Before there can be a discussion about whether or not anything belongs to a particular culture, we must come to an understanding of what culture is. According to Webster’s Dictionary, culture comes from the Latin cultura or the French colere and means “to cultivate” or “the characteristic features and values of a civilization or group of people.” Culture is the practice of what we believe.

If we apply this definition to those who are members of the Body of Christ, particularly those who believe and practice the Word of God, there must be Christian Culture. God has allowed me in the more than 50 years of my ministry to travel and minister in more than 35 countries, and I have found that wherever I go, Bible-believing Christians have similar standards.

Why is this true? Because the Bible teaches that there are principles of life that all Christians are to follow. In Ephesians 4:22, we learn that we are to “put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt.” And Philippians 1:27 instructs us to let our “conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.” Any Bible scholar will verify the fact that the word, “anastrofhn,” translated “conversation” in the KJV, means a way of life or by our definition, culture. This is because those who love the Lord and believe His Word are to adopt and practice a way of life that very practically becomes what can be called Christian Culture.

God is unchangeable, His principles of right are always the same, and they will never pass away. In His Word He has given us the principles of “a way of life” (culture) that will never change and must be applied to every area of life, including music.

How does this apply to Contemporary Christian Music? Any observer of the culture that accompanies much of CCM must admit that the lifestyle, the language, the attitude, the lack of separation and musical standards, all fall far short of what the Bible requires of those who believe “the gospel of Christ.” Even those who are involved in this genre recognize the power of CCM to control the culture of those who adhere to it. For instance, Michael Hamilton in writing for Christianity Today says: “When one chooses a musical style today, one is making a statement about whom one identifies with, what one’s values are, and ultimately who one is.”

Edward Rothstein, chief critic for the New York Times, writes that a musical style “suggests ways to think. A style even defines a musical community – a group with shared notions about music and its purpose… The shared style allows for musical communication without misunderstanding.” What both of these authors are clearly describing, perhaps without realizing it, is the culture of CCM.

It is significant to note that as World magazine reports: “Secular media companies… swallowed up more than 90 percent of Christian recording labels in the 1990’s.” If the world adopts it as their own, there must be something un-Christian about it that allows the world to embrace it. As Cal Thomas, in talking about the problems Christians face in the political realm, has pointed out in his insightful book, Blinded by Might, whenever we try to marry Christianity and the world, Christianity always loses. He says that “we try… to usher in a kingdom not of this world by using tools that are of this world,” and it doesn’t accomplish the goal that it is supposed to be seeking.

But, the CCM proponents protest, we are just using POP music to get the message of the gospel out to the world. What they fail to recognize is what communication experts like Neil Postman of New York University states in his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death: “The form in which ideas are expressed affects what those ideas will be.” He elucidates this idea even further when he says: “It is naive to think that something that has been expressed in one form can be expressed in another without significantly changing its meaning, texture, or value.” To apply this truth to CCM means that even Bible words change their meaning when they are set to today’s POP or rock music, thus changing God’s gospel into “another gospel.” As Galatians 1:7 says, they “pervert the gospel of Christ.” Probably without recognizing that what he was saying came from this Scripture, Robert Shaw said: “I don’t know if the church today understands the music being brought into the church. The people don’t understand the music… it’s perverse.”

Even Newsweek magazine, after noting that at CCM festivals they have “gansta-style rhymes about the Lord,” and that “the kids have the option to visit the prayer area if they’re not moshing,” comments: “Maybe the mainstreaming of Christianity has gone too far.” Evidently this worldly magazine recognizes that the culture of CCM and the culture of Christianity don’t belong together.

I have heard a number of missionaries say: “But we don’t want to impose American culture on the culture in the country where we minister.” And I couldn’t agree more! American culture is not worth much. In fact, many other countries are experiencing the same problems America is having because our country is exporting the basest areas of its culture to other countries through its movies and music. But there is Christian culture, and we do need to proclaim the Biblical principles that will lead to adoption of Biblical standards to every country in the world.

To spread the culture of CCM will only lead to an anemic, counterfeit Christianity that Steve Camp says “yodels as a Christless, watered-down, God-as-my-girlfriend kind of thing.” To paraphrase Vance Havner, an old-time evangelist: “If CCM is the light of the world, why is everything so dark?” Several CCM recordings have sold in the millions and, according to Newsweek magazine, the over-all “Christian entertainment business is a 3 billion dollar industry.” To paraphrase Vance Havner again: “If CCM is the salt of the earth, why is everything so corrupt?” I believe the problem is that the culture of CCM is not the culture, the way of life, that the Bible teaches ought to be characteristic of Christians.

But I can almost hear someone saying: “Why make a blanket condemnation of CCM? It isn’t all bad. It may be insipid and not have much content, but it isn’t all that bad.” This also relates to culture, because the worst thing that a church or a Christian organization can have is a mixture of error and truth. It would be better to go to a secular school than to go to one that claims to be Christian and then teaches evolution. It would be better to go to a secular psychologist than to go to one who prays with you and then gives you Freudian psychology. And it would be better to go to a church that you know doesn’t teach the Bible than to go to one that still preaches the Bible but then allows worldly practices to be a part of its ministry. The “Christian culture” that mixes truth and error is the worst one of all because of its inconsistency and compromise, and CCM is just such a culture.

Without realizing it, Time magazine in a special issue titled Music Goes Global, revealed one of the main problems Bible-believing Christians should have with today’s POP music, especially Christian POP which is what CCM is. This magazine says: “Musicians are rocking old traditions. Your world will never be the same…The we-are-the-world maxim is this: music is the universal language.” In other words, POP music will be one of the main vehicles the devil uses to help establish a one-world church. Could it be that the devil is promoting CCM to try to accomplish his anti-Christian goals for the world? It is certainly uniting believers and unbelievers in some strange alliances. And as John Makujina has so succinctly said in his book, Measuring the Music: “Anyone who attempts to battle CCM today will be facing not just a Goliath, but a Goliath on steroids.”

Is CCM a cultural thing? Absolutely! But I believe it is promoting the wrong culture, not the one that Philippians 1:27 says is worthy of the gospel of Christ.

– Frank Garlock, Founder and President of Majesty Music, Inc.

Contact Majesty Music for Dr. Garlock to speak at your church by calling:
1-800-334-1071
or write to:
Majesty Music
PO Box 6524
Greenville, SC 29606

Why does BBN invest in overseas radio when there are so many areas of America that do not have good Christian radio?

Very often we are asked this question. Usually, the part of the country that is mentioned is an area where a family member or good friend lives. It may also come from someone who has traveled through the coverage area of one of our BBN radio stations.

We are very well aware of the spiritual famine in New England and in other parts of the USA. We have looked at virtually every open door in radio that has been opened in the US in the past 20 years. As you may know, we purchased our first station in New England just over a year ago, WYFP in the Portland, Maine area. We hope this will only be the beachhead for New England. We also plan to keep looking for opportunities in other parts of the country.

However, when we look at investing the Lord’s finances in new outreaches, we have to consider the stewardship factor. For example, many of the open doors that we turned down, would have cost us $2.00 to $3.00 or more per person in the potential audience. Stations we have purchased in the United States have cost about 25 to 30 cents per person in the potential audience. In Central and South America, our investments have been in the range of 2 to 3 cents per person in the potential audience. Naturally, we have selected the better investments, taking into account that many of these foreign investments are in areas that have no credible gospel witness.

Our Savior’s order to His disciples about world evangelization states, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8. It is not, “Jerusalem, or in all Judea, or in Samaria, or unto the uttermost part of the earth.” It is not even, “Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, then the world.” Our vision must be complete, to those close at hand, and to all the world.

Pray for us to have the wisdom from the Lord to know where He would have us invest His resources that He has committed to us.

In Deuteronomy, Chapter 6, we find God giving to Israel the greatest commandment. The first three verses give the primary responsibility of man toward his God, the duty to love the Lord with his entire being. This is followed by the commandment to teach this to the next generation. The Jews call this passage the “Shema” and have made a covenant to hear or read this passage twice a day. It is that important to devout Jews.

This passage teaches that the parents are to teach their children the doctrines of their faith and the reasons for believing them. They are to be taught diligently to the children, by the parents. “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:7-9)

Notice two things about this passage. It is not a suggestion given for man’s consideration. It is a command from the God of the universe. Second, the command is not given to a government or village of people. It is given to the parents of the children. A responsibility given to parents may not be passed on to anyone else without God’s permission. A study of the Bible does not release the parents from this responsibility. It will be the parents who will give account to God for what they have done with the children committed to their trust by a Holy God! God will hold the parents responsible for their receiving an education that leaves God out.

For many years, the parents in the home taught the children. Long before the term “homeschooling” was first used, the education of children was done in the home. Later, parents felt that someone with more education should do the teaching, so they paid tuition for private schools or educated their children in schools sponsored and run by churches. Private or parochial schools provided God-centered education that was watched over by the parents of the students.

The Pilgrims left England to get away from religious persecution and made their home in Holland. They soon found that they had to leave Holland, where they had been given religious freedom but not the right to educate their children themselves. They knew that their children would lose their faith if they were educated in the schools of Holland. They sailed to America, endured the hardships of life in a new country, and suffered greatly to guarantee a Christian education for their children.

Many of the institutions of learning in America began as God-centered educational institutions. The first 100 institutions of higher learning in America were founded as Christian schools; some to train missionaries and pastors.

Soon, however, a need became evident for schools to train the children of those who did not have enough money to afford the private or parochial schools. “pauper schools” were founded to provide schooling for these children. These were funded either by townships, or counties, or by churches. Before long, Christians resented paying for the education of their own children while having to pay for the education of children in the “pauper schools.” They insisted that their children should receive a “free education” like the others. “Pauper schools” became “public schools,” and the curriculum was determined so that no particular religion would be presented. Today, we see the end result of that program.

The question for the Christian parent is, “How do we carry out God’s command regarding the education of our children?” For some, the answer is clearly homeschooling. Several educational institutions have provided all the tools necessary for a parent to provide a good education right in the home. For others, the answer may be seeking the help of a Christian school. Many fine learning institutions provide a Christ-centered education with good academics.

There may be some that will need to have their children in public schools. Perhaps these parents have the toughest job of educating their children according to God’s order. They must know what is being taught and counter false teaching that would rob their children of their faith. Since they are going to have to do a lot of teaching over again, they might be wise to consider one of the other two alternatives.

Remember, children are not born in institutions and are not given to governments. They are the blessing of the Lord to parents, the fruit of the love relationship in marriage that is the symbol of the love Christ has for the church. God gives children to parents, so that the children will be taught the love of God and a love for God. God never gave a command to maintain a certain lifestyle or to achieve a level of wealth. He did say, “These words I teach you this day… teach them diligently to your children.” (Deuteronomy 6)

Since our occupations can take one fourth of our week, or one third of each week day, without figuring overtime or that part time work, it must be reckoned within our effort to keep love in the home. I feel that there are certain signs that will help us keep the love fire burning brightly in the home.

“No Dumping Allowed” read the sign on an attractive piece of property that was starting to show the signs of neglect. Some thoughtless persons had discarded trash, and that made it difficult or impossible for the owner to keep the landscape neat. Many times the working partner or partners in a marriage use the home and their mate for a dumping ground. Problems and frustrations on the job find a resting place in the home, but they clutter it up and make keeping love alive and attractive impossible. While there should be a sharing of ideas and communication in the home, don’t use your mate for a garbage pit.

“Private Property, No Hunting Allowed” were words on another sign I observed on a wooded lot. Its owner knew that it was home to some creatures that others would want, and he was going to protect them and himself by posting the land. There needs to be an intimacy in marriage that is private and peculiar to the spouses alone. I am not talking just about sexual privacy, but also spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical intimacy. Paul told the Corinthians that there was to be a sharing in the marriage that would keep the partners hunting on their own property and would forbid others from encroaching on that hunting ground. (I Cor. 7:1-9) Proverbs 31:11 says that the heart of a husband can trust the virtuous wife, and he has no need for spoil or extramarital affairs. If your spouse is not your best friend and confidant, you are headed to the spoil – it is only a matter of time.

The ad in the newspaper read, “Attractive car, Well kept.” We too should realize that our spouses attracted us, and we attracted them. Reserve those attractions for each other, and remember what they are. So many times a wife will say to her husband, “You never date me any more like you did before we were married.” He probably counters with, “And you don’t fix those cookies you used to bake either.” From here it can get nasty, as his waistline comes into the discussion, and her physical appearance gets noticed. My wife reserves her first minutes on awaking to two important areas of her life, and mine. She spends time on her physical appearance and she spends time with the Lord, working on her spiritual life. Any wonder that I still count myself fortunate to be able to date her after 44 years of marriage?

In the classified, I found a little ad describing a “Time-share.” This is an arrangement by which many can enjoy the features of a piece of property, because each respects the others’ interest in it. We, too, need to share our time and interests. There should be things that couples do together, and there should be time for things that only one wants to do. My wife is artistic and enjoys crafts, sewing, etc. While I know men who crochet, knit, and sew, and do it well, that is not my thing. She needs time for that, but we spend time together while she does what interests her, and I enjoy my time on the computer, or reading the newspaper. We also share many interests, and we spend time together doing them. A hobby I enjoyed and plan to enjoy again soon is model railroading. My wife makes excellent model buildings from scratch, and we enjoy working on our projects together. Since a marriage puts together two people with different backgrounds, there will be unique interests and talents, and there should be time to develop them.

Above all, there must be a time together with the Lord. For a long time I struggled with the idea of leading that time, but as a husband it is my duty and privilege to make sure that we pray together each day. Even as the sides of a triangle come closer together as they reach the top, so the two of us come closer together as we approach the Lord together. The family that prays together does stay together.

For more about this topic visit our BBN BI and study course # 21400 Promoting Happiness In The Home