music? a sin?

[GregorTheGaliant]

I was wondering if it is wrong to listen to secular music while still being devoted to God i mean like not cussing rap and crappy stuff like that i mean the clean secular bands please get massive comments on this one i want to clarify this now

[Fez]

No it is not a sin to listen to music. Music is a gift from God, and why should it be a sin to listen to secular music that lifts the soul? That rap stuff, you know, spelled with a capital C is generally bad, although I am sure that some of it is fine, depending on the lyrics. (I personally don't like it, just as I don't like jazz, but thats just a personal choice)

[OneLight]

For me, it is the message of a song that makes it good or bad. One example is the song Sympathy For The Devil by the Rolling Stones. The message is all about Satan. Then there is the song Turn! Turn! Turn! by the Byrds. Both are secular in nature, yet one sort of worships Satan and the other almost quotes scripture.

Allow that Holy Spirit to guide you in what you take into your mind and spirit.

[JCISGD]

Hi George, what does the Holy Spirit tell you ? when i was saved I suddenly hated all the secular music i used to listen to, and I saw no value in listening to music that does not glorify Jesus.

IMO secular music is driven primarily from selfish emotion and even when having good lyrics it is soulish and intended by Satan to mislead.

Is there not something better we can do with our time than listening to music to be entertained which is selfishness? Why not spend time in worship of God or saving the lost. This is something I am being challenged on as I write.

[JCISGD]

All music is either of the soul (soulish) or of the Spirit.

There is a difference.

Music of the soul lacks the Holy Spirit as its author and therefore not of God.

Music of the spiritual man (regenerated) should be in obedience to first create it, and secondly, to be used of God in its composition.

It is either of the world or of God.

There is no medium, nor compromise.

[Guest yod]

What you allow into your sensory (eyes, ears, touch, smell, etc) will go right to your brain. It was rock music that led me into a rock lifestyle and all that goes with it. Music itself isn't inherently bad but there is a spirit behind it that is very seductive.

Be careful, my little brother. The enemy wants to sift you.

[Guest shiloh357]

I was wondering if it is wrong to listen to secular music while still being devoted to God i mean like not cussing rap and crappy stuff like that i mean the clean secular bands please get massive comments on this one i want to clarify this now

Secular doe not equal "sinful" or "evil." There is secular music that is sinful and anything glorifies or exalts sin should not be part of your life. There is good music and real artistry out there in the secular world and I don't think we are forbidden to enjoy it.

I used to someone who cannot listen to country music because it triggers something in him and tempts him back into a lifestyle of booze and country-themed nightclubs and all of the sin that came with them. So he sticks with praise and worship and is very careful about not going to resturaunts that play country music while patrons are eating. I, on the other hand, listen to Country, Southern Gospel, Praise and Worship, Messianic Jewish music, Klezmer, Contemporary Christian, Classical, and I also enjoy Big Band sounds like Glenn Miller. I don't get as emotionally invested in music as he does, and I am able to listen to a variety of styles without being affected so much.

In Paul's day, there were those believers who could not, in good conscience, eat any meat they knew had been sacrificed to an idol. For others, it was no big deal. There were yet others for whom it was such a problem, they were vegitarians and forsook eating meat altogether in order to resolve the problem. It would have been really easy for one group to look at the other as weak an inferior for not being able to eat meat, and it would have been easy for the other group to see those who ate meat that had been sacrificed to idols as compromisers or maybe even not Christians at all. Paul's instruction was that no group was to condemn or look down on the other for what they could or could not do.

[~Shalhevet~]

I still listen to some secular music but about 95% of the stuff I listen to is Christian. It lifts my spirits.

[~candice~]

What you allow into your sensory (eyes, ears, touch, smell, etc) will go right to your brain. It was rock music that led me into a rock lifestyle and all that goes with it. Music itself isn't inherently bad but there is a spirit behind it that is very seductive.

Be careful, my little brother. The enemy wants to sift you.

This is great advice. Whatever you feed yourself, influences you. What influence does your music have on you?

When I first got saved, I struggled with prayer. My thoughts were distracting me. You know what would come to mind? The lyrics of songs I used to listen to. There are some great secular bands, and some bad ones.

Turns out that listening to the smashing pumpkins for 4 hours a day wasn't healthy for me at all.

[Sir Gareth]

while i do not think secular music is itself sinful or evil I do personally try to avoid things that are not God honoring.

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Be careful, for Satan will use any foothold he can get to try and bring you down, if you listen to secular music be very picky about which songs and bands, avoid anything that makes sin sound good.