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CURRENTLY IN MUSIC
Love and music

Cameron Stehr

What is the main theme for youth today? Love. All around the world we have people trying to find love and making up ideas on what love is – which is why we have STDs and AIDS and many other things. Young ladies who have had rough backgrounds didn’t feel the love that some of us may feel daily; they become prostitutes so that they can get that twisted image of what they think is love. Kids join gangs to feel accepted and loved, but when a time of trouble comes, that love is out the window. Teens get girlfriends/ boyfriends just for the sake of being loved and having a relationship. Then they end up getting hurt because of a breakup. Parents wonder why there are rapes, boyfriend/girlfriend abuse, depression and so on. The parents have probably gone through this whole thing before, but now are blind to the fact that children and teens need love.

Last spring, when my grandma came to visit, we had a talk about the music that we sing as youth. I really enjoyed that time. She said that we as youth sing songs about love and we should teach the older generation the songs as well. She gave me this example: A worship leader was going to sing the hymn “Nothing but the blood of Jesus”. The senior pastor said to change it to “Nothing but the love of Jesus”. That got my Grandma a bit angry that they switched the words, but it got me thinking. Our parents and grandparents were brought up singing about the blood of Jesus, while we youth have been brought up on the love of Jesus. Interesting, isn’t it?

In high school, I really enjoyed singing fast, upbeat songs because they caught my attention and kept it. Then I went to Bethany Bible Institute, where my view on worship was radically altered. I guess you could say I matured. I began to enjoy singing hymns and the slower music.

Our generation is totally on music. Believe it or not, we are influenced by what we listen to. Think of a cantaloupe. On the outside, it looks crusty and not very tasty. Peel that layer off, and you have the melon. It tastes very good. Once you have all the melon eaten, you are stuck with the middle, the seeds and all. This is how it is when we listen to music. On the outside it does not look good. Take Limp Bizkit, a group that was at first laughed at. You didn’t want to be seen with it. Now it is one of the popular groups among teens. Your friends are buying their music. You get attracted to the music and end up liking it – the melon part of it. You continue to listen to it, but by and by, that music plants seeds in your mind that start to grow, producing garbage – the middle of the melon.

Kids, teens and young adults are love-starved. We long for relationships. Both secular and Christian songs speak about love. In the secular sense, love is about getting another’s body. In the Christian sense, love is getting into a closer relationship with Jesus. Music can either bring you up or bring you down. In the book Things they Never Taught you about Youth Ministry that you Should Really Know, Todd Clark says, “I don’t care what form it comes in – tapes, CD’s, videos or concerts – Christian music is an investment, not an expense! I say this because Christian music is something that enhances your character and benefits your life. . . . Whenever we take our youth group on any kind of trip, I allow them to play and listen to only Christian music. There is an amazing difference in teens when they are listening to Christian music rather then mainstream, or secular, music. They are less depressed and more excited, less rebellious and more disciplined, less angry and more happy.”

God is out there and wants to fill your life with His love, not the twisted thing we see so much of on this planet we call Earth.

Cameron Stehr attends South Langley MB Church in Langley, B.C.

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Last modified March 20, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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