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One the foundational tenets of Bill Gothard’s teachings is the idea that one’s level of spiritual maturity is directly connected to the number of commitments one makes to God. On the website description of the IBLP publication “Seventeen Basic Commitments” is found this statement: “Spiritual maturity is related to the number of Scriptural commitments that we make and apply to our lives.” While spiritual commitments are at some level important to one’s Christian walk, to equate them to spiritual maturity is at best unbiblical, and at worst enslaving.

Bill Gothard’s primary method of convincing people to make certain commitments to God is to tell them what will happen if they don’t make the commitments or hold to certain standards. Often this comes in the form of an anecdote in which a prodigal young person experiences some sort of personal tragedy simply because they did not make such and such commitment.

On the last page of “Seventeen Basic Commitments” is found another approach. Under the heading “Consequences that have already occurred if a son or daughter listens to Christian music that sounds like that of the world,” are statements describing six supposed “consequences.” These statements are worded in such a way that parents will believe that their children are on the road to moral depravity if they as parents do NOT make a commitment to keep the home free of all rock music.

I would like to briefly walk through this page and highlight the numerous logical and spiritual fallacies found within it. However, lest I assume that all of my readers are aware of Bill Gothard’s stance on music, let me begin with a brief overview of his beliefs.

In a nutshell, Bill Gothard believes that music contains inherent morality, and that all rock music carries the same evil/demonic messages. Bill Gothard teaches that certain musical sounds are inherently evil, specifically the “rock beat.” In other words, he literally believes that a certain combination of frequencies is evil. And because he is so hyper-focused on the evils of the “rock beat,” Bill will attack the work of Christian music artists while endorsing and even selling music by classical musicians who were neither Christians nor intending Christian messages through their music.

The fallacy here is that while music certainly CAN communicate ideas and thoughts that are evil, the sounds themselves are not evil. Saying that a particular beat is inherently evil would be the literary equivalent of saying that certain forms of paper and ink used to read and write wicked things are evil. Beats, timbres, and frequencies are simply the tools used to communicate meanings, not the meanings themselves.

It is also worth noting that none of the Scriptures used to support Gothard’s stance on music are used in context. In fact, if you take a look at the page under discussion, you will notice that Bill literally inserts the words music and wordly music into biblical passages that have absolutely nothing to do with music. Although one of the passages presents a principle that can be applied to music choices (1 John 2:15), the other eight Scriptures quoted require huge exegetical leaps to become even remotely applicable.

Now, with this background in mind, let’s walk through Gothard’s six “Consequences.”

Consequence #1: They [students] have already dulled the sensitivity of their consciences. (Music is a form of worship.)

The Truth: This is circular reasoning. This consequence requires the assumption that rock music is sinful. However, if one were to believe that the music is not sinful, then their consciences are apparently dulled. It is a closed logical loop. Gothard leaves no room for the possibility that rock music is not sinful, and no room for a student to come to that personal conviction for their life.

Also, the statement that “music is a form of worship” is absolutely false. Music is a not a form of worship. It is a tool of worship. Not all music is worship, and not all worship is music. Music is simply one of the ways in which we CAN worship God.

Consequence #2: They [students] are already “in tune” with the spirit of this world. (This is demonstrated by the law of sympathetic vibration.)

The Truth: This is also circular reasoning very much like the first “consequence.” There is no room for a person to believe that rock music is acceptable without being accused of being in tune with the world.

The use of sympathetic vibration as a proof for this truth is absolutely laughable from a scientific viewpoint. Sympathetic vibration, technically known as sympathetic resonance, is an acoustic phenomenon in which an item sharing harmonic similarities with another object vibrates when the other object is set into motion. [Note: To witness an example of this, hold down (without sounding) the key of middle C on the piano. While holding this key down, strike and release a C lower on the piano. You will hear the lower C and the middle C both sounding long after it is released because of the sympathetic vibrations in the strings.] The use of sympathetic vibration as proof for this “consequence” is ludicrous, (a) because it is a natural phenomenon and not a spiritual one, and (b) it is a harmonic phenomenon and not a rhythmic one.

Consequence #3: They have already accepted the goal of the false religion of “Do your own thing; satisfy yourself.”

The Truth: While much popular music specifically states this goal, Christian music typically carries messages that are exactly the opposite. Again, Gothard is assuming that the beat itself carries the evil message. Also, there are strong undertones of the belief that if something is enjoyable, it must somehow be wrong.

Consequence #4: They have already greatly increased their vulnerability to exploitation by the world. (Wrong music comes with rebellion, drugs, and immorality.)

The Truth: This is what is known as a “slippery-slope fallacy.” By connecting rock music with rebellion, drugs, and immorality, Gothard implants the idea that once one listens to rock music, they have no choice then but to proceed into these other “greater” forms of sin. From personal experience, I can say that this argument is absolutely paralyzing for many ATI students. The fear of sliding into immorality is enough to keep them from listening to anything with a rock beat. I can also say from personal experience that this “consequence” is an absolute lie. The rock beat does NOT lead to these things by default.

Consequence #5: They have already made their music more important than the sacrificial suffering of Christ (by causing weaker Christians to stumble, especially those who have come out of the “rock culture.”)

The Truth: This is a spiritual guilt trip. Gothard is insinuating that by listening to music with a beat, one believer can cause another to fall back into a sinful lifestyle. While the Bible teaches that we can do things that cause another brother to “stumble,” simply listening to one’s choice of music (especially in private) is not going to make this happen. Ironically, the passage used (Romans 14) to prove Gothard’s point on this issue is actually about the liberty we as Christians have in our walk with Christ, not about standards.

Consequence #6: They have already chosen to admire ungodly “heroes.” (“The greatest form of admiration is imitation.”)

The Truth: Gothard is assuming that the musicians the young people are listening to are “ungodly” simply because he believes their music to be “ungodly.” He is also assuming that the person listening to the music admires the lifestyle of the musician in addition to the music. By this logic, one should never seek to compose like Beethoven or sing like Pavarotti, both of whom lived lives that were not God-honoring.

As you can see, Gothard’s teachings on the subject of music are grounded in a circular system of reasoning that is neither biblical nor logical. He gets people to buy into this system through fear created by fallacious “consequences” that do not exist. Even worse, he twists Scripture to support this system of thinking, creating the impression that to ignore these “truths” is to go against God. My prayer is that those in bondage to such lies will see the truth and find the freedom that comes when grace is the motivating factor in one’s life as opposed to phony, man-made “consequences.”