Extremes<\/a>,” 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).<\/p>\nSecular 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.<\/em>” However, the context is not binding yourself to evil people. “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers<\/em>” (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.<\/p>\nA 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<\/em>” (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<\/em>” (Psalm 1:1-2).<\/p>\nPick 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<\/em>” (II Thessalonians 5:21-22).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: Hi! I have e-mailed before concerning if we could have\u00a0facial 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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[353,520],"class_list":["post-8580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-influence","tag-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14318,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-okay-to-listen-to-instrumental-christian-music-outside-of-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":8580,"position":0},"title":"Is it okay to listen to instrumental “Christian” music outside of worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Someone asked me this question and I would like your opinion. I looked on your great web site but didn't see it addressed. A young lady asked me if it is okay to listen to \"Christian rock\" or instrumental (\"Christian\") songs outside of worship. I would appreciate your opinion.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23975,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-listen-to-rap-or-hip-hop-music-if-it-doesnt-contain-anything-about-killing-drugs-or-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":8580,"position":1},"title":"Is it wrong to listen to rap or hip-hop music if it doesn’t contain anything about killing, drugs, or sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know Christians shouldn't listen to secular rap or hip hop music, in which I stopped recently, but what if the song doesn't contain anything about killing, drugs, and sex? Is it okay to listen to it? Answer: There is no prohibition on any particular musical style. The problem\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33858,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/music-in-worship-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":8580,"position":2},"title":"Music in Worship (Hart)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dave Hart When people visit churches of Christ for the first time, they are often surprised to hear only singing. There are no instruments of music such as pianos, organs, drums, or guitars. Neither do they hear choirs, quartets, or solos. Every member of the congregation is encouraged to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/singingCongregation2-300x169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":58211,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-silence-of-the-scriptures\/","url_meta":{"origin":8580,"position":3},"title":"The Silence of the Scriptures (Rogers)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Heath Rogers Bible authority is established through direct statements, commands, approved examples, and necessary inferences. We understand what to do with the stated commands and prohibitions of Scripture, but what are we to do with the things God does not say? We know what to do with God's\u00a0voice, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5032,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-use-your-pictures-on-my-website\/","url_meta":{"origin":8580,"position":4},"title":"Can I use your pictures on my website?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was led to your website and had a chance to view these very beautiful and symbolic\u00a0pictures. I am an evangelist for the Lord, and I feel so many teens need to see these pictures. I was going to put some on my page. I also do Christian Rap\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90633,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/instrumental-music-to-worship-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":8580,"position":5},"title":"Instrumental Music to Worship of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gary Colley The following reasons, concerning why churches of Christ do not use mechanical instruments of music in worship to God, were given recently in our Denominational Doctrines class. It has been requested that they be in our bulletin for the help of all. It can be stated without\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8580\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}