God has made parents responsible for their children—for feeding, clothing, housing, raising them correctly, and keeping them safe. If a child were to run out in front of a car, a parent would know what to do to protect them. The parent wouldn’t just wring their hands and ask, “What can I do?” If a child started to drink a glass of poison, smoke a cigarette, or drink a can of beer, a parent would not hesitate to take immediate action, because they are responsible. You must not hesitate to take proper action if your child is in danger. No excuses!
Equally important is the parents’ responsibility to protect their children from worldly music, whether it is a bedlam of noise or pretty, schmaltzy music, which is a mockery of Christ. Parents should not tell their child that it is all right for them to listen to strange music as long as they wear earphones or go to their bedroom and shut the door so they don’t have to hear it. And though it can be challenging, parents should teach their child to avoid it, even at friends’ homes. Parents must teach them to be bold and to stand up and say to their friends, “I can’t listen to music like this. If you have to listen to it, I can’t stay.” Do whatever it takes. It shouldn’t be any harder than to say, “No, I won’t smoke a cigarette,” or “No, I will not take a drug.”
My great-grandson, Adam, went with his mother and grandfather to eat in a Turkish restaurant. While Adam was ordering his meal, he noticed that there was terrible rock music playing, so he said to the waiter, “Will you please play some Turkish music? We are in a Turkish restaurant.”
The waiter said, “We don’t have any Turkish music.”
Adam, speaking in a voice like he was some kind of royalty and expected to be obeyed, said, “Well, then, I want classical music, please.” The waiter found a radio station that had classical music, and Adam’s mother said it was the best music she had ever heard in a restaurant in her life. Teach your children to stand boldly for what is right.
Musical Opportunities
Children need to have musical opportunities. When they are still very young, acquire small, inexpensive instruments for them to have at home. Do not force a child to take lessons, but if they show an interest, provide music lessons for them when they are a little older. As a music teacher, I know forcing a child to take up an interest in music will not work. To encourage an interest in music, parents should take their children to good music concerts. What kind of concerts? Good ones! There are a lot of bad ones; don’t go there.
What kinds of songs should our children listen to at home and in Sabbath School? Children should not be given little repetitious ditties, nor songs set to secular music. If children happen to know the secular songs, when they sing the tune—even with religious words—they will think about the secular words. Even if they don’t know the secular words, secular music is not appropriate for sacred songs. If the music used is not suitable for the words, chances are the words aren’t spiritual, either. This applies to adult music as well. You cannot legitimately mix sacred and secular music.
Parents must teach their children real songs—not songs that simply entertain. They should be taught songs like “O Worship the King.” It has meaning. Teach them what the words mean, making sure they understand. Teach them Seventh-day Adventist songs. Don’t downplay children’s capabilities. Teach them to sing as the angels sing. How do the angels sing?
“Their [the angels’] singing does not grate upon the ear. It is soft and melodious . … It is not forced and strained.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 333. Angels sing softly. Our children should sing softly, not shout or make a bedlam of noise.
“Some think that the louder they sing the more music they make; but noise is not music. Good singing is like the music of the birds—subdued and melodious.” Evangelism, 510
Musical Movement
If children need exercise, take them outside to play. A religious meeting is not the place for raucous, boisterous, rough-and-tumble movement. The best kind of movement parents can teach their children is choreographed movement and sign language to go along with the song. One such song is “I’m Too Young.” With this song, the children can march “in the infantry,” ride “in the cavalry,” shoot “the artillery,” and fly “o’er the enemy, … but I’m in the Lord’s army (ending with a salute).” Or “Only a Boy Named David” gives them the ability to gather “five little stones,” and swing the slingshot “round and round,” and then fall as the “giant came tumbling down.” “Praise Him!” and “Kum Bah Ya” teach children sign language as they sing. Children enjoy these songs.
Hymnals
Dr. Oliver Beltz once told me that he was on the committee to choose the songs for the 1941 Church Hymnal. Years later, John Thurber shared that he was on the committee to select the songs for the 1985 Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal. Review and Herald Publishing Association, in Washington, DC, publishes both hymnals. These conversations have given me a little insight into how the songs for each of these hymnals were chosen.
Despite the 40-year gap between each man’s experience, they both told me a similar story. Each said that there were times when the committee members wanted to include songs they knew Dr. Beltz and Mr. Thurber would not approve. So, without notifying either of them, they would call a committee meeting and approve the songs while they were absent. Both committees did that! You can’t take either of these hymnals and think that everything in them is good.
Parents might like to build a personal, family hymnal for use at home. Selecting the favorite songs each member of the family likes best would make a beautiful addition to family worship, as parents teach their children songs about Jesus’ love, creation, and salvation. Assembling a hymnal is a tough job, but you may find it well worthwhile. Let me offer principles and ideas that I believe will help parents choose the best songs for their home hymnal.
Guidelines
- Choose music that is worship-centered. There are only two beings in this universe to worship—God or Satan. The songs selected should be centered towards the being you choose to worship.
- Choose music that is Christ-centered and not I-centered. This can be a difficult concept to understand. As you examine a song, ask these questions: Who is the center of this song? About whom am I singing? Am I singing about myself, or am I singing about Christ? An example of a song that may be a challenge to judge is the song “Not I, but Christ.” It has the word “I” in it several times, but the message of the words is clearly centered on Christ.
I once presented a music seminar in a church in West Virginia. A man came to the meeting primed for an argument with me. He wanted to prove to me that it is all right to sing I-centered songs. In the seminar, we were discussing several songs, and regarding one of them, I said, “You know, I’m quite uncomfortable with this song. Although the music seems to sound all right, the words seem very I-centered to me.”
This man said, “We must have songs about our experience.” Do we? Let me share a personal experience that could easily become I-centered.
The devil doesn’t want me to share all these things with you, and for several months before camp meeting, he has been pouring out his whole arsenal on me. I have nearly gotten to the end of my rope. I knew God was taking care of me, but it still had an effect inside my body. It was affecting me both physically and emotionally.
After arriving at the camp meeting, we began having trouble with our computer. It was working beautifully when I left home. We spent a whole afternoon trying to get it to work, including a solid hour on the telephone with the computer service desk. That’s how much the devil has been working! Now that my computer is working again, do you think I should write a song about my experience—the lost afternoon, the hour on the phone, how I have suffered while the devil bombarded me with everything he’s had? No! I want to sing about how God has saved me, making this experience with my computer nothing at all. I want to sing, “Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow.”
- Don’t choose harmful music. Yes, music can harm you. It can hurt your body, your mind, and your spirituality. Don’t choose that kind of music.
- Choose music that will allow the angels to join in as you sing. We should sing and listen to music that is subdued and melodious, like the songs of the birds. At our house, we feed the birds, so we are surrounded by them. I love to hear them sing. We should sound like birds singing. I don’t think we could have any higher ambition than that. Birds sing softly and melodiously.
- Do not choose music meant for entertainment. What does this include? Pop music, nightclub, crooning music; music with warm fuzzies—that’s entertainment music.
- Do not choose music that is only emotion-based or sensual. I have had this theory for a long time, and I was so happy when I discovered it in the Spirit of Prophecy. All of our talks, all of our sermons, and all of our music should include both emotion and intellect. If you leave out one or the other, or overbalance one way or the other, we will be in trouble.
I heard a very prominent pastor preach a wonderful sermon about heaven, and I was emotionally moved by it. But I have found that sermons that only excite the emotions don’t last very long. You leave the church, realizing that the sermon’s emotional impact was all it had. There was no intellect in it at all. You don’t even remember what was in it, and you feel let down, perhaps empty, because you were not spiritually fed. That is why Mrs. White so often refers to the need for balance in our lives. [See Sons and Daughters of God, 161–163.]
- Do not choose music with false theology. Carefully review every word.
- Choose songs in which the words and the music match. Don’t mix secular and sacred. Beyond that, don’t choose a happy, uplifting tune to sing about something serious and solemn. For instance, don’t sing a song about marching to Zion when the words are saying something about the love of God. It doesn’t fit.
- Choose music that will draw each individual in the congregation closer to God.
“Jesus carried into His labor cheerfulness and tact. … Often, He expressed the gladness of His heart by singing psalms and heavenly songs. Often the dwellers in Nazareth heard His voice raised in praise and thanksgiving to God. He held communion with heaven in song, and as His companions complained of weariness from labor, they were cheered by the sweet melody from His lips. His praise seemed to banish the evil angels, and, like incense, fill the place with fragrance.
“With the voice of singing, He welcomed the morning light. He listened to the lark caroling forth music to its God, and joined His voice with the voice of praise and thanksgiving.
“Song is a weapon that we can always use against discouragement.
“The voice of thanksgiving, praise, and rejoicing is heard in heaven. The voices of the angels in heaven unite with the voices of the children of God on earth as they ascribe honor and glory and praise to God and to the Lamb for the great salvation provided.
“Let us learn the song of the angels now, that we may sing it when we join their shining ranks.” The Faith I Live By, 273
Juanita McElwain earned her PhD in Music Therapy from Florida State University. She has taught music on all levels from preschool to college graduate. She has worked as a music therapy clinician with individuals with intellectual disabilities. Her areas of expertise in research include the effects of music on brain waves and the effects of music on headache. She has given numerous seminars on the power of music, which include good and bad effects of music, rock music, sensual music, music in worship and mind control through music throughout the United States and in Europe. She and her husband are presently retired in West Virginia. She may be contacted by e-mail at: juamce@meer.net