Listen To Secular Music?

[Hidden In Him]

Some refuse to listen to secular music because it isn't "anointed" or "doesn't feed the soul." Such statements, when coming from a genuinely Spirit-filled Christian, can warrant some consideration, but often they come from judgmental types who walk in doctrinal error, and this just casts doubt on the whole contention. In fact, it reinforces the opposite, and suggests that Satan wants to use judgmental Christians to give the genuine and sincere ones a guilt trip over listening to secular stuff.

I recently had to have a thread specifically created for Love Songs deleted because one member in particular decided to turn it into a debate rather than posting anything either Christian or non-Christian. What I got instead was a lecture on proper "Christian" conduct. So this time I'm starting one as a debate from the outset, and we'll see how it goes.

As a Christian, do you listen to secular music or not. And why or why not? Also, if you think Christians should only listen to Christian music, where do you draw the line? There have been a number of Christian artists who wrote crossover songs that made the secular charts and touched millions of lives. Should purely worship music be the only thing Christians listen to, and how exactly would one define it? Must it contain blatantly Christian lyrics, or can it still qualify if it was written by a Christian with Christian intent and in a Christian Spirit?

Thanks for your participation in advance,
Hidden In Him

 

[Riven]

As a Christian, do you listen to secular music or not. And why or why not?

Yes. Because I think it's better. Sort of like Coke versus Diet Coke.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Yes. Because I think it's better. Sort of like Coke versus Diet Coke.

Yes.

There are certainly some good Christian artists out there, but there are also some - whether singers, song writers, musicians, or whatever - who are not up to the same standards, and it's noticeable. Yet they gain visibility on the Christian scene because the level of competition isn't as good.

Now, in rarer cases you can have a Christian who is not that talented but nevertheless has a great heart for God, and they can occasionally write songs that are very beautiful in spirit. When produced by a Christian musician with talent, it can result in a wonderful piece being produced. But what happens more often in my opinion is you get material where neither the writing nor musicianship NOR spirit is very good, and then it just comes of as mediocre copycat stuff...

I hate to sound too critical and normally wouldn't, because there is certainly no problem with Christians (no matter how gifted) choosing to express themselves onto God, or about Him to the world. But in the context of some judging and condemning Christians for listening to secular stuff, suddenly it becomes an entirely different scenario. If the church can't produce better music, why should Christians be "corrected" or judged for listening to those who can? Granted, listening to demonic stuff is bad for the spirit, and should be avoided - not just evil stuff but depressing and suicidal music that brings the spirit down instead of up. There have been threads where I talked about this extensively. But in a nutshell you are correct. Secular stuff is just better, maybe because it has to be, because the level of expectation is higher in the world. So the whole judgmental thing comes off as counterproductive. Kinda like, "If you're not listening to garbage, then you're not a Christian," which is a terrible thing to lay off on believers who actually have some musical taste about them. It not only discourages Christian excellence, but in some cases discourages others from even becoming Christians, and makes us worthy of ridicule by the world, for walking in some sort of holier-than-thou spirit that isn't well deserved (and they do, btw. I remember a few incidents back when I first got saved).

 

[Christ_empowered]

Nothing against Christian music per se but…

I do think a lot of secular music sounds better and has more solid entertainment value. Personal opinion…

 

[hawkman]

I do have a story . A Christian friend on another long gone forum shared a story . After becoming a Christian he still liked listening to secular metal rock music . He was driving down the road one day with AC/DC's " Highway To Hell" blasting and he was singing along "I'm on the highway to hell !" at this point the Holy Spirit said to him "Are you on the highway to hell ?" My friend thought a second and said no , no more singing along with AC/DC .

 

[Christ_empowered]

This is true….

I’ve had times where I was listening to secular music and the thrill was gone. I stopped to reflect and…

It’s a worldview issue, a lot of secular songs from all genres predictably reflect some flavor of worldly values. Since it’s the broad road one sees all kinds of values…

Few of them are Christian or compatible with a Christian worldview.

A big letdown for me was falling out of love with the talking heads because of this. Sad

 

[Hidden In Him]

I do have a story . A Christian friend on another long gone forum shared a story . After becoming a Christian he still liked listening to secular metal rock music . He was driving down the road one day with AC/DC's " Highway To Hell" blasting and he was singing along "I'm on the highway to hell !" at this point the Holy Spirit said to him "Are you on the highway to hell ?" My friend thought a second and said no , no more singing along with AC/DC .

Yes, Lol, and thanks for sharing,

By the same token, listening to Girl's Got Rhythm wasn't doing me any favors after I got saved either. But I think the draw for bands like AC/DC was that they had a lot of energy.

But yeah, bad highway to be on, Lol.

 

[Hidden In Him]

It’s a worldview issue, a lot of secular songs from all genres predictably reflect some flavor of worldly values. Since it’s the broad road one sees all kinds of values…

The toughest part for me is the really depressing, negative stuff. Back when Nirvana became the thing, it's like a different spirit took over.

And to this day, like with all the rap stuff, it's so... dark-spirited most of it. All the hate and the swearing and the lewdness. Even the Satanist stuff from the 70s was more positive in spirit. But then that partly gets into the tone of the music itself. All music carries a spirit, and I mean in the music itself, regardless of the words.

There's some modern stuff I listen to, but I can't tolerate the negativity in a lot of it.

 

[Riven]

Yes, Lol, and thanks for sharing,

By the same token, listening to Girl's Got Rhythm wasn't doing me any favors after I got saved either. But I think the draw for bands like AC/DC was that they had a lot of energy.

But yeah, bad highway to be on, Lol.

In addition to energy, I think secular music taps into the dark feelings that we all deal with in our lives. When I'm feeling sad, sometimes I'll take out my keyboard and what comes out of my playing is a dark/sad melody.

Listening to music, no matter what it is, can stir up emotions. But there are times when it's not going good, or maybe you're feeling aggressive, and so that aggressive heavy metal is exactly what you need in that moment.

Since Christian music lacks that darker element of our emotional spectrum, it's not able to reach the same depths as secular music. I dont think there will ever be a Christian band that's on the level of Pink Floyd, for example. The emotional range that's required to make that kind of music just doesn't exist in the Christian music scene.

 

[Hidden In Him]

In addition to energy, I think secular music taps into the dark feelings that we all deal with in our lives. When I'm feeling sad, sometimes I'll take out my keyboard and what comes out of my playing is a dark/sad melody.

Listening to music, no matter what it is, can stir up emotions. But there are times when it's not going good, or maybe you're feeling aggressive, and so that aggressive heavy metal is exactly what you need in that moment.

Since Christian music lacks that darker element of our emotional spectrum, it's not able to reach the same depths as secular music. I dont think there will ever be a Christian band that's on the level of Pink Floyd, for example. The emotional range that's required to make that kind of music just doesn't exist in the Christian music scene.

Man is this a good point.

Let me take this in stages, as I wanted to respond to each:

Listening to music, no matter what it is, can stir up emotions. But there are times when it's not going good, or maybe you're feeling aggressive, and so that aggressive heavy metal is exactly what you need in that moment.

The question here becomes this (and I agree): How much does more aggressive or more sad (or whatever) music allow us to vent our feelings in a safe way, i.e. in a way where we feel someone is being empathetic and feels what we feel, and then at what point do we drive ourselves into a rut where the music is starting to govern our emotions rather than simply reflect and empathize with them. That is the issue, IMO. I think it can be therapeutic in a way, but also become detrimental to the psyche if you pull up a trailer and park there for the rest of your life.

Since Christian music lacks that darker element of our emotional spectrum, it's not able to reach the same depths as secular music. I dont think there will ever be a Christian band that's on the level of Pink Floyd, for example. The emotional range that's required to make that kind of music just doesn't exist in the Christian music scene.

And this is pretty deep. You will hear some variation in Christian music themes and emotional expressions, but there is like a pretty limited pool of what "sells" for lack of a better word. There is the happy, joyful spirit (which is proper so long as it's genuine), and then there will be the "I'm so unworthy" spirit, which kinda gets on my nerves after a while. Nine million Christian contemporary songs on how "I don't deserve it, blah, blah, blah," After a while you start to think, "Well get out there and start deserving it a little more. What do you want, a pity party?" Gets irritating. But that's correct. You will NOT normally find anywhere near the full spectrum of human emotions listening to Christian music, and I think it's because they don't get very real. Too much stigmatism about what they are "supposed" to write about, and what they are "supposed" to feel... It can be a slippery slope, however, cuz we live in an age when much of the church is noise-diving morally, and I certainly wouldn't wanna hear about sexual passion when I turn on Christian radio, Lol, and it may not be long before that starts to become more possible...

It's like the superficiality of the church is reflected in the superficiality of the music, and the solution is for the church not to be spiritually deeper and more genuine, not simply more expressive. If they get closer to God, they will get more creative, for He is the Creator of Heaven and Earth. They will also get more heartfelt, more educated in the word, and more powerful in their sentiments and expressions, and maybe that's the part I miss most. Where's the manhood in Christianity today? Where's the GODLY aggressiveness? It's not a mystery why younger men don't want much to do with the church these days. It's emasculating.

 

[Riven]

I do have a story . A Christian friend on another long gone forum shared a story . After becoming a Christian he still liked listening to secular metal rock music . He was driving down the road one day with AC/DC's " Highway To Hell" blasting and he was singing along "I'm on the highway to hell !" at this point the Holy Spirit said to him "Are you on the highway to hell ?" My friend thought a second and said no , no more singing along with AC/DC .

Very interesting. I had a moment like that the other day when I put Black Sabbath on. It was like there was this mental block that wasn't there before and I turned it off.

 

[hawkman]

Found this list of Christian Artists and bands . Strange though I did not find Phil Keaggy on the list .

List of Christian Bands and Artists

 

[Riven]

The question here becomes this (and I agree): How much does more aggressive or more sad (or whatever) music allow us to vent our feelings in a safe way, i.e. in a way where we feel someone is being empathetic and feels what we feel, and then at what point do we drive ourselves into a rut where the music is starting to govern our emotions rather than simply reflect and empathize with them. That is the issue, IMO. I think it can be therapeutic in a way, but also become detrimental to the psyche if you pull up a trailer and park there for the rest of your life.

I think at a certain point it can begin to act against you similar to alcohol. There were times when I would listen to some really dark music when I was really down and it ended up making me feel worse. There were times when I drank too much and puked my guts out. Lol.

I think it's about what kind of headspace you're in. What I want to know is, whay do Christians that only listen to Christian music do when they are feeling sad or aggressive? Gospel music? Does it help?

And this is pretty deep. You will hear some variation in Christian music themes and emotional expressions, but there is like a pretty limited pool of what "sells" for lack of a better word. There is the happy, joyful spirit (which is proper so long as it's genuine), and then there will be the "I'm so unworthy" spirit, which kinda gets on my nerves after a while. Nine million Christian contemporary songs on how "I don't deserve it, blah, blah, blah," After a while you start to think, "Well get out there and start deserving it a little more. What do you want, a pity party?" Gets irritating. But that's correct. You will NOT normally find anywhere near the full spectrum of human emotions listening to Christian music, and I think it's because they don't get very real. Too much stigmatism about what they are "supposed" to write about, and what they are "supposed" to feel... It can be a slippery slope, however, cuz we live in an age when much of the church is noise-diving morally, and I certainly wouldn't wanna hear about sexual passion when I turn on Christian radio, Lol, and it may not be long before that starts to become more possible...

It's like the superficiality of the church is reflected in the superficiality of the music, and the solution is for the church not to be spiritually deeper and more genuine, not simply more expressive. If they get closer to God, they will get more creative, for He is the Creator of Heaven and Earth. They will also get more heartfelt, more educated in the word, and more powerful in their sentiments and expressions, and maybe that's the part I miss most. Where's the manhood in Christianity today? Where's the GODLY aggressiveness? It's not a mystery why younger men don't want much to do with the church these days. It's emasculating.

I think this clip from Walk The Line really gets to the heart of it. You can apply this same clip to modern Christianity and get the same result, I think.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Found this list of Christian Artists and bands . Strange though I did not find Phil Keaggy on the list .

List of Christian Bands and Artists

Wow. That's a pretty extensive list.

Well she was bound to forget a few people. I noticed she had Cheri Keaggy (his nephew's wife), which is kinda weird.

Go figure.

 

[Free]

As a Christian, do you listen to secular music or not. And why or why not?

I do not. I was convicted years ago when I got into some secular music briefly, and threw it all out. There is nothing edifying or glorifying to God in it.

There have been a number of Christian artists who wrote crossover songs that made the secular charts and touched millions of lives. Should purely worship music be the only thing Christians listen to, and how exactly would one define it? Must it contain blatantly Christian lyrics, or can it still qualify if it was written by a Christian with Christian intent and in a Christian Spirit?

No, not purely worship music. Worship music is for worshiping. Nor does it need to have blatantly Christian lyrics but I strongly prefer Christian music with a Christian message, even if it is implicit. Some of the Christian music I have doesn't have lyrics, but is written by a Christian artist.

 

[Free]

I think it's about what kind of headspace you're in. What I want to know is, whay do Christians that only listen to Christian music do when they are feeling sad or aggressive? Gospel music? Does it help?

There is music of almost every genre within Christian music, including very moody and melancholic stuff.

Even better:

 

[Hidden In Him]

I think it's about what kind of headspace you're in. What I want to know is, whay do Christians that only listen to Christian music do when they are feeling sad

There's plenty of sad Christian music. I don't think there's near a dearth of that, too much of it if you ask me.

or aggressive?

They mostly go secular. Some like a few of the Christian heavy metal bands. I don't care for any of the modern ones, except maybe Switchfoot and Thousand Foot Crutch, and they're not all that modern any more. Both are about a decade old at least.

Gospel music? Does it help?

A little. Gospel can get down, so to speak, Lol. But it's not quite the same. Old school Gospel is very physical, but not really what you'd call aggressive or heavy. So it's kind of a make due, at best.

I think this clip from Walk The Line really gets to the heart of it. You can apply this same clip to modern Christianity and get the same result, I think.

Wow. I never saw that movie. That's a pretty impressive scene...

And isn't that exactly right? That's exactly the problem. A lot of it isn't real.

Ty Tabor talked about the same thing. He mentioned a couple times that he thought the Christian music scene was "deplorable," and I think it's because he NEVER wrote anything that wasn't real. Didn't care if it would sell, it could be about a tree he cut down, and related it to finally letting go of a woman he held on to for a lot of years, but it was always real. Been thinking of cutting down a "tree" recently myself lately, but I haven't come to that conclusion just yet, Lol.

I'm gonna have to try and watch that movie. It looks pretty good. Thanks for the clip.

Had the same attitude towards people who were fake with their religion as well.

 

[Hidden In Him]

I do not. I was convicted years ago when I got into some secular music briefly, and threw it all out. There is nothing edifying or glorifying to God in it.


No, not purely worship music. Worship music is for worshiping. Nor does it need to have blatantly Christian lyrics but I strongly prefer Christian music with a Christian message, even if it is implicit. Some of the Christian music I have doesn't have lyrics, but is written by a Christian artist.

Well I knew an opposing opinion was coming eventually, so I appreciate it.

Let me ask you about this. I get into complex music, and the church really doesn't produce any. And I find it mentally stimulating. Do you take the position that that it has to be produced by a Christian to be mentally stimulating as well?

 

[Hidden In Him]

There is music of almost every genre within Christian music, including very moody and melancholic stuff.

See like with this song right here. It's purely instrumental. I've been into the following video for the last several days, and it's also instrumental. I like this stuff because it's not boring to me. Why would you say there is so much difference between one and the other.

 

[Free]

Well I knew an opposing opinion was coming eventually, so I appreciate it.

Let me ask you about this. I get into complex music, and the church really doesn't produce any. And I find it mentally stimulating. Do you take the position that that it has to be produced by a Christian to be mentally stimulating as well?

I find that some of the music I listen to is mentally stimulating. I don't listen to anything else. And please note that I'm saying what I was convicted of and what I listen to. I'm not saying that all Christians need to listen to only Christian music. That is something all believers have to discuss with God.