| Most Recently Posted Ask a Question | |||||||
| Q: | We have a member of our family who has a unique desire to see kids come to the faith. He is a Death Metal musician who attempts to preach the gospel through this genre. His life is spotless. His devotion to God beyond question. But does God approve of his musical prefrence to spread the gospel? | ||||||
| A: | Yours is not an easy question to answer to the satisfaction of various dedicated Christians. Nor am I perhaps adequately qualified to answer because I am largely ignorant of the nuances of the Death Metal genre of Heavy Metal music. Provisionally I'll answer, Yes, God approves of his motive (no problem there) and may approve of his method (subject to closer examination). I recognize that even a relatively narrow category of music like Death Metal still includes quite a variety of messages and items of focus. By definition this genre of music focuses and is perhaps obsessed with the subject of death. I know that this doesn't mean the music necessarily praises death. But it often considers death the ultimate reality and runs the risk of falling into nihilism. This imbalance would have to be avoided, since for the child of God the ultimate reality is spiritual and eternal life through our dear Savior. It is conceivable, however, that the emphasis (not obsession) with death may be used as a preachment of law and universal guilt with death as the punishment deserved by all (as Paul does in Romans 5). The gospel, with its emphasis on the unconditional love of God and gift of life through Christ would have to be added to the music. Romans 6:23 and many other Bible passages do just that in their message. Your young friend will also have to provide a fitting answer to those who will question his methodology and wrestle with whether or not this method is wise or expedient for this purpose. Doing this will also bring the benefit of his thinking important issues through. | ||||||
| |||||||