Have you ever listened to a mainstream artist that you’ve always admired but heard a lyric or 2 that’s bothered you and you’ve asked: What else is there? If you’ve ever asked that question, I’d love to help you out! A few months ago, I spoke in a youth service at a local church, and discussed this very topic. You see, the majority of us love many mainstream or secular artists or bands, and nothing you could say could change our minds. I challenged the youth, not telling them to STOP LISTENING to secular stuff, I ‘m not encouraging people to be narrow minded, but I do want people to THINK!
Here’s what I shared: You see, we love pop/rock/soul artist Bruno mars. He’s incredibly talented. I really like his music, and I bet you might as well. But what do you feel when you hear these lyrics in a song like LOCKED OUT OF HEAVEN:
Never had much faith in love or miracles
Never wanna put my heart on the line
But swimming in your water* is something spiritual
I’m born again every time you spend the night…
Again, I’m not telling you to set all your Pink and Bruno Mars CD’s on fire, cause that would be dumb, but having faith in God and singing along to songs that run against what you choose to believe seems spiritually counter-productive. Don’t just say ‘OK Brad’, either; think about these things and decide where you stand. Don’t put your head in the sand. This has been one of my approaches: You see, my love of music started with my dad. He had piles and piles of LP’s and cassettes. He showed me how to turn on the hi-fi and how to load the cassettes or play a record and I had free reign! I’d listen to America till the tape was stretched, Queen’s 1981 greatest hits, till I knew every word, and Van Halen’s 1984, till I could play the air synth along with Eddie Van Halen, knowing every riff! Now I have a little boy of my own and I want to offer him the same musical freedom and education. My boxes of CD’s are waiting for his cute little hands, and what I did was go through every disc and take out every one that I know had bad language in it, or songs that would lead to all the wrong kinds of thoughts and questions. A daunting task indeed. I actually made a God-centered decision and got rid of all those discs. I didn’t put them on a top shelf away from him, I got it out of our lives completely, by setting them on fire!! Extreme? Maybe. Do I have peace about what my little guy’s going to be listening to? Yes. Of course he’ll still hear face-melting guitar solos and unforgettable guitar riffs, bop-dropping beats and some quiet songs about love and politics. He needs to hear those, as I needed to.
Music is an expression, but I can decide what I want to be exposed to. That’s freedom, and I love it. May your musical decisions be freeing, whatever you choose to believe.