Serious respectful ?; does God dissapprove of ROCK & ROLL; is it cult behavior to tell church members NO?

Question

Serious respectful question, based on a Christian friend of mine who emailed me last week telling me he had suicidal thoughts. His pastor and another from this church came over; he was sent to a hospital where he met with a counselor and through their talks he realized the church wasn't good for him.

One of the things that they did was tell him to get rid of rock and roll, he said to me "they made me throw it away".

So my question, respectfully, how can this church know God doesn't approve of Rock and Roll? If we don't have any empirical evidence of God, don't know his height or weight, how do we know it doesn't please God?

I think one can live an authentic life as a believer in Jesus. I'm not attacking Jesus or Christians. I really am looking for serious answers, not the usual crap of jim darwin needs jesus or he goes to hell or god is imaginary.

Is this a legitimate thing for a Church to do, or is it Cult like, to tell members not to have Rock and Roll.

Answer 1

To answer your first question,nobody on Earth knows the true mind of God.Therefore to assume that God is displeased with Rock and Roll is just crazy.In answer to youe second question,I believe that is is in fact "cult like" to ban certain styles of music.I don't listen to songs backwards.I don't even believe in the effects or legitimacy of back-masking music.The music industry is all about sales,and music on the fringe sells.It doesn't mean the artist is Satanic.Oh,sure,I suppose some are ,but on the whole it's simply a way to move music and create contoversy. Peace...

Answer 2

It's not so much the music, it's what the lyrics say to you. I, before I came to know God and my Savior Jesus Christ, I would listen to Iron Maiden, Metallic, Korn, I can go on! When I first started to listen to rock, death metal, etc... I was about 9 years old cause on my older brother. Well I became an angry kid then depressed. On to my adult hood. The message on some songs are like really bad. Now I listen to SOME Christian rock along with other styles of music but with God's message. Many Christians will have their different opinion on the music style. But I strongly believe God will convict us and take out what ever he sees that's not good for us, some times very painfully (I've been there) but this is how a true loving Father is.

Answer 3

I would say, in the case of your friend, he had an unhealthy attachment to Rock & Roll. A healthy person should not have suicidal thoughts from "withdrawal" and so I'd say, in his case, perhaps getting rid of his music was a step in the right direction.

I, personally, love heavy metal, death metal and some black metal. I listen to such music often (all of which are Christian artists), but I can't imagine feeling suicidal if I had to give it up. As a matter of fact, I had to give it all up once when it was in my brother's truck when it was hit by a train, destroying both the truck and all of my music. I was disappointed at losing the music, but it's not something really important.

(Additional details)

Sorry, I misread... thinking you said that he was having suicidal thoughts in response to getting rid of his music. Please ignore my stupidity.

Unless the music he has is blatantly suggesting crimes and/or suicide, don't worry too much about that. Professional counseling may be the order of the day.

Don't take the pastor's superstitions too seriously. There's nothing inherintly wrong with rock music. Most arguments against "christian rock" are that it's rebellious and satanic by nature, using examples of shock-rockers and satanic musicians and such. But that would be like saying that all pastors preach about is money and use examples of such TV pastors. Your pastor wouldn't think that's very fair, would he? It's the same misapplication of knowledge.

Answer 4

I think a lot depends on what denomination your friend is. Some Christian denominations think rock and roll is okay - Catholics play guitar at Mass - and others might think it is evil.
I think what music you listen to should be a personal decision. Also, what kind of rock and roll was it? Are we talking about early Beatles, or POD? We need to each, for ourselves, weigh what we listen to. What's right for one person may not be acceptable for another - but that's a decision that a person should make, not a church.
Check out other details of the church if you're worried about cults. There's a list of signs of a cult on wikipedia. Good luck.

Answer 5

When I was younger, when I was still Christian, I went to a church with my best friend. There, they told us that all Disney movies were evil because gays made them, all non-Christian music was evil, and TV and VCR's were bad, too... They told us to gather all of these things up, bring them to the church on such and such night, and all the items would be burned. All of this was after they told us how horrible we all were at times for doing bad things and that if we weren't sorry and wanted to repent for these horrible things then- "you know where the door is, and don't let it hit you on the butt as you walk out." Needless to say, the request for a giant bonfire of some of my favorite belongings was the last straw. I think some sects, groups, etc. of Christianity do honestly think Rock and Roll and other music is evil. I think they are afraid it will promote sinful behavior because of the lyrics. Personally, I think people like that are just so nervous all the time that their "loving" God is going to get after them or that they are going to go to hell that they can hardly function normally. As for cult-like behavior, I definitely think that does happen... in fact, I would consider that church I went to cult-ish. When they are using excessive amount of guilt, shame, and anger on their congregation... that's cult-ish to me, imo.

Answer 6

Churches and cults are basically the same thing, one is just socially acceptable. The Christian faith started as a "cult". Both churches and cults depend on control to ensure their continuance. Their is no way for anyone to know what God approves of or if he even exists. Your friend may have been feeling suicidal because he was not making his own decisions or was thinking "outside of the box" and his church told him he was a sinner.

Answer 7

Hmmm, let's see if I can help you here. I am a Christian, but I wasn't raised in church. I lived a very "colorful" life before I accepted Jesus, which included promiscuity, drugs and one awesome collection of rock music. Hung out with musicians, drug dealers, spent most of my time in clubs... and the whole nine yards. You said the counselor decided the church wasn't good for your friend and that could be true, but I have my own reasons for thinking that. If that church isn't good, then it is important that your friend find a good, functional, loving, Bible based church. There's tons of them, but there are bad ones, too. The question is not whether God approves or disapproves of certain types of music, but the question is more what impact does it have on your friend and what type of place does it have in your friend's life? I had a collection of over 500 cd's and I sold them all. Not because I thought God disapproved but because of what it represented to me. I mean, I used to practically worship some of those bands, and the Bible is clear, "You shall have no other gods before Me." My decision was not a sweeping judgment against music,nor those that listen to it. I knew what that music represented to ME, it was personal. I knew God wanted to know what was more important to me.
As for the satanic influence and the subliminal messages and all that, to make a sweeping generalization like that is irresponsible. Yes, it's there, but....I'm so not going there.
Bottom line, the most important thing to figure out is why is your friend having suicidal thoughts. Second, why did the pastor say get rid of the music. Did he have a problem with it, you know sitting in his house listening to the same song over and over for days on end, or is the pastor just passing judgment on all rock in general.
I've lived it. Yes, there are instances when you do need to get rid of certain things in your life when you are a Christian, but not because IT is bad, straight across the board, but because it is bad for YOU. Of course, there are things that are bad, too, but I know you get that. I have Christian friends that listen to rock with no problem, and now, 7 years later, I'm able to listen to some of the music I used to listen to without "flipping out" (ya know, flashbacks things like that)
If your friends just likes rock music, there is some awesome Christian rock out there. He should check that out. Any high school kid in church can give you some good names.The cool thing about good Chrisitan rock is you get the guitar, the beat, the drums, the vocals, but the lyrics are uplifting and give God the glory.
And as for evidence of God, I'm walking proof of a Loving Father in Heaven. Without Him, and His saving grace, I would be dead. Every morning I wake up is proof that God exists.

Answer 8

The only thing I can add to this subject is that Rock or any type of music tends to amplify how a person feels. Good or bad. Imagine a depressed kid listening to Pink Floyd, The Wall over and over again.

Answer 9

That's my childhood, man. Seriously, many times, as a pastor's daughter, I was forced to endure watching as there were bonfires and ralleys to destroy Rock and Roll stuff. It seemed that they specially hated heavy metal bands, and their album covers. Of course I was not allowed to have those to begin with, so I had to burn my Peter Cetera tape, just to show support. That was so stupid. I did enjoy hearing evangelists come in and play the music backwards, to try and find "devil messages". That was kinda cool. But, for kids stuck in the type of situation I was in , we had the "Christian Rock" bands. I remember my favorite was Grumbacher. They had some good riffs and neat jungle sounds sampled into some of the songs. *********.i.n.

Answer 10

Well, what bands is he listening to. Some rock and roll bands are influenced by Satan, for example KISS. Also other heavy metal bands are influenced by evil. Many of these rock bands have subliminal messages in their songs that can put in your mind negative thoughts of hate, self-destruct, and suicide.

I like rock. All the bands I listen to aren't Christian unfortunately, but I chose bands that aren't a negative influence for me and my life. I said to myself that this music is not going to affect me because I have God in my life.

I am not saying that each band has subliminal messages in their songs, but some do, I have heard them even in pop music, rap and salsa (imagine that) I have heard subliminal messages that were processed in this special machine.

These death heavy metal bands don't even need to hide their message, their lyrics are pretty hateful or depressing. Even by just looking at the art of their cd covers and videos you know they are influenced by Satan.

Oh and like luvcomessoftly said, I also became very rebellious and depressed at those times, and that music made me feel more depressed and more hateful toward others and myself.

Sometimes I am tempted to listen to my punk rock Cd's but I decided to take a break from listening to music and I feel more peaceful.