Romans 14 and Church Music

Since reading David Wilkerson's "Confessions of a Rock n Roll Hater!", I've had some more time to contemplate the relationship between musical style and its religious meaning. As Wilkerson points out, Romans 14 is an important passage for understanding our Christian responses to other styles or, what we consider, ungodly activities. I've reproduced the passage in question in its entirety here. As you read, I would encourage you to replace the words "meat" and "eating" with whatever issue seems important to you, whether that is loud rock music, Stephen King novels, long hair on men, Dungeons & Dragons, or anything else that might be an issue with you.

Romans 14 reads:

1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

5One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

9For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. 11It is written:
" 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord,
'every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.' "12So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

19Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

22So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

From the very beginning, differences of opinion has been a part of Church life. The Jewish converts believed that one must be circumcised to become a Christians, while to the Gentiles, this seemed unnecessary and ritualistic. Others believed that the Jewish Sabbath was the holy day of the week, while others felt that Sunday was. In the context of Romans 14, food dedicated to idols was a major issue. Should we, Christians, eat meat that was sanctified for pagan gods? Obviously, we are talking about issues of secondary importance here. Paul is not allowing for a radical reinterpretation the Easter experience, nor is he suggesting that the diminishment of the centrality of Jesus in Christian life should be tolerated. He's talking about preferences, style, personal liberty and a wider perspective on ownership of our lives.

In the context of Wilkerson's tract on church music, it is important to note that, in applying this passage, people are free to choose whatever music they wish. One person may like all music; others cannot even begin to concentrate on worship when the music is played a certain way. No one should look down on anyone based on his or her preference of music. If a certain song is worshipful for a person, then it is worshipful. If not, then it is not. This, in no way, reflects on the actual spiritual value or quality of the music (though there may be objective standards in terms of musicianship and sound design). While each person must make a determination about the “cleanliness” of any given music, all music can be good. It is still wrong to force someone to “enjoy” something that will cause them to stumble in the faith.

In the end, if the music is annoying to you, then it is annoying and you should speak to God about it. If you finally believe that a certain music style, volume or instrumentation is “unclean”, then you are completely justified in your beliefs and should feel no guilt whatsoever if you do not like the kind of music at your church. This, of course, does not mean that it is unclean for everyone else.

Whether we over-extend Romans 14 to cover church music is, in my mind, within the realm of possibility, but it is clear to me that Christians should always assume a posture of tolerance in dealing with other Christians’ preferences, whether that be in worship days, food and drink, secular music or other leisure activities. As long as those activities do not cause others to loose faith and we are sincerely convinced in our own minds of the ethical value of those activities, then we have no fear of condemnation.

Romans 14 Commentaries

• Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
• Clarke's Commentary
• BibleGateway.com
• Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testament
• Commentary