Feature Article

Ministering Beyond Words
How music can open doors and enable healing
An interview with Steve Siler by Christopher Blumhofer
Summer 2007

Steve, what is Music for the Soul-history, vision, and your artistic/ministry niche?
We create song and spoken word recordings from a Christian perspective to help hurting people dealing with life's most painful issues. We're a resource for the church, pastor, Christian counselor, or lay leader who wants to take on topics that are often difficult to talk about.

Back in the nineties an incest survivor came up to me after hearing my song Innocent Child. "People have been telling me I was an innocent child my whole life but I never believed it until I heard you sing it today," she said. That's why this ministry was born.

What are some topics that can be addressed by music in a particularly poignant way?
Any topic can be addressed by music. People ask me, for example, "How do write songs about pornography?" The answer is that our songs really aren't about pornography, or cancer, or eating disorders, or suicide. They're about choosing intimacy with God and knowing Jesus as the ultimate healer.

What's the particular power of music? (Why this medium?)
People put up walls to protect themselves from pain. Words often bounce off those walls. But the walls have cracks - and music can seep through the cracks and open up the heart before the listener even realizes it. Then we can lay a message of hope and healing into that open heart.

It's important to realize that studies have shown that people remember more of what they hear in music than what they read or what they're told. Think about it -why do advertisers sing to us about everything from insurance to beer? Why do teachers teach the ABCs with a song?

Once you combine lyrics that speak deep truth with a melody you have a much better chance of that person retaining the message.

Add to that the difficulty of reading and retaining information when you're in deep pain. One therapist told me that the great thing about our music is that a person can just lay back and let the music wash over them - but they're still getting the message they need to hear!

How is this kind of music different from worship music or hymns? How is it similar?
Well, I'm sure many would disagree with me but I think our music is worship music in its purest form. I think there's no greater act of worship than to open our hearts and invite the Lord to be present with us in our deepest pain, the most vulnerable parts of ourselves.

That's honesty and relationship at its most profound. I believe what God most longs for is for us to desire a relationship with Him.

The irony is that He's already there anyway - that's actually what we pray our music will convey to people - that God will move Heaven and earth just to share in our deepest, darkest pain so that we can be made whole. And, in fact, already has.

Which leads into: what are three distinctions of music that have a healing quality?

To put it philosophically Plato says, "Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything; It is the essence of order and lends to all that is good, just, and beautiful."

To put it romantically Aldous Huxley says "After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music."

And to put it technically Dr. Oliver Sacks says, "Responsiveness to music is an essential part of our neural nature."

According to Daniel J. Levitin in his book This is Your Brain on Music listening to music actually increases dopamine levels tapping into "brain structures involved with motivation, reward, and emotion." In other words, we're wired to respond to music.

Levitin goes on to say that "no known human culture now or anytime in the past has lacked music." He also cites that "the Old Testament [was] set to music in preparation for being passed down by oral tradition."

This last statement confirms our belief in the power of lyric-driven Christian music to leave a lasting impact on listener. Since pain is cyclical this is a critical part of what we're doing.

To return to the example of "Innocent Child," every time that young woman would be tempted to revisit the idea that she was somehow guilty of the abuse she'd received she would have the message of Innocent Child in her mind to help overcome those feelings.

The other thing about music that makes it especially effective for our purposes is its ability to tell the truth without feeling confrontational. People will hear a truth in music that they will not sit still for in a conversation.

Walk me through one of your albums-what's going on in each song? (This is kind of a process question: i.e., how do we get from "50 Years from Now" to "I Don't Know You," to "Affirmation"?)

On each recording we walk the path from 1- Stating the problem to 2 - Helping the listener see it in their own life to 3 - Walking the listener through some steps they can take towards healing to 4 - Showing them that there is hope and a future free from the pain they are living in now.

For example, our new CD "Tell Me What You See: Hope for Those Overcoming an Eating Disorder" begins with The Cost, a song describing the agony of being trapped in the controlling grip of an eating disorder.

The second song, the bittersweet Beautiful Jesus, shows a young woman still caught in the disorder but realizing there is something better for her. She's still struggling but there's the faintest glimmer of hope as we begin to see her long for something better.

The third song Swept Away shows a woman beginning to understand her own responsibility for where she is and her fear that if she doesn't do something it could end badly. Then, in Tell me What You See the perspective begins to shift as the singer pleads with God to "shine the light of truth" and separate "fact from fiction."

In To Be Free the singer wonders aloud what it would be like to move beyond the disorder and in Time for a Breakdown the listener is finally challenged to stop holding it together and admit she needs help.

Piece Me Together is an admission that the singer needs God's help to rebuild her life. Once the CD turns this corner, the songs You Love Me, In the Image of God, and Just the Way that I Am begin the process of reframing for the listener who she is as a child of the loving God.

Finally No One Can Love Me Like You Do assures the listener that she is special, one-of-a-kind; that God longs for a relationship with her, and that Jesus gave His life that she might have eternal life and peace.

How do you get so close to some of the issues you cover (i.e., breast cancer, eating disorders, troubled marriages, suicide)?
We immerse ourselves in the topic for several months before the production of a record, reading lots of books on the subject we're working on. But the personal involvement is ultimately the most important part of the process.

We interview several people who've lived through the issue at hand. Some of those interviews are taped and wind up as part of the spoken word portion of the recording. Others remain private but serve to inform the content of the songwriting.

We also create an advisory board of Christian therapists with special expertise in the area the CD is covering. Again, this helps us identify the critical, central themes that the recording should cover, as well as identify what not to say on the recordings!

As a writer/producer I've described the process to people this way; it's like taking a coat of pain off the rack and wearing it for several months. I may not have lived the issue, but I do know how to craft or recognize a great song. Once the project is done I take off the coat. It's a painful and challenging process, but a deeply gratifying way to use the gift of communication God has given to me.

And yes, some of every issue does stay with me - but I think that just makes me a more compassionate person.

Your CDs alternate music and spoken word. Why?
We feel it's very important for those who listen to these projects to hear from others who have "walked in their shoes." People tell us that upon hearing the spoken testimonies their response is often, "Oh my gosh, that's exactly how I feel."

That resonance with another person does a couple of things; First of all, it makes the listener realize that they're not the only person who has ever felt this way which immediately makes them feel less alone. Secondly, it helps them to trust that the people who have put together the record truly understand what they're feeling from an experiential stand point. This makes the listener less likely to feel preached at and more likely to feel cared for and nurtured.

Also, because so many of the songs are about very heavy and painful topics, the spoken word pieces provide a bit of a respite on the journey and help compliment the arc of the story the songs are telling. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end to the testimonies that helps tie the whole piece together.

How can a church use this kind of music ministry?

These records are used in a variety of interesting ways including:

• As special music on a "topical" Sunday
• As a teaching resource for small groups and retreats
• As a one-on-one pastoral counseling resource
• For guided assignments and meditations
• To introduce a topic at church workshops or church conferences.

Some churches have created their own music videos using Music for the Soul songs and others have used them in original plays!

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today International/BuildingChurchLeaders.com.

This article originally appeared on BuildingChurchLeaders.com.