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As I have mentioned before, I do a lot of reading of different blogs throughout the week and it seems that one of the hot topics of the past couple of weeks has been on the question of secular music and the influence it has on the Christian musician.

Here are some links if you want to read some of these postings:

http://www.davidsantistevan.com/2011/10/the-christian-musician/
http://creativeworshiper.com/2011/11/10/personal-convictions/

In my mind there really is no debate. I believe we have been called to follow Jesus. This is regardless of whether I am a musician, a singer, or a sound tech. We sing songs week in and out asking God to purify and renew us and we song songs speaking of his holiness.

How can we ask God to forgive our sins, to purify our hearts and make us more like Jesus and follow that up with putting a Kanye West track in our iPods or a Lady Gaga cd in our car or going out and buying the newest Eminem album? To me it doesn’t make sense. I do understand I’m using examples of obvious artists who are not the most christian-like in their lyrics, but even country music and other more “tame” genres have some of the same themes as the above-mentioned artists.

One of the questions asked in some of the postings mentioned above is can we as Christians appreciate the artistry of some these artists? I do think we can appreciate it but at the same time be saddened by the fact that this talent given to them is not being used to honor God.

Now I am not going to be naïve and say we are not influenced or attracted  by worldly music. Many times I have sat down and watched the Grammy awards because of the live musical performances or seen a concert on TV that catches my attention. But if we make a regular habit of listening to these artists who offer up nothing more than sex, violence, adultery, immorality and foul language with a catchy hook and beat are we truly being more like Christ? Is the Holy Spirit able to influence our lives if we’re consistently listening to these types of lyrics and music?

Jesus himself said, “19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person…” (Matthew 15-19-20a NIV). Jesus calls these same topics in the songs of secular music evil and these are the very same things that defile us. Yet there are times we choose to sit and listen to music which have all these same characteristics of evil and not feel bothered at all by it.

The Bible does tell us where our minds should be and the things we should be thinking of. Philippians 4:8 tell us “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

I believe that as worship leaders and even just as God’s people in general everything we do should be a reflection of God to this world. Our testimony, our life, our relationships, the way we talk, and the music we enjoy should all be honoring to our Savior and King.