“Should Christians listen to secular music?” Here are my thoughts on the matter.

Now first I want us to expand the concept of “secular” which means “not connected with religious or spiritual matters.

A UI, ISI, Oxford etc are secular institutions. NaGeo, CNN etc are secular channels unlike TBN, Dove TV etc.

Now to music; twinkle twinkle little star, National Anthem, wedding/birthday songs etc are examples of secular songs.

Now we understand the word “secular”. There’s a branch of secular that we Christians call “Wordly”. What do we tag as Wordly?
“For everything in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–comes not from the Father but from the world.” 1John2:16.

So therefore;
– whatever promotes any of the attributes in 1John 2:16☝🏽
– whatever counters our faith.
– whatever preaches immorality/lust
– whatever goes against the features of Phil 4:8, Down pointing backhand index etc these are secular songs, but more precisely WORLDY-Secular songs.

So ALL worldly songs are secular, but not ALL secular songs are worldly. I hope we got that.

So the question is should Christians listen to secular songs?

Here’s my opinion, Since we’ve established secular to mean “not connected to religion or spiritual matters”, it’s safe to say that AS CHRISTIANS, Non worldly-secular songs are like junk food.

I call them that because eating them every now and then though isn’t beneficial to your (spiritual) health won’t kill either, but having them in large quantity (compared to quantity of healthy food) OR living off of them ALONE is dangerous to your health and can lead to death. That’s basic. This also means that the healthiest way is to simply do without them and stick to fresh foods I.e “gospel/Christian music”.

Because Music draws your attention (consciously or subconsciously) to its topics, as a Christian you’ll be better off drawn to God’s presence more often than to any other.

Worldly-Secular music on the other hand are drops of poison to your spirit man. Music is the only element that gains access to your heart and spirit without your permission.

Whatever content the music carries, be it immorality, lust, love of money, envy or pride goes straight into you and sticks its root into the soil of your heart.

What’s the implication of this? Prov 4:23 says “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” When the heart is corrupted, it WILL (not “it may”) influence your actions. This is what drives a person into a sinful lifestyle.

As a Christian, it is wrong and dangerous to listen to Wordly music.
It is even worse for a Christian who has many young Christian followers to encourage this. You have no idea the level of damage you’re causing on them.

Some might ask “what about listening to a Christian song produced by a Worldly person?” As a Christian with followers, I won’t condemn the song nor will I endorse it. If I encourage my followers to listen to it, I’m also drawing their attention to the artist and his works (past and present) and then what happens when the artist later decides to sing the opposite? Now this is a different case from if the artist openly claims to be born again and has turned a new leaf. Wisdom is key.

In conclusion, always remember that your body is the temple of God and this includes your heart. Guard its gateway against polluting content.
God bless.

Joshua Mike-Bamiloye

Twitter – @jay_mikee