In the end the responsibility regarding the morality or immorality of music will lie with each of the three links in the communication chain, and thus with us as we take our place in it. The idea that music is moral is basically a human idea that doesn’t really find support in Scripture and so must be viewed as what it is — an opinion, something that can be presented but that must not be forced upon another human.
As music is a language, it must be treated the same way a language is and we must realize, that just as language becomes moral or immoral based on the speaker and the listener, so music becomes moral, dependent upon the song-writer, the musician, and the listener’s conceptions and mental, emotional, and physical responses.
In the end it is each person’s responsibility to decide how the look at the issue of music being moral or immoral. What I then request is that you act upon that conviction in your own personal life and not bicker with one another about it, because all that causes is division within the Body. None of us are completely right. We’re human.
In closing I’d like to leave you with five guidelines that have helped me to determine the morality or immorality of music.
- What are the lyrics? — These often determine whether or not I’ll listen to a song.
- What does the music make you want to do? — If it wants to make you do something negative, it’s probably not good to listen to, but if it drives you towards the positive, embrace it.
- What is the life of the musician like? — This will strongly determine the two mentioned above. A bad life will often spawn negative lyrics and destructive music.
- Where is this music played?
- What happens there? — The milieu will strongly affect the tenor of the music, but sometimes when it is taken out of the milieu it will lose that negative sound.
May God give us all wisdom in dealing with this issue and may we in the end live lives that are pleasing to Him, regardless of what kind of music we like.