The Devil and His Role in Music and Beyond

[christianlloydteegardin]

I prayed today. I asked God for clarity. He rather quickly opened my eyes to the bitter reality of a fallen world corrupted to the bone by the Devil.

I have come to the conclusion that entertainment is Satan's counterfeit of Christian joy, and that the industry of such is Satan's tool to bring destruction upon unbelievers and sterility to the witness of believers. Woe to the lukewarm who rely upon their assurance of salvation and make for themselves false gods which neutralize their witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Woe to those who make darkness and worldliness an important factor in their lives, for the fruit of their ministry is rotting from the inside out. Woe to the unequally yoked who cheat on God with the world, especially those who dare to conflate their affair with the world with the Gospel witness. Those who believe yet are unfaithful to the covenant between them and God are putting their souls in great peril. Woe are those who proclaim the Gospel and yet promote worldly entertainment with a glaze of "Christianity," for their ministry is a ministry of leading the sheep astray and confusing the goats, not bringing clarity to what is true.

Music as entertainment is one of Satan's greatest spells of destruction upon this world. Music moves the soul. Satan vies for our souls. Music is an act of worship. If we aren't using music as an act of worship to God, we are worshipping something that is not God, and all that worship ends up being funneled to the Devil himself. For where God is not, the Devil is there, masquerading as whatever we want him to masquerade as. The Devil's greatest trick is to convince unbelievers that he doesn't exist, and to convince believers that he's not the focus of idolatry. We are at war against spiritual forces. Whatever moves the soul the greatest is the greatest spiritual battlefield. Music is one of the greatest avenues for both God and the Devil to work within us. The road to Heaven is narrow and the Devil longs to drag us off the tightrope of holiness.

The Devil wants us to believe that music is a neutral medium. It is not, and is in fact one of the Devil's most powerful strongholds. We must be exceptionally diligent and perceptive of the Devil's wiles so that we may avoid his sleazy tricks. That is why it is imperative that we listen to music that is glorifying to God. Woe is the road that mixes the holy and the profane. Woe be the industry of Satan in the name of Jesus Christ our LORD. Great is the music that glorifies the LORD in truth and righteousness. Great is he who takes music out of the Devil's clutches in Jesus' holy Name. Great is the LORD who purifies music and makes it a vehicle for worship and glory. Great is the LORD who delivers those from the world and into His holy Presence. Great is the LORD whose believers make noise for Jesus Christ.

Now regarding music with a dark, angsty, aggressive vibe, I randomly bumped into a comment section on YouTube and it had quite the impact on me.

Poster: Question. Why does heavy, head banging music calm me down when I’m upset?? I am saved also.

Commenters:

1. A: Because you enjoy it and there's nothing wrong with that told this by my pastor when I was younger in my teens We'll taking my class to take Communion at church {DISAGREE}
2. B: Could it be calming down a demon that is influencing you? I believe that one can be saved and still be influenced by demons. Refusing to participate in negative, destructive thinking and behaving is not easy but it is effective. Bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Cor. 10:5 Best wishes {AGREE}
3. C: @B that’s exactly whats going on {AGREE}
4. C: Because you feed your demons then they comedown and give you different emotions. You feel relief till next time. Pray to God when you’re sad or happy. He is you Father He will help you. {AGREE}
5. D: @B there’s wisdom in this. Yes this has been my experience. {AGREE}
6. D: @C agreed from experience {AGREE}
7. E: Yes I totally agree!! I was recently delivered from ANGER, RAGE AND VIOLENCE. And haven’t had ANY RECENT episodes or desires for listening to hard rock music to calm me down. PRAISE GOD! {AGREE}
8. Simply because it is what you enjoy. Nothing to do with what this guy is saying, the only thing in music that can negatively influence you is what you allow. I myself often listen to different types of German, Russian and Celtic music, as well as Gregorian music and so called "dark chant" and "dark choir" music, the latter of which is often very peaceful and calming, relaxes the mind and helps me to think more clearly. {MIXED}

I never really thought about music from that perspective before, but I feel like that makes a lot of sense. Sin invites demons to take residence beside us and oppress us at every possible opportunity. They know they can't get us, so they'll torment us and turn us away from God. It makes sense that demons would be gladdened by dark things in our lives, hence why partaking in dark things might "calm us" for the time being. But Satan and his minions are ravenous and are never truly satisfied. They seek out our bondage to sin and latch themselves there. We must rebuke the Devil and his legions in the name of Jesus Christ.

As I'm growing in my newfound faith in the Savior, my taste in music and entertainment as a whole has been completely flipped on its head. I used to listen to a lot of extremely dark metal, most often black metal, doom metal, and sometimes extremely harsh grindcore and death metal, but now being on the road to righteousness, I have no room for music that will hamper the peace of the Holy Spirit. I've lately been drawn to ambient, some glitch, some IDM, drone, minimalism, etc. All of it is instrumental so voices won't distract me from reading the Bible and other holy activities like prayer and meditating on the Scripture.

I might eventually return to some form of Christian rock/metal once I become more mature in my faith, but that's purely up to the LORD.

I encourage discussion on the matter and this is not dogmatic, just personal observation.

 

[timothyu]

I would be more concerned about the political strife that permeates the airwaves encouraging participation in the ways of man, not the Kingdom. This nonsense reaches far more than music. Better yet how about when nations push the idea of free enterprise and every man for themselves, thriving on selfshness. I think it goes further than music which in itself is subjective

 

[christianlloydteegardin]

I would be more concerned about the political strife that permeates the airwaves encouraging participation in the ways of man, not the Kingdom. This nonsense reaches far more than music. Better yet how about when nations push the idea of free enterprise and every man for themselves, thriving on selfshness. I think it goes further than music which in itself is subjective

Oh absolutely. I was just touching upon the dimension I experienced.

I used to worship black metal like it was de facto a god. I reaped what I sowed. Demonic attacks and thoughts completely overflowing me, bodily shakes and psychosis-esque chanting. I called upon Jesus to cleanse me, though. He... took away a lot more than I was anticipating.

 

[timothyu]

Oh absolutely. I was just touching upon the dimension I experienced.

Understood. We sometimes assume things are not what they are.

 

[christianlloydteegardin]

Understood. We sometimes assume things are not what they are.

The Devil loves it when we assume things are neutral when they're not.