Secular music has such power in the world today. Why? Because it expresses the heart-cry of people in a lost world; it’s not because it’s better music, or better emotion, just better expression. Why? Because the secular world has no other way to outlet the emotions that pile up within them.
My point is that listening to secular music will give Christians insight into people in the world today. Granted, it’s not the best representation of the human state of affairs, but taken as a whole, a time-period’s music reflects the state of the people in that time period.
Secular musicians have something most worship leaders don’t: freedom of expression. Many times as worshippers we’re stuck in the idea that worship should be a certain volume, hands should be lifted a certain feet high on cue, that revival will break out because we played the right chord. Expression to the Father knows no bounds, can’t be contained, must be allowed to overflow. Again, secular music has power because it’s pure unadulterated emotion that drives the music, not any desire to see people saved, not any desire for any effect. Just pure emotion.
So then why is worship better than secular music? It’s biblical, yeah, ok. It’s for God, yeah, ok. It prompts a response from an all-powerful God that loves YOU. Whoa. The best thing about intense worship is that in that moment there is nothing hindering the communication between your heart and God’s, there is nothing else in the world that means anything, there is more than just emotion behind your worship. There’s love. You could say that love is an emotion, but in my eyes, it’s way more. John said that God is Love. So love is spiritual, not just emotional. And love is the way to win this world back for God’s kingdom. Worship feeds people spirits as well as releasing their emotions.
So don’t throw away your secular CDs. In fact, go out and buy more! “Music is the universal language.” The more varied your tastes in music, the more people you can relate to, understand, and win to Christ. If you can learn to appreciate someone else’s music, you can learn to love them, and thus have the greatest weapon in the fight to reclaim this world for Jesus.
