THE SECULAR MUSIC I LOVE!

The argument for and against the topic of secular music has been on since ages past. Opinions like secular music is devilish and anyone who listens to or supports it in any shape or form pays homage to Satan and his demons are common place in the Christendom. Others see secular and gospel music as a war between two kingdoms; the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness.

My position on this topic is rather complicated. In stating my position, we must first try to understand what secular music is, and what it is not. The New International Webster's Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language define secular as: i. of or pertaining to this world or the present life; temporal; worldly; contrasted with religious or spiritual. ii. Not under the control of the church; civil; not ecclesiastical. iii. Not concerned with religion; not sacred.

Wikipedia defined secular to mean being separated from (not associated or concerned with) religion. The question that readily comes to mind is this, are our everyday dealings and affairs sacred and spiritual? Like the Newspapers we read, the CNN, BBC, etc that we listen to for information, are they sacred? yet we devote valuable time to listen to them. What are those things in our everyday life  that is not worldly or temporal in the life of an everyday Christian aside his/her soul? Is it the food we eat,  the clothes we wear, our cars, home accessories, our degrees, jobs and even our flesh?

Many Christians do not listen to secular music but they watch secular movies. They don’t listen to secular music done by a particular artist, but when the same artist does gospel, they listen to same and praise the artist to high heavens for such inspiring piece. The question now is: where exactly should we draw the line? It is important that we know that Christianity is an individual race; a personal work with God. We must never generalize our personal dealings with God.

As a Christian youth, I listen to secular music. There are many secular songs that have catchy melodies, thoughtful insights and positive messages. In determining whether or not  to listen to a secular song, I consider three very important factor.

       I.            The purpose of the music: what is the purpose of music? is it solely designed for worship to God; or did God also intend music to be soothing and/ or entertaining? The famous and most celebrated musician in the bible days, King David, primarily used music for the purpose of worshipping, adoring and extolling our God. When King Saul was tormented by evil spirit, he  would call on David to play harp in order to soothe him. See 1Samuel 16: 14-23. King David also used music as a form of prayer for forgiveness and to show penitence. The Israelites also used musical instruments to warn of danger (Nehemiah 4:20) and to surprise their enemies(Judges 7:16-22). In the new testament, the apostle Paul instructs Christians to encourage one another with music. "speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. See Ephesians 5:19. So, while the primary purpose of music does seem to be worship, the bible definitely allows for other uses of music.

    II.            The style of music: sadly, the issue of music style can be very divisive and complicated among Christians. There are Christians who adamantly demand that no musical instruments be used, same hold the belief that it attracts evil spirits, little did they know that Satan lacks the capacity to manufacture anything. He is only a master at counterfeiting and corrupting anything that God created. There are Christians who only desire to sing hymnals, while others want more of the upbeat and contemporary music. We also have a class of Christians who believe that rock music is dark music, therefore demonic. Others prefer to worship best in a "rock concert" type of environment. Instead of recognizing these differences as personal preferences and cultural distinctions, some Christians declare their preferred style of music to be the holy and only biblically accepted one while declaring other forms of music to be unwholesome, ungodly or even satanic.

In my own little knowledge and research, the Bible nowhere condemned any particular style of music. The Bible nowhere declares any particular musical instrument to be ungodly. The Bible mentioned numerous kinds of string instruments and wind instruments. While the Bible does not specifically mention drums, it does mention other percussion instruments. See Psalm 68:25, Ezra 3:10. Nearly all of the forms of modern music are variations and/or contributions of the same type of musical instruments, played at different speed or with heightened emphasis. There is no biblical basis to declare any particular style of music to be ungodly or outside of God's will, if its contents are in agreement with God's principles no matter the form of its delivery.

 III.            Content of the song: since neither the purpose of music nor the style of music determines whether a Christian should listen to secular music or not, the content of the music must be strongly considered. While not specifically speaking of music, Philippians 4:8 is an excellent guide for musical content:  "Finally, Brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - Think about such things" If we should be thinking about such things, surely those are the things we should invite into our minds through music and lyrics. Can the lyrics in a secular song be true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praise worthy? If yes, then I see nothing wrong with a Christian listening to a secular song of that nature.

Truth be told, a lot of secular songs do not meet the Bible standard in Philippians 4:8. Secular music often promotes immorality and violence while attaching little or no importance to purity and integrity. If a song glorifies what opposes God, a Christian should not listen to it. However, there are many secular songs with no mention of God that still uphold godly values such as honesty, purity, love and integrity. If a love song promotes the sanctity of marriage and/or the purity of true love, even if it does not mention God or the Bible, it can still be listened to and enjoyed.

It goes without saying that as Christians, the best of music is that which praises, worships and glorifies God. Talented Christian musicians work in nearly every musical genre, ranging from classical to rock, rap, blues and reggae. There is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with any particular style of music, but rather, it is the lyrics of a song that determines whether a song is acceptable for a Christian to listen to or not. If anything leads you to think about or get involved in a thing that does not glorify God, such  source should be avoided. Besides, it takes more than talents and the mention of God and the Bible to make a song spiritual and worthy of God. We should always bear in mind that it is not always melodies and harmonies that catch God's attention, not even beautiful lines and phrases that cause Him to stop and listen but when a heart that is set free, washed and bought by Calvary's blood begins to give praise to God!