Cute dog, huh? LOL... I love Golden Retrievers... always have. Hey, here's a request 😃... If you happen to know someone looking for someone willing to adopt a beautiful Golden Retriever puppy... please refer them to me 😊
Anyhow, let's get serious here. As a christian, as a follower of Jesus, as a student and as a worker, without a doubt, one of the MOST consistent and popular questions that I've heard over and over and over is: "is it bad for a christian to listen to secular music?... or... is it a sin?". For as long as I have had the capacity of reasoning I have been seeing this debate prevail across christian churches and followers of Jesus. Some use arguments like: "Yeah, it's cool. Is just music... doesn't mean I follow or practice what the song says", but others say more serious arguments like: "No, we should not listen to secular music. It's a sin and inspires bad behaviors from within...". Uhhhh, the question is: who is right and who is wrong? We could even ask... "are both parties partly right?". What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this so... please reach out!
For this particular case, once again and as ALWAYS, the Bible has the answers that we need so let's get ready to do some Bible research and answer the question about music once and for all... ok? Ready, set,... ... GO!
Music & The Bible
Unfortunately for us now, iPods and MP3 players didn't exist in the times of Jesus so we have no record, whatsoever, of what kind of playlist Jesus kept with Him. No, I am not making fun... the jews had celebrations and feasts in God's honor and I'm 100% sure they had all kinds of songs and I'm also 100% sure that Jesus heard and even memorized some of them.
As a matter of fact, there is biblical evidence that Jesus sang with His disciples. Let's read:
"When they [including Jesus] had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." - Mathew 26:30
[bracket added for clarification] The thing is that we have no record of which songs Jesus actually sang or re-played in His mind. Music is always contagious so I can totally visualize Jesus singing from time to time in His mind. Not only music can inspire and elevate, but, after all, God is the creator of music. Point is... Jesus listened to and sang songs as well.
Along those lines, and considering that there's no verse in the Bible stating "You shall not listen to secular music.", it is sort of hard to make a clear cut decision as to whether we should or should not listen to it. What we can say with absolute certainty, YES - CERTAINTY, is that listening to secular music is NOT a sin. Sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4), since there's no specific law in regards to types of music we can or can't listen to... listening to it can't be a sin. Now, PLEASE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION... although there is no law concerning types of music, this doesn't mean that the Bible does not speak about some other things which might come as consequence of us listening to secular music. Please stay with me... this is important.
Knowing that listening to secular music is not a sin... then, does that mean that we're free to listen to whatever we want? Hmmm... no. Here's the thing, although the Bible does not specify the types of music we can and can't hear, the Bible does say the types of behaviors and morals we as christians and followers of Jesus are to look after and exhibit.
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things..." - Philippians 4:8
In other words... look for, reflect on, think about, and showcase attitudes and behaviors that help us get closer to God. Fill your mind with good things. It is not a surprise that plenty of secular music seem to have "harmless" lyrics filled with romance, story telling, decency and some even instrumental that help us relax and tone it down. Music that can inspire us and even help us get into better moods... There's also, however, an ABUNDANCE of modern music that objectifies women, promotes and instills terrible sexual conducts, encourages violence and drugs, some even promote suicide, and even worse than all those... music that directly speaks about or quotes Satanism, Spiritualism and paganism. Kind of obvious the question that follows... "is this the kind of music that us Christians should be listening to? Well... of course not.
There's power (as in mind-control and manipulating power) in music and I wish I had the time to discuss... but for now know that the kind of music and lyrics that you expose your mind into, can severely desensitize you against inmoral and even satanic behaviors. Just as a quick and simple example, have you ever heard a song that can instantaneously bring your mood up? How about the other way? One that instantaneously brings your mood down...? I bet you have. Think about it, if music has the capacity to shift emotions in a very fast and efficient way... how much more control and manipulation can music have over your mind? Since I can't enter much in-depth into this topic, I'll try to give you a gift. Please stay with me and read through the end to find out the gift I'll be giving away (listed at the end of this post). Now, back to the topic...
Media, and music specially, has turned society into the society that calls 'good things' bad, and 'bad things' good. There are tons of studies done that directly correlate a decline in society morals (as a whole) with the evolution and exposure to media content. Often times these "normal" conducts in our minds are standards created there by external sources, such as music. We all know that music can be very "sticky" as in you can randomly begin singing a song and repeating it in your mind just because... this speaks to the fact that music can often times take over our thoughts. Do we, as followers of Jesus, want to find ourselves singing or repeating songs in our minds that promote sexual misconduct, violence, drugs, terrible behaviors or even paganism? The Bible says:
"Above all else, guard your heart [mind], for everything you do flows from it."- Proverbs 4:23
[Brackets added for clarification] In the context of the text above, we're being asked to keep our minds, to preserve them. As christians is our duty to abstain from 'inputting' into our minds things that don't help us at all neither meditate on the pureness and love of our God and savior, nor be a better human being for others. I like it how Paul put it:
"I have the right to do anything,' you say—but not everything is beneficial. 'I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive."- 1 Corinthians 10:23
In other words relevant to our post... you can listen to any music you want to... but if you chose wrong, it can have negative consequences in our minds and life. The same Paul wrote just a few chapters earlier:
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies..." - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Honor God with your life, with your bodies, with what you see, with what you hear. Fill your life with positive things and don't conform to the standards of this world. Is it a sin to listen to secular music? NO. Should I then hear it...? Be very selective in what you're listening and entering into your thoughts. Ask yourself whether the message and content of that music will help you positively grow as a human or help you get connected with God. If the answer the question is that it won't do either... skip the song and move on.
Closing
We have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and we are loved by the Almighty creator of this Universe. We are called by God to experience, live and show the goodness in the world, the example that Jesus left for us recorded in the Bible. Why waste time listening to music that desensitizes us and makes us have un-pure thoughts and actions? Why help increase the popularity, fame and wealth of an 'artist' that's filling with trash the minds of society and our kids and families? Am I saying that all the music out there is trash unless it's christian? Of course not... Am I saying that there's a LOT of music that should never be heard... of course yes.
Listening or not to secular music is not a sin... the thoughts and conducts that the music can incite in you... can definitely be. You are called to keep your mind and thoughts clean, yet, you're given the free will to chose by yourself. The choice is yours friend.
Until next one,
P.S GIFT TIME!! Read section below (below the video)
NFE Giveaway! (Yes, the first of many to come...)
The effects of media (tv, music, video, gaming...) over our minds can truly be devastating and, as we stated, we should never underestimate the power of Satan to use these tools to drive us away from God. A while back I went to a conference in which the ministry "Belt of Truth" (listed in our 'Resources' tab on this site) presented the topic "Media and the Brain". AMAZING yet simple and straightforward exposition on how Satan is using media to virtually control our minds and separate us from God. As we just talked about music, I wanted to give away a gift that I thought can bring blessing to your life and that of your family and people with who you share it with.
We are giving out two (2) complete sets of DVDs containing the "Media on the Brain" complete series of lectures; 6 DVDs. This is on a 'first come, first served' basis. Feel free to see the set yourself in the link below:
How to claim your set?
Simple. See below:
Go to our home page (www.neverfarenough.org), scroll to the very end and fill up the "Contact Us!" form.
Please enter your full name
Please enter a valid email address (we'll use it to communicate with you)
In the "Leave us a Message" section, please describe that you're reaching it out to claim the "Media on the Brain" gift.
Submit your form!
We'll email you as soon as possible confirming whether you are a 'winner' (we wish we could give out as many sets as possible but we're currently short on funds 😞). Should you 'win' the gift, we'll send out further instructions in the email we'll be writing back. If you don't, we'll still email you! One way or another, you will hear from us 😃
QUESTIONS? Please reach out to us at: contact@neverfarenough.org
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