I used to be a fan of classic rock. Some of my favorite bands and artists included Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Dire Straits, Bob Seger, Fleetwood Mac, and Supertramp, to name a few. I also liked certain more recent ones like the Killers, Coldplay, Rufus Wainwright, and James Blunt. I never enjoyed music that glorified sin in an egregiously obvious way; for example, I would change the radio station when anything by AC/DC came on. But I did listen to some music that (if only subtly) sang the praises of lust, fornication, drug use, and anti-Christian mindsets.
Over the last seven years or so, I gradually stopped listening to most of my CDs and the radio stations that play that music. At first it was because I was listening to more podcasts instead, but eventually I found that I preferred not to listen to that music; I gravitated rather to podcasts, classical music, or silence. It has only been in the last few months that I have started getting rid of those CDs, though, and I admit that it can be difficult even though I don’t listen to them anymore. (A good test is to play them for my son. If I have to stop the music, then the music has to go.)
Can Christians listen to secular music? Here again, I don’t want to make any sweeping pronouncements about what is sin and what is not. In fact, I don’t think all secular music is bad. I don’t believe that Christians must only listen to explicitly Christian music. I think it is perfectly fine to sing and enjoy music about the things that are common to human experience, regardless of one’s religion. Love, joy, pain, loss, beauty, and so forth are themes that can be sung about without reference to God, and sometimes the irreligious do a better job of this than Christian artists. (In fact, I think most contemporary Christian music is trash. Much of it doesn’t say anything, it’s cheesy and lacks art, and it stays stuck in my head for days!)
The problem arises when the music has not just an a-Christian worldview, but an anti-Christian one. Are things celebrated that Scripture condemns? Does it inspire body movements that in turn inspire lust? Or does it excite the passions in a way that is not fit for Christians? Does it lead to despair and depression (the feelings I get when I listen to Pink Floyd’s album The Wall)? Are the lyrics something you would want your young child to listen to–and to sing along with as he learned them? If so, maybe it’s time to reconsider your jams.
There are many reasons a person may listen to a given song or genre of music. Maybe you are investigating what your teenagers are listening to. Perhaps you want to understand the worldview of an artist and his fans to learn what matters to them and reach out to them–and to warn others not to go down that road. Or maybe you are stuck in a store or other public place with piped-in music and have no choice. The question is, do we want this music to fill our hearts, minds, and souls as we listen to it again and again and derive pleasure from hearing it? If we sing along with it, would we want Jesus to overhear us? (He does, you know.) Do you think He would sing along, too?
I don’t mean to be legalistic. But I think that if a Christian takes joy in the things of God, in meditating on His Word, and is seeking to be renewed by it, he should naturally shun those things that militate against his sanctification. I think it’s fine to be in the world and to listen to music about our shared human experience, even if God is not mentioned in the song. But we should also remember that we are not of the world, so we are not to set our minds on the things of this world–especially not those things that beckon us away from our faith and the virtues that are consistent with it.
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2, NASB)
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” (Philippians 4:8, NASB)
A Head-covering Lutheran 