing has a greater effect on the autonomic nervous system than any of the other senses.28

These findings suggest that Satan is able, through music, to mount a sneak attack on anyone willing to indulge in the "wrong" kind of music. The music itself, not just the text, is a key issue in the suitability of music for worship. This is why a word of caution needs to be sounded to all groups experimenting with new church music and worship styles. Even a scripturally solid text, when wedded to an inappropriate musical vehicle, becomes a theological "Babylon," a mixture of good and evil—truth and error. In referring to the fall of man, Ellen White says: "By the mingling of evil with good, his mind had become confused, his mental and spiritual powers benumbed. No longer could he appreciate the good that God had so freely bestowed."29

The prophet Ezekiel also warns of the dangers of mixing the sacred and profane: "Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.... saying thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken" (Ezekiel 22:26, 28). Mixing God's truth with the world's goods is risky business!

Standards and Criteria for Judging Music

Maintain Hierarchy

Music, in its simplest terms, is made up of three components: melody, harmony, and rhythm. These three correspond at least to a degree, with man's spirit, or intellect; his emotions or feelings; and his body, or physical needs. In selecting music for worship, this hierarchy must be kept intact: Melody should reign supreme. Harmony supports melody, but never supersedes it. Rhythm should support both, but supersede neither.

God communicates with man through his mind. This is why melody—which appeals to man's mind—must reign supreme. Melody is the vehicle that carries the text of the song. In the setting of worship especially, that text must dominate. Is there any place in inspired writings which suggests that God communicates with man primarily through emotions or his physical nature? Rather, Paul says, "I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest... I myself should be disqualified" (1 Cor 9:27, New King James). Emotion and drive cannot and should not be separated from our music, but must be kept under control. That which appeals to the mind must reign supreme!30

DJ's Confession

An experienced Christian disc jockey offers this pertinent confession:

"I knew that rock has strong influential powers and I reasoned that maybe it could be used to spread the Gospel and I stood firm in those feelings. What I wouldn't admit was that I couldn't worship the Lord while I was hearing those drums and other instruments pound out the rhythm. I felt the driving sound and rhythm in my body and mind. It was a flesh trip. Logic tells me that if one is going to worship the Lord one should have his mind on the Lord—not on the feeling you're getting from that groovy Christian music. I believe in making a joyful noise unto the Lord but when the music leaves the spiritual realm and becomes a driving force it goes into the physical realm—a realm that takes worship away from God and puts the music to work satisfying oneself. If I'm fighting to win a spiritual war I cannot voluntarily listen to the enemy's propaganda."31

This is precisely why the use of much of today's contemporary Christian music, with its dominant rhythmic structure, must at least receive close scrutiny regarding its place in Christian worship. The fact is that much of this music embodies a reversed hierarchy, with the melody—the vehicle carrying the text—being of least importance. Can we afford to let our feelings and emotions, or our desire for physical expression, rule over our minds? Do we want worship that simply makes us "feel good," or do we want worship that points us to God as the only source of our salvation? The issue here is far greater than that of personal tastes and preferences alone. Our music and worship styles illustrate our perceived needs, and perhaps our concept of God.