Worldliness 2

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Phil. 4:8

Professional musician Bob Kauflin quotes this verse and sounds off on its application to the music we listen to. "It's not uncommon for Christians on Sunday mornings to worship Jesus for his substitutionary death on the cross, then sing songs, during the week that exalt the sins he died for. We sing, "My chains are gone, I've been set free," then remain enslaved to lyrics that promote fornication, profanity, anger, godless pleasure, sensuality, and materialism. "from the same mouth come blessings and cursing. My brothers, these things should not be se (James 3:10). James is right. These things ought not to be so. But when someone expresses a concern about song lyrics, we usually have a ready reply: "I don't even listen to the words. I don't know what they're saying." My response is, "Why not?" (Worldliness, ed. C.J. Mahaney, page 74)

I'm definitely guilty of that. I've had Sundays where I would sing those songs in church and then head out on a long bike ride with my iPod pumping Eminem's "8 mile" or the Eagles "Life In the Fast Lane," ignoring the lyrics and falling into a trance to the pounding rhythms and driving melodies. My bad. I need to take a look at my iPod and probably do some editing of the library. "Give me clean hands, Lord..." and eyes and ears as well.