Music is a great medium for teaching sound theology (No pun intended). Don’t believe me? Compare your memory of song lyrics versus Scripture verses. The vast majority of people can recite far more songs than passages of Scripture.
Why is this? I’m sure there are many factors. One is the amount of time we spend listening to music compared to the amount of time we spend in the Word. But another factor is how much easier it is for a song to latch on to your brain because the rhythm acts as the adhesive. Then, the words burst out any time you hear the song’s rhythm in the future. That’s why it’s a good teaching tool.
With this in mind, listeners and musicians alike have responsibilities. Listeners must realize that songs will stick in your mind, much like mental images. Therefore, Christians have to be cautious of the songs that we’re allowing to stream through our eardrums and fill our minds.
On the other hand, there is a great responsibility for Christian musicians to fill their songs with solid theology. If you’re driving your child around listening to Christian radio all day, you want him or her listening to strong, Christ-centered songs, right? I would too. Therefore, we must demand for Christian artists to take their jobs seriously and produce high-quality material, and we also should analyze the lyrics to see if it matches up with the Bible.
Today, I want to look at a song that has been getting a lot of air time on Christian radio over the last several months. It’s called “Someone Worth Dying For” by Mikeschair. I’ll just post the chorus for you:
Am I more than flesh and bone?
Am I really something beautiful?
Yeah, I want to believe, I want to believe that
I’m not just some wandering soul
That you don’t see and you don’t know
Yeah, I want to believe, Jesus help me believe
That I am someone worth dying for
This song is aimed at those who struggle with self-worth and depression, and there is much to be commended about the band’s desire to minister to the hurting. But there is a problem with these lyrics and the central theme of the song: we’re not someone worth dying for. Paul wrote to the Romans, “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die–but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:7-8).” Further in that same chapter, Paul refers to unbelievers as “enemies” of God.
That’s the beauty of grace! We are born into sin, hating God and wanting nothing to do with Him. There is nothing that we can do that makes us “worth dying for.” But Christ loved us in spite of our unworthiness. The Father was pleased to pour His wrath on His Son so that we may be made worthy. I don’t need Jesus to “help me believe that I am someone worthy dying for;” I need Jesus to humble me and help me see that He is the One of ultimate worth and my only source of hope. The greatest need for the depressed and downtrodden is not finding worth within but finding hope in the Son of God.
Take a second today and thank God that He has loved us in spite of our unworthiness by sending Christ to die for us. It is Him, our Lord and Savior, who is truly worth living and dying for.
Cody A. Cunningham 
Good word, Cody. Many times we’re blinded to the distinction between feel-good spirituality and true Gospel hope. If someone fights depression and they do so by filling their ears with heaped up, self-esteem building, happy platitudes, then the depression will come back with a vengeance when they realize nothing has really changed in their life. They’ve only been denying reality by “thinking happy thoughts.” In contrast, a person who struggles with depression and fights with the Gospel will experience true hope. They understand that sin is the root of the problem (I know depression is complicated. I’m being simplistic for the sake of illustration.) and that they have insatiable idols in their life. Jesus came to rescue them from bondage to sin and fill them with His Spirit so that they may walk in freedom and newness of life — truly changed! Music CAN communicate this Gospel and do it very well. Fill your mind with music, not simply labeled by the “gospel” genre, but with Gospel content. Example: “Embracing Accusations” by Shane and Shane.