Music: Her Voice Matters

This is the third installment in our series “For the Love of Music.” Music is such a powerful medium that can transform our mood, affect our feelings, Imprint memories, and communicate truths. God created us to appreciate the beauty of music.

Music itself is amoral, meaning that the various styles of music and tempos are not inherently good or evil. However, the lyrical content of songs determines the value of the song itself. As Christians, we ought to consider the lyrics of the songs we listen to and funnel them through the Scriptures to see what is truly true, beautiful and good.

A beautiful melody combined with lyrics that oppose God is not a good song or one we should choose to listen to. My hope with this series is to encourage critical thinking in our song selection, to examine our motives and the message and see how we can continually choose to glorify God with our choices.

Here are Five Diagnosis questions that can guide your song selection:

1.         Why do I choose to listen to this song? What is my motivation?

2.         How does this song affect my feelings? My mood?

3.         What does this song say about life? About God? Is that consistent with Scriptures?

4.         Is this a song I should continue to listen to?

5.         Do I regularly include music that teaches me truths about God and the Gospel (i.e. hymns, praise songs, Christian artists)?

Tonight’s lesson is called Her Voice Matters because I have chosen two songs that were recommend by students in my youth group as songs they like or listen to. Neither of these songs am I recommending, as both include some foul language. But just because I don’t recommend them doesn’t mean they don’t have valuable things for us to learn from.

Our first song is “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo. Lizzo wrote this song in 2017, but it initially did not garner any attention. Earlier this year, a Netflix Original movie used this song in one of it’s scenes and being featured on the popular Tik Tok App have made it one of the more popular songs of 2019.

**Disclaimer – this songs contains swear words. If you look it up, consider the Clean Version.

Truth Hurts is a break up anthem and an ode to self-love. Lizzo message is clear that she doesn’t need any man to give her value (“I put the sing in single”). She identifies that, though hurt, it was a toxic relationship and she is better off without him.

“You're 'posed to hold me down, but you're holding me back

And that's the sound of me not calling you back”

Anyone who has been through a break up can appreciate her angst and her cutting sarcasm as she celebrates her freedom.

There are several things we could talk about in this song, i.e. “side chick” culture, foul language, rebound, etc. But one line stood out to me:

“Why're men great till they gotta be great? Woo!”

Within this phrase carries the truth behind her hurt and pain in this song. She was clearly mistreated and feels discarded. She identifies a systemic problem in culture where men talk a good game but when it truly counts, they shrink from responsibilities.

The second song is Taylor Swift’s “The Man.” Taylor Swift has been producing popular songs for more than a decade, and her influence continues to rise. In “The Man” she sings about the double standard she has encountered throughout her career in music by imaging what her success would look like if she was a man in the industry. 

“I’m so sick of running as fast as I can

Wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man

And I'm so sick of them coming at me again

'Cause if I was a man, then I'd be the man”

Swift has been criticized for her failed relationships and for her meteoric rise and success. In this songs, she vulnerably expresses her frustration of not being taken seriously and contends if she was a man everything would be different.

“They'd say I hustled, put in the work

They wouldn’t shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve

What I was wearing, if I was rude

Could all be separated from my good ideas and power moves”

Again, in choosing these songs this week is not an endorsement of the songs themselves, but I believe both of these women are speaking truth about the culture that we need to listen to. Her voice matters and we need to listen. Too often women speak up about the sexism and chauvinism in our culture and it falls on deaf ears.

What stands out to me is that both women are singing from a place of pain stemming from being mistreated by men in their lives and their careers.  It breaks my heart to hear of the mistreatment of women in our culture. Lately I have had the privilege of being a part of Rachael Denhollendar’s launch team for her two book releases: Her memoirs “What Is A Girl Worth?” and a children’s book “How Much Is A LittleGirl Worth?”. I received rereleased copies of the books and I appreciate her message. The children’s book is a beautiful poem that I am going to read in youth group tonight. It emphasizes that a girls worth doesn’t come from her looks, the way she dresses, what she’s done, but from how she was created and God’s love for her.

Her memoirs are powerful and provocative. I will warn you that it deals with sexual abuse and is descriptive, so there are very hard parts to read. But the book reveals why it is so hard for victims to speak up, fearing they will not be heard or supported.

As with the songs selected, the book calls out sexism, objectification of women, and the abuse of power that are so rampant in our world today. Why is that?

God’s Design

It was never part of God’s Design that such abuse and mistreatment should happen. In the opening pages of Scriptures God created everything good, very good. We see that God spoke the world into existence, He spoke land, vegetation, the sun and stars, animals, and fish into existence. But when it came to humanity, He did something very different.

Genesis 2:7

“then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

Rather than speaking humankind into existence, God formed mankind from the dust and animated Adam by breathing life into him. The special nature of creation and the life giving breath of God sets humanity apart from the rest of creation. Nothing else in creation received the same kind of treatment or is given the same type of description.

Genesis 1:26–27

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

God made male and female in His own image, the Imago Dei. Being created in the image of God is so important for us to understand our value, meaning and purpose in life. We cannot fully plunge the depths of this truth here, but one aspect of God that he uniquely passed on to us is the relational aspect. The Triune Godhead is a unique and perfect relationship that lacks nothing, and yet desires us to know and be known by Him. He desires us to have relationships that reflect and honor Him.

Later in chapter 2 God tells us why He created Eve:

Genesis 2:20–25

… But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Although the earth was perfect, without sin, and Adam lived in the Garden of Eden with all the animals, God saw a need Adam had, even though he was unaware of it. “It is not good for man to be alone…” (Gen 2:18). So, God took a rib from Adam and created Eve.

Why a rib? I don’t know, but I like the description that the rib is from the side of man. The woman wasn’t made from the foot, to be trampled upon, but from the rib, to be beside man and protected by man. 

In this passage, we see God’s design was one man and one woman, created for each other to be helpers in this life. Adam’s response was one of awe and respect, giving honor to the woman.

If that is how God designed us in creation, why is it such a mess today?

The Disruption

One chapter later we see how the perfect creation was disrupted by rebellion. We know the story of Adam and Eve choosing to eat from the forbidden tree. Sometimes we forget that act of defiance that brought sin in the world, also brought a curse to this world.

Sin, can be describe as the big “I” problem. “I want to do what I want to do and I don’t care what God wants me to do.” When we think we know better than our Creator, we invite disruption into our lives that not only affects us but those around us.

Quickly going from perfect beauty, harmony and beauty in the garden, one act of rebellion brought separation, disunity and even death into the world. The curse of sin brought disruption to daily life and every relationship we have.

Genesis 3:16–19

To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

           

And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  

The implications of this curse are so very profound and go far deeper than we like to admit. One thing in common between the curse to Adam and the curse to Eve is pain. Sin brought pain into daily life. The woman’s curse centers on relationships, while the man’s centers on work.

How do we see this play out in our world today?

In the two songs we mentioned earlier, Lizzo sings about the brokenness in relationships, and Swift sings about the brokenness in the workplace. Both are identifying the curse of sin that continues to be entrenched in the DNA of society.

In this life, every relationship and every vocation is tainted with sin, in the home and in the workplace. The curse has affected everything we touch. Yet as believers in Jesus Christ, we are called to no longer live according to the curse but according to Christ.

Because we believe in Jesus, we are set free from the curse of sin. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection brings hope of New Life to all who believe. He has given us His Spirit to empower us to live Kingdom lives here and impact our families, our relationships, our schools and our workplaces for His glory. We are called to live lives that oppose the curse and reveal the goodness, beauty and truth of the Gospel.

Matthew 5:16

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

The Display

We have to admit that we live in a broken world, that things are not what they ought to be, and that we need to fight to overcome. We have to acknowledge that sin has a grip on every relationship and every vocation, and agree with the voices that are calling out the injustice of this world. We have to see the goodness of the Gospel and the call of Jesus to be agents of reconciliation in our everyday lives.

The Apostle Peter wrote this:

1 Peter 3:1–9

[1] Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, [2] when they see your respectful and pure conduct. [3] Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—[4] but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. [5] For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, [6] as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

[7] Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

[8] Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. [9] Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

He’s saying to the women, that you overcome the curse by not focusing on the outward appearance of getting caught up with the world’s beauty trends, fashions or values, but instead focusing on the inward beauty of putting Christ first in your life and finding your value from your Creator, not from the creation. Seek to please God first and watch how He provides for you and impacts others because of you.

To the men, he says to learn to understand and honor women. When he says, “weaker vessel,” he is not demeaning women, but telling men not to abuse their power, and immediately follows up reminding the men that women are equal heirs in God’s economy.

To all of us, he is saying that our posture needs to be that of tenderness, love and care for others. We should be seeking ways to bless others, not to abuse, use and cast off. People should not be objectified, but should be treated with care.

We can be difference makers if we will allow God’s Design and God’s Display to overcome the Disruption we face on a daily basis. In Christ, we have the victory, so how can we live victoriously today? What do you need to repent of today? How have you mistreated others? How have you honored others? Are you willing to live the Kingdom life today?