Welcome again, young people, to the world of books! I would like to review another book with you, but before we get to that, let me again encourage you to respond to these book reviews, either by telling me what you thought of the book(s) which was (were) reviewed on these pages, or by submitting your own suggestions. To this date I haven’t heard from you, so let’s get reading and writing!
In this review I would like to recommend to you a book dealing with the subject of Christian rock music. Its title is Pop Goes the Gospel. It is authored by John Blanchard along with Peter Anderson and Derek Cleave, and published by Evangelical Press (1983). It is not a lengthy book (only 160 pp.), but is a thorough treatment of this important subject. The authors are British and their concern is chiefly with the British music scene. But their viewpoints and arguments apply with equal cogency to the Christian music scene here in the U.S.
The purpose of their book is to evaluate the use of rock music for communicating the gospel—what they refer to as “entertainment evangelism.” As you young people are undoubtedly aware of, in the last 5-10 years there has been a tremendous outpouring of contemporary Christian music from a host of new musicians, many of whom have combined Christian themes and biblical lyrics with rock music. Musicians such as Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Sandi Patti, Petra, 2nd Chapter of Acts, and countless others have become well-known and highly popular through their records, tapes, compact discs, and concerts. I have no doubt but that you too have your favorite contemporary Christian musician, right? Your thinking is probably that of thousands of teenagers, “I gave up listening to the rock music of the world. Now I listen to Christian rock. I’ve thrown away my “Genesis” and Olivia-Newton-John albums, and now I buy Amy Grant and Larry Norman.”
But what must be said about this? What should your attitude be toward this so-called “Christian” rock and much of contemporary Christian music? The authors of this book tackle this whole subject, and do so in excellent fashion. They begin by tracing briefly the history of rock music, and then go on to identify its main elements (repetition, driving beat, and volume) and its traits (sex, the occult, drug abuse, violence, rebellion, etc., i.e. all the culture and godless philosophies of the world). At this point they have a rather clear message to young people: “Demonstrate once and for all your allegiance to Christ and your opposition to Satan by clearing these musicians’ material out of your life and out of your home—records, tapes, books, magazines, posters, clothing, badges—everything” (p. 58).
From this point concerning what rock music is the authors now ask, Can this music serve as a tool for the communication of the gospel? And by now you should guess that their answer is a loud NO! What is important however, is their chief argument, namely, that the medium is already the message. Even apart from the Christian words one may attach to rock music, there is inherent in the musical form itself a loud and clear message—all that rock music is and proclaims.
The authors do not stop with that damning argument They go on to refute the most commonly heard arguments in favor of using rock music for evangelism, such as “It draws the crowds;” “ It communicates to young people in a language they can understand;” “It produces excellent results.” From there they express their concerns for what rock music does when associated with the gospel. In their judgment, Christian rock encourages worldliness and showmanship, reduces the gospel to entertainment, and waters it down to a shallow message, detracts from the preaching and personal evangelism, and ruins the church family by widening the gap between the young and the old. In the light of these points, the authors are convinced that pop music and the gospel do not mix and that Christian rock must be forsaken. In fact, it is their conviction that the Bible nowhere teaches that music should be used for evangelism.
The book, however, is not merely negative. The authors also give some specific positive direction for the Christian with regard to his use of music. From the Scriptures they draw some basic principles regarding music, and then they set forth eight questions the Christian should answer to govern the music he uses in the worship of God, such as: “Does it help you to hear the Word of God clearly?” “Does this music tend to give you a greater vision of the glory of God?” “Does this music encourage you to disciplined, godly living?” “Would you expect to find this music in heaven?”
It is my conviction that Pop Goes the Gospel should be read by our young people and by our parents. It is an excellent evaluation from a biblical perspective both of rock music in general and of Christian rock in particular. As the back cover states, it is “a highly provocative, hard-hitting examination of the pop scene and the use of rock music in evangelism. You may never listen to music the same way again…” It is the hope of this reviewer that with the help of this book our young people will take a close look at the music they now listen to and enjoy.
Perhaps one word of warning should be given. The chapter of the book which deals with the sexual content of rock music contains some rather explicit quotes from musicians themselves and their music. Parents may not wish their very young teens to read some of this material.
Until next time—good reading!