I ended my last post on this note: "Secular does not equal sinful"
I would like to quickly shed some light on that, for those who may not understand.
The word "secular" has become more of a taboo among certain Christian circles, especially when it comes to music. If we understood the actual meaning/
implication of the word, we would ease our condemnation of "everything secular".
The word "secular" refers to anything that is not specifically religious. Taking this description at face value, it would be in order to say that a good percentage of the activities we engage in daily are secular.
Our schools, banks, markets, and jobs are mostly secular. And we do not consider these things sinful or wrong simply because something is not sinful just because it is secular. Secular does not equal sinful.
Let's bring it home to music.
Almost all of us, if not all, sing secular songs occasionally and see nothing wrong with it.
I know some of us are already going "No no brother! Definitely not me!"
Calm down first
I'll give you just two examples of secular songs that we all sing from time to time. All of us.
The first is our national anthem Independence day is just around the corner and most likely, we will all soon be listening to this particular secular song and probably singing it too
The second is the song "Happy Birthday to you" Remember it? I'm sure it didn't quite cross your mind that you've been happily singing a secular song all along
I believe you're catching what I'm trying to share.
That a song is secular does not make it off limits for a believer.
I believe that songs are tools for different purposes. The national anthem is a tool for a specific purpose. The birthday song is a tool to be used at specific occasions. Songs of praise and worship are tools that help us communicate our worship to God through music. There are songs of encouragement, songs of confession, songs of surrender, songs that sing of and to humanity. All are tools.
In the same way, love songs are tools. The Bible has a book of love songs. It is called the Songs of Solomon. God was not mentioned once in that book and Solomon really did not pen those words for God. They were penned depicting a romantic relationship between a man and a woman. If it were not in the Bible, such a piece would easily be classified as secular. But then all scripture is inspired by God, so it means that God inspired Solomon to write love songs. Guess what? If He did it before, He can do it again!
It's not only people exclusively into gospel that can be inspired of God to birth certain things. EVERY good and perfect gift comes from the Father. The devil doesn't give gifts, he only perverts the dispensation of what has been given. So a secular song can carry a message, inspired by God, that would be a blessing to the listener.
Secular CAN however be ungodly. We know that for sure.
Philippians 4:8 remains my litmus test for discerning what you should allow into your mind.
Music influences your thoughts so any song that plants ungodly thoughts and emotions in your mind is a No! No!
If you have a personal consecration or principle to not listen to secular songs, it's okay! Some of us do have such, and quite frankly, it's safer when it comes to guarding your heart. But be careful not to make a rule out of your personal principle. Some secular songs are a great blessing.
Secular does not equal to sinful.
Amazing
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