No Such Thing

This has been an alarming week for me. I have discovered that a close personal friend of mine has listened to Michelle Branch. After the original shock wore off, I began thinking on how the role of music has changed in my life as I have grown in Christ.

Without making any new Christian laws, I will say that I now listen very little to what is often referred to as secular music. To be honest however, I really don’t know what secular music is. Some people say that Thousand Foot Krutch and POD are “Christian” bands. I personally beg to differ, because to me, they seem to have very little to do with Jesus.

In truth, is there such a thing as secular music or a secular life for that matter? What is secular anyway? My dictionary defines ‘secular’ as pertaining to this world or this present life, in contrast with the religious or spiritual. In its purest sense, being secular merely describes life in this world.

We all live life in this world, so in a literal sense, we are all secular creatures. Whether you like it or not, there is a physicality to our nature that has its feet firmly planted on this profane earth.

The way that I understand it, it isn’t possible to separate our lives in the physical world from the spiritual world. We live out the truth of our spiritual nature in the secular realm. If I am completely and thoroughly a part of this dying world, then my life will demonstrate that underlying fact. So we see people who live lives the way that this world lives. (Sexual immorality, drunkenness, jealousy – that sort of thing)

Those who have been purchased out of this world continue to live in it, but over time grow to live lives that reveal the inner working of the Spirit of God. (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience…that kind of stuff.) Our secular actions reveal to us the authenticity of our spiritual nature.

What many Christians abhor and demonize as being ‘secular’ isn’t so much about life in this physical world, but about a life that intentionally wants nothing to do with God. With regards to music, most of the music of this world intentionally excludes God from the dialogue.

If we live lives that want nothing to do with God, then it should come as no surprise if we perish when this world perishes. If on the other hand we have been joined to Christ, then we have been purchased out of this decaying world.

Is it wrong then to listen to music that doesn’t mention Jesus? I won’t give you a yes or no to that. You can answer it for yourself. Living in this physical world, there are some songs that I continue to like that don’t specifically mention or proclaim some spiritual truth. Perhaps my favorite is a song by Three Doors Down and it’s called Away From The Sun.

I know it isn’t a Christian song, but I often receive it as if could be. (With minor tweaking of course.) It wouldn’t take much work for it to be Away From The Son. You might not like the music, but my heart breaks when I watch the video. It makes me think on the people in my life who are away from The Son. They continue to struggle through life being weighed down by the burden of their own sins, all the while being tormented by the people who cross their life’s path. I realize that some people really want to live in their disobedience, but many or most are just trying to get out from under the burden, but just haven’t found The Way. Life on the outside is often all smiles, but it doesn’t take much digging to uncover the hurt.

If you’ve watched the video, maybe you have just committed some great crime against Christianity. In my opinion however, if you can watch that young man in his struggle and still have no heart for his pain, then I was wrong. You are completely secular.