Is it okay to listen to secular music?

Question:

Hi!

I have e-mailed before concerning if we could have facial hair. I have come to you again for some help concerning secular music. My question is: Is it ok to listen to it or is it against God's Word? I myself believe that it serves no purpose but to pervert the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ and to destroy people from repenting to God. It seems crazy I guess, but from all the "love gospel only" preachers, people don't want to hear about hell and why Jesus came to die for our sins and how we broke God's Law and that justice must be served but Jesus took our punishment, etc.. I use these Scriptures to show that it is against God to listen to unscriptural music. II Timothy 3:2-5 and II Corinthians 6:17-18 and another says something like this "sing hymns and spiritual songs to the Lord and do all things in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ" and I know that it is written again saying this "Do all things for the glory of God". How can listening to music that distorts God's moral character or boasts of human good deeds and evil deeds glorify God in our walk?

Please help me with this. Thank you so much my beloved brother or sister in the Lord.

Answer:

There always exists a potential that when we see something wrong, we go to the opposite extreme. In fact, I did a lesson on this not long ago called "Extremes," which you might find interesting to study. In our eagerness to please God, we sometimes create rules for ourselves and for others that are not found within the Scriptures. While the intention is good God warns that it is just as wrong to add to His Word as it is to take away from it (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18-19).

Secular writings, in and of themselves are not wrong. Paul on two occasions even quotes secular writers to make a point (Acts 17:28 and Titus 1:12). You quote II Corinthians 6:17-18, "Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you." I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty." However, the context is not binding yourself to evil people. "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers" (II Corinthians 6:14). Paul is talking about making business partnerships, contracts, or even marriage covenants with people who have no interest in godly matters. Such partnerships will tempt the Christian into compromising his principles.

A better route is to tackle what is actually the problem. The things we make a part of our lives, the books we read, the music we listen to, the shows we watch, and the friends we hang around with all influence our behavior. We need to be selective in what we allow into our lives because "Evil company corrupts good habits" (I Corinthians 15:33). That is why God warned through David, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:1-2).

Pick books, songs, shows, and friends that encourage you to be a better person. "Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil" (II Thessalonians 5:21-22).

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