I grew up being told that all rock 'n' roll music was "of the devil." And not only the music, but the instruments used in it, especially drums and electric guitars.
Once, when I was about 14 or 15, my father and I had an argument based on his belief that electric guitars were evil. My dad plays an acoustic, which was sitting on the sofa at the time. I remember pointing to it and asking him if his guitar was good or evil, or was it an inanimate object and, therefore could not 'sin.' Then I asked him if the person playing the guitar had anything to do with it, since it was the human race that Jesus came to die for. Of course, he shot off a scathing remark about children not respecting their parents, and shut the conversation down. So, all these years later, I still like some secular music, although contemporary Christian ranks much higher now.
A few years ago, my husband and his son were on a five-hour journey, listening to Linkin Park. Max, my stepson, really likes the group, but felt like it was outside his dad's Christian taste. His dad used it as an opportunity to teach Max, who was 14 at the time, about how to see Jesus in everything. He suggested that they "look" for Jesus in the lyrics.
Ever since then, we have wanted to come up with a way to show this openly and put it into the public eye. Recently, I was given two songs to find Jesus in the lyrics of, and have posted them on youtube.com. (We have more coming in the near future.)
When Jesus called Peter as a disciple, he told them that He would make him a fisher of men. (Granted, there is a lot of secular music that Jesus nowhere in it, but there are others that clearly show the composer and/or singer crying out for a recognized higher power, a rescuer, a Savior.)
Scripture says that God understands the groaning of our heart. (Romans 8:26) That being true, does it change if they are words sung with the accompaniment of drums and guitars, or other instruments? Who are we to say that God doesn't listen to "that devil music" and hears the cry of the heart of the person behind the words.
We Christians are all fishers of men, just like Peter. But NONE of us have caught a fish already cleaned, literally or figuratively. So, how can we pass judgment on someone who is crying out for mercy with the help of musical instruments and words not used in the old church hymnals? Who are we to restrict God to one genre of music?
Jesus equals mercy~that's scriptural. So, to cry for mercy means to cry out to Jesus, regardless of whether we agree with how they go about it, or not.
