THE LORDS OF LAODICEA
by
Stephen T. Nieman

Chapter 6

By definition, genre is a term used to describe a style of literature or art. The idea of Musical Genre does not attempt to be exclusive or specific in description, but rather denotes a category which is depicted by a recognized form or style. Some specific themes within a genre would include a commonality of subject matter or purpose, or a general atmosphere which those who adhere to a particular genre recognize as conducive to their taste.

It is the writer's contention that included in the musical genre to which CCM belongs are Jazz, Blues, Rock and Roll, Punk, Rap, Disco, Pop Rock, Rap, Hip-Hop, and some contemporary Country. It is the persistent compulsion of CCM adherents to identify themselves with the Genre of Christian Music. The hypocrisy of the CCM artist is exposed when he identifies himself with terminology which are style determinations in the secular rock scene. One group named Bride calls itself a "heavy rock band"; another named Blah refers to itself as a "punk" style band; DC Talk is rap music; Point of Grace promotes itself as "pop rock"; while Andrae Crouch transcends a variety of rock styles. The following is a portion of an interview of Andrae Crouch taken from the February, 1997 issue of CCM.

Tape in hand, the pastor [Andrae Crouch] picks up the pace, walking a little more briskly toward his dark blue Mercedes S420 stationed in the church parking lot. Sitting in the driver's seat, Crouch pops the cassette in the player. He's getting pumped now. "This is called 'Until Jesus Comes'," he says proudly. And when the music starts Crouch truly comes alive...Written in part for family members who've passed away, "Until Jesus Comes" is a shimmering ballad Crouch can't wait to sing for an audience. "I'm gonna kill this live!" he says, pumping his fist every time the choir testifies...Sampling other demos, Crouch continues his perpetual motion unabated: strumming air guitar and popping imaginary bass strings, the gold "A.C." bracelet on his right wrist acting as a surrogate tambourine; nodding his head and lip-synching lyrics to "Pray," and moving his body so rigorously to the hip-hop rhythm of "Distraction" that his roomy sedan actually bounces up and down to the beat. ¹¹

While never sacrificing their genetic heritage to rock music, the "lords" insist that they have an identification in the genre of Christian music. This the elitist does by demanding that the attention be drawn to the lyrical format of the song rather than identifying the musical genre which enfolds, yea, subdues the hapless lyrics. God forbid that the day comes when the subtlety of the elitist perseveres.

Let us then establish the characterizations of this musical genre, that henceforth we will loosely refer to as rock music. The basis, or roots, of the modern genre of rock music is on all sides affirmed to be Jazz, or Blues music. Charles Brown writes:

We see rock and roll as starting sometime in the nineteenth century and as developing at the same time as jazz. Therefore the history of jazz is also the history of rock and roll. The blues, developing as a form of jazz and as an art in its own right, combined with jazz in the 1940's to provide the artistic material from which rock and roll came.¹²

Let us allow Jimi Hendrix, a drug-induced rock musician (now dead), relate his style of music to us.

We're making our music into electric church music--a new kind of Bible, not like in a hotel, but a Bible you carry in your hearts, one that will give you a physical feeling. We try to make our music so loose and hard-hitting that it hits your soul hard enough to make it open. It's like shock therapy, or a can opener. Rock is technically blues-based...We want them to realize that our music is just as spiritual as going to church.¹³

Note that Jimi Hendrix considered rock music to be blues-based.

Again, in corroboration of this primary source data we find the same written by David Tame:

...it has been useful to deal with jazz since jazz, a parent of rock, displays its voodoo origins more blatantly:¹⁴

Not only have we verified in two authoritative sources the origins of rock music, but have introduced in this last quote the possibility that jazz and rock music are the obliging offspring of voodoo style music. Can this claim be substantiated? Indeed it can, and again, from primary source material. Charles White quotes Little Richard himself:

My true belief about Rock 'N' Roll--and there have been a lot of phrases attributed to me over the years--is this: I believe this kind of music is demonic...A lot of beats today are taken from voodoo, from the voodoo drums. If you study music in rhythms, like I have, you'll see that it is true. I believe that kind of music is driving people from Christ. It is contagious...¹⁵

So then we can say with a great deal of authority that the blushing parent of our modern rock music, of which CCM is a part, is jazz, whose origins are confirmed by many to be voodoo. Note that you will look in vain in the secular realm for a definition of musical style based on its lyrical formula. Music is always canonized by its genre. It is only the devout "lords of Laodicea" which flaunt their right to organize their own distinctions.

In defiance of the elitists deviancy stand works such as A Short History of Music, written by Alfred Einstein in 1937. Mr. Einstein was a European-born musicologist who described jazz as:

...an orgiastic dance-music in quick march time-the most abominable treason against all the music of western civilization.¹⁶

Keep in mind that the elitist would have us accept into our repertoire of hymns that style of music which was denounced by one of this centurys greatest musicologists as "the most abominable treason against all the music of western civilization." God forbid that this ever occur!

There is one important distinction which must always be present in the genre of rock music. That is, an inordinate emphasis on the rhythm or beat. To this distinguishment concurs an overwhelming majority of secular writers.

From its beginnings, rock and roll has been characterized by a preoccupation with the beat. Lloyd Grossman¹⁷

Rock 'n' roll was now broad enough, free enough, to encompass every kind of feeling. Its strength had always been rooted in the sexual energy of its rhythms; in that sense, the outraged parents who had seen rock as a threat to their children's virtue were right. Rock 'n' roll made you want to move and shake and get physically excited. Janet Podell¹⁸

Please note that the previous quote attributes sexual energy to the rhythms of rock 'n' roll. The very term rock 'n' roll is gutter slang for the sexual act. It is persistently impressed upon the student of rock music that this sexual energy is attributed to the rhythmic formula of the music itselfthe very same rhythmic formula into which the elitist attempts to insert "Christian" lyrics . Nik Cohn writes:

Modern Pop began with rock'n'roll in the middle fifties, and basically, it was a mixture of two traditions Negro rhythm 'n' blues and white romantic crooning, colored beat and white sentiment. What was new about it was its aggression, its sexuality, its sheer noise; and most of this came from its beat.¹⁹

In this quote we have a secular writer noting some chief characteristics of rock music. Note that he does not make mention of the musics lyrical content (though he most certainly could), but rather notes the impressions of the music itself. He notices its aggression, its sexuality and its sheer noise. These three distinctions he attributes to one dominating factor in rock music...its beat. Imagine, if you will, the utter horror in the heavens as the seraphim who cease not to cry HOLY, HOLY, HOLY around the throne of Christ witness the Elitist use sexual rhythmic beats to call people to Christ.

In the beginning, there was rock 'n' rollan unashamedly primitive music style that gave voice to the frustrations, fantasies, and obsessions of teenagers the world over...while the sexuality of its rhythms and the rebellious edge of its lyrics challenged adult society's standard of propriety and order...rock 'n' roll was a music of both revolt and escape, a celebration of ephemeral excitement, sexual hedonism and individual gratification. Its promotion of the 'eternal now' of sensuous, self absorbed fun rejected all that Calvinist America stood for...²⁰

Again we find a secular rock historian, Stephen Barnard, who observes the sexuality of rock's rhythms. To add to this observation we have a wealth of corroborative material available in the archives of some of the very Christian organizations now promoting CCM. Charles Bergerson of the G.A.R.B.C. writes:

However, the harmonic aspect is only subservient to the rhythmic aspect, which is a constant barrage of pulsation from beginning to end with little, if any, letup. The rhythm has a way of making one breathless because the heartbeat cannot keep up with the beat of the rhythm, multi-rhythms and syncopated rhythms.²¹

To this Evangelist Ken Lynch adds:

Therefore the rhythmic pattern of rock is not in synchronization with the beat of the heart...Keeping the same basic time, or tempo, with the body rhythm, but emphasizing the abnormal beats creates tension, confusion, and, with extended exposure, can actually cause the blood pressure to rise...[Those who are exposed] actually experience a musical 'high.'²²

And in final commiseration Jeff Godwin states...

Rock music has been found to cause chemical imbalances in the human body...When exposed to rock, the adrenaline and sex glands over-secrete. Their hormonal production is pushed into over-drive...Since the body's hormones are unbalanced, it compensates by drawing sugar from the brain to bring everything back into alignment. Since blood sugar is the primary material used by the brain to feed itself, a lack of decision-making ability is the inevitable result.²³

It is therefore the writer's determination that the impulse of the elitist to utilize the rhythms and beats of the music classified as rock, is a flagrant attempt to draw people into a spurious relationship with Christ based on a gospel delivered to the flesh. And, as if to add insult to their injurious methods, these very rhythms and beats are consistently referred to as "sexual in nature" by secular authorities. What a laughingstock the holy name of Christ has become at the hands of the very people who claim to love Him! Clearly there is something that they love more...the flesh! Dear brother and sister in Christ, can you not hear the Scripture?

How can the message of God be any clearer? It was happening in the early church and it is happening today. Satan's methods have not changed. These men creep into the church unawares. This has a very simple explanation. They give resounding testimonies which lead people to believe they are devout and sincere Christians. They pray long flowery prayers. They gain positions of leadership in our colleges, seminaries and churches for the very reason that they should be considered unreliable. They will consistently have a charismatic appeal to the flesh. What is their next modus operandi? Again, the answer is found in the Scripture. Propelled by the spirit of error, they aspire to a position of influence only to deliver the message of grace in a format which appeals to the flesh. They turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. This is exactly what is being done in the arena of CCM.