Finding Hope

Secular Music

Hello to whoever is reading this, I hope you're having a good day. If you could I'd really appreciate it if you'd send a friend this story, I think we need as Christians need to build a larger presence on Wattpad.

So today I wanted to talk about secular music, as it's been a topic that's been on my mind a lot. I personally listen to a good deal of secular music, I actually just went to a Plain White T's concert (they made hey there Delilah) and sometimes I question whether or not I should be listening to it.

For instance, let's look in the Bible. The Bible tells us to do everything for the glory of God    (1 Corinthians 10:31). This verse would clearly eliminate any secular music that have lyrics about sin or that aren't Gods will for us. But I personally don't think this completely eliminates secular music, as they are plenty of artists not religiously influenced that have morally sound lyrics.

The Catholic Church's view is also pretty similar, as long as it doesn't tempt one into sin, it's not inherently sinful. So it is a personal matter of whether one listens to secular music that fits into this qualification. I know many Christians as friends, and some aren't comfortable listening to it and others listen to a lot of it. Wether you do or not, I would encourage you to evaluate these things:

1. How you feel/thoughts you have when you listen to whatever music you're listening to. This is part of what we discussed. If you feel lustful or tempted in any way to sin, you should cut out any music that makes you feel this way.

2. Your ratio of secular vs. religious music. Even though secular music is sometimes permissible, it shouldn't be all you listen to as it can distract from God. Pay attention and try to intentionally listen to Christian music of your personal taste.

3. Finding Christian music of your taste. I understand this one can be a difficult one, especially for people like me who typically like heavy music that's traditionally anti-Christian. But even in genres that may seem so distant from God, there are usually Christian artists. You can search for bands or artists of your preferred music and there's usually at least a couple good picks. Especially with the huge rise of religiosity in youth, the Christian music scene is doing pretty good right now.

4. Pray on it. This one is really important, the Bible tells us to do all things in prayer (Philippians 4:6-7), it is a good spiritual practice to pray on it before you make any significant changes to your life. Ask God what he thinks about the matter, and what he wants you to do. Follow his commands, and remember that because people are not all made for the same purpose, we don't have the same spiritual needs when it comes to spiritual matters like this with Biblically inconclusive answers.

I hope this section helped you better understand a Christian standpoint on listening to secular music, as it is a confusing topic that as a person who listens to a lot of music, it was a huge question I had when I came to Christ because there is no concrete answer.