Pagan
Worship Music
Music as a Test of Fellowship
“13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he
asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and
others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But
whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered
and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath
not revealed it {the truth to
which Peter just testified} unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock {the truth to which Peter just testified}
I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven {salvation through faith in the Gospel of
Jesus Christ}: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”
(Matthew 16:13-19).
The
“kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 16:19 is the beginning of “the regeneration” and
refers to the church as the “body of
Christ” on earth during the Church Age and the Kingdom Age. Only “born again” people gain entrance into
the “body of Christ” by “grace through faith” in the finished work of Jesus
Christ. Without any doubt, the vehicle
for Christ’s intended foundation for any true church growth is the Gospel and the doctrine of salvation “by grace through faith.” Paul clearly stated that this was the
foundation upon which the church at Corinth was built.
“5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos,
but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So
then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God
that giveth the increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he that
watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his
own labour. 9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's
husbandry, ye are God's building. 10 According to the grace
of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the
foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he
buildeth thereupon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that
is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 3:5-11).
Faith in Jesus Christ is the only
acceptable Rock upon which the true church
of Jesus Christ can be built. The Gospel
of Jesus Christ is a message that the church of Jesus cannot allow to be
corrupted by any identification with worldliness. The vehicles and mediums through which the
Gospel of Jesus Christ is transported and communicated must be pure, holy, and
unadulterated from contamination of worldliness. This is no new message. This was the message of Haggai to the
priesthood of Israel that had allowed the worship of God by the nation of
Israel to be contaminated by the integration of paganism into their culture.
“10
In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second
year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, 11
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law,
saying, 12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and
with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall
it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. 13 Then said
Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall
it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. 14
Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this
nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands;
and that which they offer there is unclean” (Haggai 2:10-14).
I
was saved in 1969 in a Bible church. That
church was Presbyterian in polity with a Board of Elders, while purporting
Congregational government. The pastor
emphasized personal soul winning, separation, and was an expository
preacher. The church grew to over 500
strong. I remember the pastor remarking
in the early 1970’s about a popular gospel music album recorded by Tennessee
Ernie Ford. He warned that the
popularizing of gospel music by the music industry would do great harm to
evangelical Christianity. The premise
behind his statement was that sacred music should never be used to
entertain. Sacred music or spiritual
music was always to direct the worshippers attention to God. Less than a decade later, that same pastor
started a Christian radio station that began playing mild contemporary Christian
music (CCM). The local church that he
spent most of his lifetime building was destroyed by his compromise in the next
decade, finally dissolving. He had
removed the Rock Christ Jesus and
began building upon CCM.
There
are thousands of such testimonies about the destruction of local churches
through the rise of CCM. I personally
know of over a hundred such testimonies.
In most cases, the elderly people who made enormous financial sacrifices
to build those churches were sacrificed by new pastors who were more concerned
about church growth than they were
about the sheep who cried out to God against this new intrusion upon the purity
of their worship. Just because a man has
a theological degree does not make
his methodologies theological.
Everything
in life, including music, can be used to build
up or tear down. There is music that builds up and there is music that tears down. If I were to ask
in what way Rock music has been used over the last sixty years, anyone with a
historical connection to the culture that Rock produced would answer that Rock
corrupted everything and anyone with which it was involved. Drink of the cup that Rock music serves up and you drink of “the cup of
devils.” Rock music is pagan in its
origins and demonic in its outcomes. Rock
music is a cultural aberration. If Rock
has any business in the church, that
business is evil business. The business of Rock music has always been
demonic and destructive. This has been
its history for thousands of years. To
use Christian Rock as tool for church
growth is an oxymoron in terminology that creates a paradox in practice.
“15
I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. 16 The cup of blessing
which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which
we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we {the
spiritual temple of the local church} being many are one {unleavened} bread, and one body:
for we are all partakers of that one bread (Christ-
the manna from heaven}. 18 Behold Israel after the flesh: are
not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? 19 What
say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice
to idols is any thing? 20 But I say, that the things which
the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would
not that ye should have fellowship with devils. 21 Ye cannot drink
the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils {Paul
is referring to Christianizing the pagan love feasts - the idea is that pagan practices cannot be integrated into the church’s
worship}: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of
devils” (I Corinthians 10:15-21).
Why are the
elderly believers resistant to CCM? They
are resistant because they are the generation that existed during the birth of
the Rock and Roll culture. Believers who are in their fifties and
sixties (and older) lived through the 1950’s and 1960’s. They saw first-hand the growth of the Rock Culture and its affects upon
society. They saw firsthand the worship
of Rock idols like Elvis the Pelvis
and the rise of the free love culture
that grew from the Rock culture. Only
the most ignorant of that generation were not aware of the sensuality of the
syncopated music with its back-beat
or off-beat. For those of us that were lost in our sins,
the music moved us and we liked
it. There was no doubt in our minds
about where it moved us and upon what
the music focused our thought-life. We did
not really care about the words that were put to the music. Occasionally we heard the words, especially
those words that spoke of rebellion and doing things our way – “It’s your
thing, do what you want to do, I can’t tell you who to sock it to.”
Those that
grew up on the foundations of the Rock culture knew the hidden messages in
the songs like “Puff the magic dragon” and the “Candy Man.” This was the music of a cultural revolution and it was a revolution against everything
moral, absolute, and Christian. Rock has never changed its goals. Rock
has always been anarchistic and anti-Christ. Is there any wonder that this same generation
resisted Christianized Rock music
when it was introduced into the church with new words? Is there any wonder that this same generation
resisted when Rock was introduced into the church as appropriate for
worshipping God? Those growing up in the
birth days of the Rock culture always knew that Rock was about the message in
the music itself. We fully understood
the message of the music – it was about SEX.
The words were only extensions of the message of sensuality and
rebellion.
For
most people of my generation, Rock music in the church is like a preacher at his
pulpit preaching the Word of God while pornography flashes on a screen behind
him. Dr. Dana Everson makes a similar
observation about Rock music playing in the background while trying to obey
Philippians 4:8 –“Finally,
brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think
on these things.”
“Although the audience may attempt to
focus on the performer, and although the performer may be expressing things
which are honest, pure, lovely, and true (Philippians 4:8), the audience cannot
help but absorb some of what is presented in the background on the stage . . .
Even if the audience were able to block out the background by their own
self-control, is it right for the producer to place offensive background on the
platform where it becomes a stumbling block?
There is really no way to separate the performer from the background
without removing the backdrop or moving the performer away from the backdrop.
Similarly, the words of a musical
selection may align with Philippians 4:8, but the music must provide an
appropriate background and platform or a conflicting message will result. This principle can be seen both in individual
cases and musical selections and in the sense of the endless drone of public
musical background which present society tolerates.”[1]
“4 Rejoice
in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. 5 Let your
moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be
careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the
peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are
true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and
if there be any praise, think on these things. 9 Those
things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me,
do: and the God of peace shall be with you” (Philippians 4:4-9).
Much of what is
happening in Contemporary Christianity and the Emergent Church movement is really
varying degrees of Neo-paganism. It is
Neo-paganism because they adopt heathen, pagan worship practices with which to
worship God. One need not search too far
without discovering the use of syncopated music as a major aspect of pagan
worship practices. Common to the mystery religions was the practice of Ecstasism and Enthusiasm.
S. Angus, in his book The Mystery Religions, details these two
practices.
“. . . Ecstasy (ekstasis) and Enthusiasm (enthusiasmos),
both of which might be induced by vigil and fasting, tense religious
expectancy, whirling dances, physical stimuli, the contemplation of sacred
objects, the effect of stirring music, inhalation of fumes, revivalistic
contagion (such as happened in the church at Corinth), hallucination,
suggestion, and other means belonging to the apparatus of the Mysteries.”[2]
Both Ecstasy and Enthusiasm
were used to promote a heightened sense of euphoria to the religious experience. No
one in the pagan culture gave any thought to the fact their religious
experience was being carnally
manufactured. In this euphoric
state, the participant experiences a feeling of having communed with the spirits.
The reality was that such practices were simply the carnal manipulation
of the person’s emotions. Actually, his
involvement has been with the supernatural realm of darkness, but not the light
of the divine. Ecstasism and Enthusiasm
were Satanic in origin.
Adapting pagan worship
practices with which they worshipped God was the sin of the “mixed multitude”
(Exodus 12:38) that came out of Egypt in the Exodus. We find an excellent representation of
Neo-paganism in Exodus 32:1-6 where Aaron leads Israel by making a golden image
of Jehovah and worshipping Him with the pagan music, licentious feasts, and
riotous living of Egyptian paganism.
“1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come
down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and
said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for
this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not
what is become of him. 2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the
golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and
of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3 And all the
people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and
brought them unto Aaron. 4 And he received them at
their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten
calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up
out of the land of Egypt. 5 And when Aaron saw it, he built
an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is
a {worship} feast to the LORD {Jehovah}. 6 And they rose up
early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings;
and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play” (Exodus
32:1-6).
This mixed
multitude certainly describes the Emergent Church where gathering a crowd has
become their objective. Their motivation
of evangelism is covert to the mixed multitude.
The fact of the matter is that with
which they win them is that with which they will be forced to hold them. This whole philosophy of sensationalism to
gather a crowd goes back to the city wide evangelism campaigns of more than
fifty years ago. These campaigns changed
the focus of the Great Commission from going
and telling to coming and hearing. This methodology made the church house and
traveling tent shows the doorways to salvation.
This false methodology has infected almost every facet of evangelical
Christianity to the point of its destruction.
That corrupted methodology began to measure the success of evangelism by
numbers rather than by spiritually transformed souls living selflessly for
Christ. What a subtle web the old
deceiver weaves! How easily believers
traverse into the destruction of their own spirituality. Uniquely, they ensnare themselves in their
destruction while defending what ensnares them.
“22 Flee
also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace,
with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 But foolish
and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. 24
And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men,
apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that
oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the
acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they may recover
themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at
his will” (II Timothy 2:22-26).
[1] Everson, Dana F. Sound Roots: Steps to Building a Biblical
Philosophy of Music. (Greenville, SC: Bible Rival Ministries, 2010), pages
266-277.
[2] Angus,
S. The Mystery Religions (New York, NY: Dover
Publications, 1975)
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Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist.
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.
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