Your kids’ car playlist could be their best Bible study

If you grew up listening to Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith or Rich Mullins, you probably don’t need much help remembering their songs. You may have traded a cassette for a CD, then an iPod and eventually a Spotify subscription, but I bet you can still sing along without missing a word.

I had the privilege of producing and managing the careers of all three artists and watching songs like Amy’s “El Shaddai,” Michael’s “Friends” and Rich’s “Awesome God” become Christian classics. You might have forgotten where you first heard those songs, but give yourself the opening line and you’ll not miss a word. 

Many of us who played those records as teenagers are now parents and grandparents. We’d love our children to know a psalm as well as we know those old choruses, yet only 14% of American parents say they read the Bible with their children daily or often, according to the American Bible Society. What could we learn from the way those songs stuck with us?

Nobody had to persuade us to play a favorite song again. We wanted to hear it, and the words came with it. Children do the same thing today, though they can ask for a song without having to rewind a cassette. Their appetite for repetition can outlast the patience of any adult in the car.

When the lyrics are Scripture, that repetition helps them learn the Bible. A child singing a psalm on the way to school is becoming familiar with its words, whether or not anybody has announced that this is Bible study. Keep singing it together and you may find you have learned it too.

That is a useful opportunity for busy parents. We want to help our children know God, but another task at the end of a long day can be difficult to manage. Music can make Scripture part of things we already do together, and children can enjoy learning a passage without feeling they are being tested.

There is a responsibility for those of us making the music, though. I’ve argued before that choosing a Bible verse doesn’t excuse us from doing the work of writing a good song. We need to give the melody and the arrangement real attention, because the importance of the words won’t make a child enjoy a tune. We should want them asking to hear it again.

The music is more likely to draw them back when it’s made for their age and tastes. Younger children may enjoy a playful tune they can clap and sing along to, while a teenager who loves hip hop may respond to Scripture performed in that style. When they choose to play the song again because they enjoy it, they hear and rehearse the biblical words again too. That gives us more opportunities to help them learn Scripture through music they would choose for themselves.

God’s instruction to Moses in Deuteronomy 31 gives us a sobering example of why a song might matter years after it is learned. Israel was about to enter the Promised Land, but God knew the people would eventually turn to other gods. He told Moses to teach them a song that their descendants would remember and that would testify against them when trouble came. Even after they had turned away, they would still know the words.

A parent cannot read that and conclude that teaching a child Scripture guarantees they will remain faithful. The passage describes people who did the opposite. But it does show us remembered words having a purpose after people have rejected what they were taught. Parents worried about an adult child’s faith may find some hope in that.

My work today includes serving as executive producer of Music Bible, which sets Scripture to music word for word via an app. It offers a way to become familiar with whole passages through songs, including verses someone might seldom otherwise read. The aim of learning those words matters well beyond any particular recording or project.

Of course, children can sing something accurately without understanding it. If a song includes a word like mercy, a parent still needs to explain what it means. Knowing the lyrics gives them somewhere to start, and they can return to the passage as questions arise, rather than expecting a child to understand everything the first time.

The choice of passages matters as well. The Psalms include grief and fear alongside praise, allowing children to hear that people who trusted God also struggled and asked questions. As they grow older, they may need those prayers themselves. A passage they first enjoyed singing can become something they want to read more carefully because it speaks to what they are going through.

Years from now, our children may remember songs we have forgotten playing for them. I would like some of those songs to give them the words of the Bible, familiar enough to recall when they need help praying or are trying to understand what God says. We can begin while they’re still asking us to play their favorite again.