Secular Music

[HollandScotts]

There's nothing at all wrong with secular music. I don't even bother listening to Christian bands and worship music. I can't stand that crap. The closest I've come is some Creed. If God has a problems with that, then he should give those band a muse and let em write some decent music.

Songs like the recent hit by Katy Perry 'I kissed a girl'

Yea, but it's just so catchy...

 

[StreetPreacher82]

One thing we need to remember - Secular music does not just mean those songs with lyrics. It is any song that is not overtly religious. So if you don't listen to any secular music you are missing out on alot of instrumental music - symphonies, the harpestry of Aine Minogue, the guitar work of Robin Bullock, the synthesizer suites of Jean-Michel Jarre, the harmonies of the Canadian Brass Ensemble, the work of David Arkenstone etc. etc etc.

I think this stuff is an entirely different category. However, point taken!

 

[StreetPreacher82]

There's nothing at all wrong with secular music. I don't even bother listening to Christian bands and worship music. I can't stand that crap. The closest I've come is some Creed. If God has a problems with that, then he should give those band a muse and let em write some decent music.

More power to you friend. I just cannot do it anymore. With the message so flawed, I had to let 99% of it go. As far as quality Christian music, it is out there. But... you have to be willing to go looking for it.

 

[engrafted]

Theres nothing wrong w/ secular music if? your an unbeliever.

I know the we are instructed in the New Testament to "renew" our mind by the reading of the Word of God.

Also, we are to be conformed to the image of Christ. I find it would be very difficult for a Holy Spirit filled believer who has experienced the transforming power of God's Word to make such a statement.

We see the life of Christ in the gospels. That He did not speak on His own behalf but of His Father's. We know Christ response to Pilate. That His kingdom is not of this world. These are not compulsory statements. These are clear definitions of who Christ is an the voice of the Holy Spirit speaks a clarity of distinction between what belongs to Christ and what is of this world.

Our position once we are in Christ obviously changes. We become of "His" kingdom. And, its our part to find what Christ's
purpose is for our life? As we lend ourselves to the engagement
of being Christ bride. We will move on from the beggarly elements of the world. Into the granduer and scope of "Christ in us the hope of glory". We simply move on from being corruptable flesh to being an eternal ,ever evolving ,purpose driven, vessal of God. The world pales in the light of this knowledge.

Yet, because some believers wink at the works of unbelievers in the earth.
And ,regard the arm of the flesh are of those who name Christ as their savior. Yet, have not made Him Lord over every area of their life.

 

[HollandScotts]

Theres nothing wrong w/ secular music if? your an unbeliever.

There's nothing wrong with it, period.

Also, we are to be conformed to the image of Christ. I find it would be very difficult for a Holy Spirit filled believer who has experienced the transforming power of God's Word to make such a statement.

It's real easy if you're not legalistic.

Our position once we are in Christ obviously changes. We become of "His" kingdom. And, its our part to find what Christ's
purpose is for our life? As we lend ourselves to the engagement
of being Christ bride. We will move on from the beggarly elements of the world. Into the granduer and scope of "Christ in us the hope of glory". We simply move on from being corruptable flesh to being an eternal ,ever evolving ,purpose driven, vessal of God. The world pales in the light of this knowledge.

Yet, because some believers wink at the works of unbelievers in the earth.
And ,regard the arm of the flesh are of those who name Christ as their savior. Yet, have not made Him Lord over every area of their life.

What does this have anything to do with music?

 

[engrafted]

A continued debate over the issue of whether secular music has a place in the life of a born again believer. I'm afraid would prove arguementitive. I only wanted to address through the context of the Word of God. And, state that once we are followers of Christ that a change of heart takes place.

We see ourselves in the light of Gods Word. Where we judge between what is of God and what belongs to the world.

I seen your post. And, my intention was to shed more counsel on
the subject. If you look Corinthians ch.13. The motivation of our Christian life is to "love". And, its attributes are mentioned.
Which in order to "love" truely ,involves truth.

How could a follower of Christ suggest ,after all we know about 100% percent of Gods Word. That anything secular has a place in us? Being scriptural is not legalism. Its our daily bread. Christ is our portion. And, He gave us spiritual life everlasting.

1Cor. ch.13v11. "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but i became a man
, I put away childish things.

Would? i instruct a child or minor to listen to secular music as a
source of edification in their Christian walk.
Of course not. I would encourage my brothers and sisters to lay aside every weight! For what you allow or yield yourselves to you become slaves to.

And, slavery is not only cruel but a prison. If you are in it.
We as believers must draw clear lines between ,what is of the Lord and what is contrary to Salvation.

I'm 37yrs old. I've been a singer for 10yrs. and I know the secular music industry and it belongs to satan. It is his intention to decieve and pervert through its method.

It took years for me to adhere to the truth of Gods Word, concerning secular music. But, now after i've surrendered to Christ this area of my heart. God has blessed me w/ new music in writing w/ my guitar again. I'm glad the Lord has complete control over it i'm at peace knowing i'm in His will not my own.

 

[HollandScotts]

How could a follower of Christ suggest ,after all we know about 100% percent of Gods Word. That anything secular has a place in us? Being scriptural is not legalism. Its our daily bread. Christ is our portion. And, He gave us spiritual life everlasting.

Because we are a part of the world, and I know of no Scripture that tells us not to enjoy the legitimate pleasures of the world that have no bearing on our salvation.

If we were to do that, then we'ld have to go live under a rock with our fingers in our ears.

Would? i instruct a child or minor to listen to secular music as a
source of edification in their Christian walk.
Of course not. I would encourage my brothers and sisters to lay aside every weight! For what you allow or yield yourselves to you become slaves to.

You're reading too much into it. It's not about edification, it about listening to some good music. Nothing more. Unless you believe guitar notes are evil when not coming from a Christian's guitar, which would be insane.

And, slavery is not only cruel but a prison. If you are in it.
We as believers must draw clear lines between ,what is of the Lord and what is contrary to Salvation.

I believe most music of all types is from the Lord. And slavery has nothing to do with it. Again, you're reading too much into this. It's just music. Very good music at that.

I'm 37yrs old. I've been a singer for 10yrs. and I know the secular music industry and it belongs to satan. It is his intention to decieve and pervert through its method.

That's only true if you believe Satan is a better musician than God, which I don't.

 

[hiscosmicgoldfish]

It depends what it is, satanic music, like that produced by that funny eyed twerp, manson, or the satanic heavy metal, dodgy stuff from the 1970's and there's a lot of that. Misogynist rap music.
I still listen to carib music by Sean Paul and others. And bored by most of it. But a lot of secular music is harmless.
I hate the trend to bring in 'rock music' into churches. It's not just because it is rubbish, but the music has it's origin in 'rock and roll'.. rock and roll is an old English term for having illicit sex. The structure of the music is from the occult, if they are using it in the satanic music, just sticking some christian words on the tunes, dosn't make it right on, and correct, although it might be popular with the youth, that's not the point of it. Go listen to that music in the spare time, and leave it at that.
There was a group that was in our church the other day, they sang that song, 'He reigns'.. who reigns? Jesus? God? who exactly reigns? And what is that 'people living underground' thing? who lives underground? the dead?
It might be a nice song, but you cant sing along with it, and people just stand around thinking 'what's this about?'
'reminds me of that bit in Borat, when he starts singing the american anthem in Kazakstani, and it gets out of hand, and the croud start of wonder what's going on,.. no i mean the Kazakstan national anthem lyrics, to the tune of the american anthem.

 

[Celticflower]

Actually, music itself is neutral - neither good nor evil. It just is. It is only when words are added to direct the listener to a certain train of thought that it becomes something else. Remove the words and it is again neutral. And while some may see it as "evil" others may view it as harmless venting of emotion. A protest song is viewed as good or honorable by those who support the cause while those on the other side see it as horrid or evil. Yes, there are songs out there with objectionable lyrics - that is what the off button on the radio is for, the delete function of your mp3 player is for, the mute button on your remote control. Your are not a dumping ground for everything that is out there - you get to choose what you will or will not allow into your life. Sacred or secular, good or bad, Christian or satanic - you are the judge of what is right for you. BUT you are not the judge for everyone else around you. Each of us must make their own decisions.

 

[&Abel]

theres a ton of "christian" rock at the top of the charts these days

from what I've seen the best rock out there right now is faith based

 

[JohnDeereFan]

I was talking with a mentor a few months ago and I thought i would post the question he posed to me when we had this chat...

Should a 14 year old question be listening to bands like rage against the machine etc?

i think a broader question is should a christian listen to secular music?

is a christian wrong for listening to secular bands over christian bands and worship music?

I don't believe there's anything wrong with secular music, in and of itself (if there is, then I guess I'm a hypocrite because I'm listening to secular music right now...got Dan Fogleberg playing as we speak).

But that doesn't mean that we don't still need to use discernment.

The first thing I would ask is, does it glorify sin or cause you to sin?

Second, would it cause a weaker brother to sin?

If you were to answer yes to these, then you're probably safe, but there's one more very important thing to consider.

What sort of feelings or attitudes does the music inspire in you?

Gal 5: 19-25 says: 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

In the case of Rage Against the Machine, the little bit of their music I know seems to be very angry and rebelious against authority. In addition, the music, itself, seems to be very aggressive and dischordant.

Which of the two camps do these things fall into? Works of the flesh or works of the Spirit? If you're honest with yourself, I think you'll find that they're in line with the works of the flesh. So, if it were me, no, I couldn't listen to it with a clear conscience.

 

[UnderHisWings1979]

Paul makes it farely clear in his writings that there isn't much room for legalistic rules like drawing strict lines about what music to listen to. However, he also gives one very good guideline for questions such as this. "All things are lawful, but not all things are good." The question of whether or not you can is one thing. What you should really be asking is whether or not you should.

 

[lightupsneakers]

Hello Thereee,
I actually listen to a hugee deal of secular music. and my fianc'e does too. but we dont let it take over anything.. we where brought up in christian music, and forced to listen to it, when we where christians.. so neither of us really like it.. but we dont pay attention to any lyrics,or talk like they do in the songs..

 

[Tractor1]

when we where christians..

When you were Christians?????

In Christ,
Tracey

 

[Strong in Him]

I was talking with a mentor a few months ago and I thought i would post the question he posed to me when we had this chat...

Should a 14 year old question be listening to bands like rage against the machine etc?

i think a broader question is should a christian listen to secular music?

is a christian wrong for listening to secular bands over christian bands and worship music?

At the risk of being picky, I don't believe music can be either secular or sacred; it's the words, and maybe the attitude/lifestyle of the performer that make it one or the other.

Personally I don't like pop music anyway. I also think some of the pop/rock and roll songs today might have some less than edifying words, and I wouldn't want them to be pouring into my ears all day through headphones. When I listen to music (which isn't that often) I would far rather have songs that spoke of the Gospel, reminded me of God's love or were taken directly from Scripture. In fact I bought an iPod recently just so that I could have the NT available to listen to when I wanted it. (It might also help me to learn bits of it.)

But I guess that if you really don't mind listening to words of such songs, or can do so without taking on some of the attitudes/messages which they send out, why not? My hubby watches films that are full of swear words; I hate it, but it doen't seem to bother him.

Having said that, I've just re read the OP. 14 year olds may be quite susceptible, unless they are really strong in their faith.