Wake Up, Look Up

Hello, everybody. Thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch and in today's episode, we're talking about earworms and how music shapes your mind and soul. This is prompted by an article I read in the Washington Post this week about why that catchy song, you can't stop singing, gets stuck in your head.

That's the reference to an earworm. An earworm is a song that keeps replaying in your head. You know what this is like. What makes a catchy song catchy? Well, according to the Washington Post, at least, these earworm type songs all have three things in common.

They're repeatable, they're simple, and they're singable. And I bet you're thinking of a song right now. These songs are hardwired to activate memory cues and even muscle cues in our body and in our brain. There's something about a repeatable, singable, simple refrain that just kinda sticks itself in our head and in our heart and will be brought out in us, by a variety of things. Then, of course, once it's in our heads, we can't stop singing it.

And the thing is, studies show most people find it pleasant. You'll say, oh, I got this song stuck in my head, but the truth is you're not as frustrated as you let on. Most of us when we're singing this, if no one draws our attention to it, are smiling when we do so. There's something comforting about a song that we know really well, something comforting about humming it to our self. Now listen, this is not a music podcast.

Although, I do love music, so I live this often. This is more about thinking about how we might actually leverage that. I don't know what your intake of Christian music is, of how often you listen to worship music or music designed to make you think about the Lord or about your sanctification. I listen to a lot of music, and I wouldn't even say that Christian music is one of my favorite genres. But there is an opportunity here.

If music has a powerful way of lodging things in our brain and in our heart, then if we're strategic about our choices, we can actually lodge in our heart and brain the things we want to be thinking and meditating about. So what the Bible has in mind in Colossians three sixteen, for example, where we're told to sing songs to one another. This is a great way, by the way, if you're a parent of a young child, to teach them theology, to teach them bible verses. There are still verses today like first John four, seven, and eight, which I have memorized because as a kid, I learned a song about it. I'm not gonna sing that song to you now, but I could.

That's because music has a way of helping us remember repetition. This is a major theme of Deuteronomy six is a way of training our hearts, a way of passing down God's word from one generation to the next. Simple songs are an invitation to everyone. See Psalm 96 to sing truth. By the way, if you're a Christian and you didn't grow up in church, you might not even be aware of the treasure trove of simple songs that are out there to teach yourself theology or Bible verses and to pass on to your children.

Google it. Avail yourself of those incredible songs that have a way of sticking with us. This is part of what Paul means, I think, of Philippians four when he says whatever is pure, whatever is noble, whatever is just, think about or he might have said sing about these things. Find a way of lodging them in your heart. When the same Paul says in Romans 12 that we should be transformed by the renewing of our mind, this might have been part of what he was thinking.

That by filling our heart and minds with songs, with catchy, simple, repeatable refrains that remind us of who God is, that remind us of our sin, of the incredible salvation we have in Jesus, of the work of the holy spirit in our hearts, and the truth of scripture is actually how we transform. So you gotta listen to some music that's about these things in order to learn some music in order to remember it. But wouldn't that be worth doing? Consider just a few opportunities each week to switch over the music you're listening to and to ask God to take the theology of great music and and bury it in your heart and mind for future recall so that next time someone says, hey, what's that song you're humming? You might actually be proud of the answer you give.

And whether you admit it or not, you'll be enjoying it. Hey. Thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Have an article you’d like Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!