Secular Music in Relation to Christianity (merged)

05-07-2002, 05:50 PM

Well, at first, I thought incubus was cool. They did have some positive songs, but then I heard cursing in one of their songs; so that turned me off. Then I looked up their name and got extremely turned off. They're a good band, but it would be better if they used their talents for God.

wanaBragamuffin · 05-14-2002, 10:01 AM

Ants Marching - Dave Matthews Band
greatness.
I'm the absolute last person you'd have heard that from a year ago, but I've come to realize that first off...its just not worth it to get caught up in a legalistic holy endeavor of determining whether a band plays healthy holy music or not....I guarantee you the Christian music industry is just as greedy as anyone else in the music business out there...take Brentwood Records, for example...lol. As messed up as DMB is, they write some of the most incredible music for their time...some of it I won't listen to, but some of it is just too good to not listen to it, ya know?
I think anyone who builds up this bias against any sort of music because it carries this label or doesn't carry that label is just simply selling themselves short, beacuse there's great, fantastic music out there wherever you go to look, and there's music you would be better off without, I guarantee you, on both sides, Christian music as well as secular. There's my thoughts, but ultimately I guess what I'm getting at is that there are greater battles in life, and getting caught up in this one, I feel, is just simply a waste of time.

djp4 · 05-14-2002, 10:22 AM

I have to agree wholeheartedly with your observation. In today's world of trying to connect with new Christians, specifically youth and baby boomers, secular music can play a great role in finding a comfort zone. It also lets people realize that there is some great music out there. When you truly listen to what is being said, you realize that there are deep questions being asked, views being shared, and lives being touched. Bands like U2, Creed, POD. These bands are part of the mainstream, granted some of their songs are not impactful, but there is the odd gem thrown in there that can make a person start asking questions that are a little bit deeper than most would think. At our church we make a point of trying to find secular music that may fit with a theme or may even have some specific views that we are trying to get people to think about. When some one is listening to our music and hears us sing a current song it's one more connection for them to realize that our church is a safe place where music is more about the words then just the sound.

Ali4God · 05-23-2002, 10:16 PM

*Stares across the vast, empty thread as a tumbleweed blows by...*

Where did they all go?

*Alison*

Adam · 05-24-2002, 09:21 AM

I am wondering the same thing. I had an awesome post on here a while back. Thankfully, I saved it on another thread.

Scott · 05-24-2002, 12:07 PM

Sorry guys, I was trying to prune the thread (it had a lot of irrelevant stuff in it) and mixed up the form. You have to choose what not to delete, not what to delete, and I hit enter by mistake after choosing the first one, which wasn't even one I wanted to delete. Grr. Sorry, I just messed up, lol.

Ali4God · 05-24-2002, 12:23 PM

Heehee- its no big deal, kiddo! I probably would've done the same thing...

STARTING OFF FRESH IS GOOD!!!
*Alison*

Adam · 05-24-2002, 12:25 PM

Nah, man its 'aight.

Scott · 05-24-2002, 12:29 PM

Phew.....

Thanks....

christianjosh · 05-27-2002, 02:10 PM

I thought we were supposed to be talking about if its good or not to listen to secular artists. Anyway I think that as Christians we shouldn't be listening to the filth of potty music.

Scott · 05-27-2002, 02:13 PM

Care to back up your comments? If Adam reposts what he already says, you'll have a lot to counter....

R2D2 · 05-27-2002, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by christianjosh
I thought we were supposed to be talking about if its good or not to listen to secular artists. Anyway I think that as Christians we shouldn't be listening to the filth of potty music.

But is Secular Music = potty music? I think that becomes the question. I for one think that much of secular music is not potty music, and that some Christian music is.

Scott · 05-28-2002, 01:42 PM

*disclaimer*

when it comes to artistic quality....

pistolpete2 · 05-29-2002, 11:26 PM

There're some good articles at Decapolis about this issue.

Adam · 05-30-2002, 12:12 PM

Why Listening to Secular Music Is Not Wrong

First, it does us Christians good to learn from the false philosophical systems of those who would set their own humanistic standards to the epistemological standards of Christ. We must recognize the unbelieving presuppositions of secular bands in order to counter them with the only true presupposition-Scripture. Doing this strengthens our faith and gives us further assurance of the Bible's veracity.

Secondly, we must always know what happens in our postmodern culture in order to effectively cast down constant opposition to Christianity. We know a great deal about unbelieving presuppositions through modern music, and Christians must always be aware of these dangerous ideas so that they may be countered.

Thirdly, we may use the creative musical techniques and intuition that secular musicians employ to give them true meaning under a distinctly Christian worldview. That is, use what man intended for evil to bring glory to God. An analogy to this would be the Israelites using the gold of the pagan Egyptians and out of it creating a temple pleasing to God.

Furthermore, we Christians can make better music by doing this, in singing about the philosophical consequences of unbelieving thought, presenting the Bible as the only true presupposition that gives meaning to our experience, and overall creating a better sound instead of singing again and again about how God loves each and everyone of us (not a bad thing, mind you). Musically speaking, we need to move outside the lines of modern confines and just create, in short, something epic.