“Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good.”
~Job 34:4
Materials Needed: Ten or so rock and roll songs recorded on a cassette tape or CD.
Notes to the Leader: This study is intended for teenagers who like rock and roll music. To help frame up the study, you can download a sample of one lesson by clicking here. The Microsoft Word document has an instruction page, the lyrics from 11 pre-1980 rock and roll songs and a closing commentary on an interpretation of the lyrics.
Instructions
You will need access to a lot of old rock and roll records or CDs. Pre-1980’s seems to work best. While there is a lot of rock Christian music, try to stay with the traditional harder rock that is typically not associated with a positive message. The idea is to find three types of rock music:
- Has a Biblical theme to the lyrics
- Has a worldly theme but the message is positive
- Has a worldly them but the message is wrong
Prepare a worksheet with the lyrics on them for each song. You can print a Sample Rock and Roll Bible Study Material that was used several times for a youth program. Following the lyrics were the answers for each song and the rational. This is just a fun way to teach discernment.
Select enough music to fill about half of your time (35 to 40 minutes of music will handle a one hour study)
Using your memory of old songs, try to pick about 3 to 4 songs that will fit in each category. Select entertaining music but something you think they may have heard on the radio.
The Internet is a wonderful place to search for lyrics and other information. In Google.com, if you use the song title followed by the word lyrics, you can quickly get the text of each song you might be interested in. By highlighting the lyrics on the web page and using copy and paste, build a document that your teens can have to read along as you play each song.
Remove the titles and artists from the text. You will be asking them to guess both when the music starts. Put each song’s lyrics on a separate page. As the teens hear a new song, they will turn the page.
At the end of each song, stop the music. Ask them to identify:
If the song has a Biblical theme and, if yes, what the theme is?
If the song is of a worldly theme, what is the message and is it good or bad?
Bible Truth Being Taught
Music was used by David and others to worship, pray, and grow in God’s word. Therefore, it is an acceptable tool in teaching.
Our Response
To learn that each of us is responsible for learning God’s Word and separating the many conflicting messages that are heard every day.