What do you think about listening to non-Christian music???

[sharpie.angel]

Do you think its wrong to listen to non-Christian music as long as its not affecting who you are???

I listen to tons of non-Christian music actually I barely listen to Christian music and I get critisized for this and I don't think it's right caus me listening to non-Christian music isn't affecting any one around.

but I want other people oppinions on this so please tell me what you think.  

[The Amazing Ryuu]

I have pretty eclectic taste. I mean, I'm all for dcTalk and Demon Hunter, and then I move over to MercyMe and Phillips Craig and Dean. Then on the secular side, i'm a HUGE Disturbed fan, Flogging Molly, Evanescence, and some other bands I won't name for fear of being labeled a geek. xd So, as you can see, I have absolutely no issue with non-Christian music. I listen to everything from death metal to country, Marilyn Manson to hymms. It doesn't change my faith. It doesn't change the way I think, or the way I talk, or the way I look at things. Some people it might, but then reason stands that if you're that easily affected by music, obviously take care what you're listening to.  

[Pastor Danielle]

I think it is always good to be aware that what you listen to, what you see, what you speak about you are tying yourself to and exposing the Holy Spirit too... Now we are all in different levels of faith and intimacy with God, so we are all going to have different convictions, and be at different levels of being sanctified unto Christ. Honestly I struggle with this a lot because to be honest I love music, its a major thing with me rarely in my life do I do anything were music isn't being played... I notice that if I listen to secular music more often then Christian music the way I use to think can come back, or thoughts about my past or what might be fun to do that really isn't what God would have me do... So, I try and keep my life surrounded by things that remind me of the Goodness of God... but that is something that God revealed to me about my own life... I guess its up to the person and about what they are hearing from God, and what happens to the state of there mind when they listen to the music.

 

[Guardian of the Sky]

I honestly don't know.  

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

I think Danielle and Ryuu pretty much covered it. But really, you may not think what you listen to affects you that much, when it does. It always does, even if in minute ways. What you do should glorify God. Would Jesus be pleased to find you listening to music that degrades women, children, or any specific group? Would He appreciate music whose lyrics constantly profane His name? I'm not saying we should all listen to worship music, but stuff that is outright un-Christian or anti-Christian should probably be more avoided than sought after. Garbage in, garbage out, you know?  

[omnimodus]

Now I happen to listen to Christian music. I like quite a few songs.
Yet I continue to be strong in my unreligious choice.
I can't see how it'd be different for you to listen to music outside your belief system and be hugely affected by it. If your faith in your God is strong, music can't do anything to waver it.  

[purplesheep]

a lot of christians listen to non-christian music. its something i personally wouldnt do because its not something which will feed or edify you spiritually, plus before i got saved i was a punk/goth and well into heavy metal, grunge, etc (so i wanted to leave my old life behind.)

but look at the lyrics of the songs u listen to lyrics and see what its promoting.. ask yourself is this something which God would want me to listen to? i guess thats how u know... xd  

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

omnimodus

Now I happen to listen to Christian music. I like quite a few songs.
Yet I continue to be strong in my unreligious choice.
I can't see how it'd be different for you to listen to music outside your belief system and be hugely affected by it. If your faith in your God is strong, music can't do anything to waver it.

It affects you in that it helps to promote what you already believe in- the good values and uplifting parts of Christian music. So it may not change what you already believe, but it is planting seeds, and it is promoting whatever has driven you to listen to that music in the first place. You have no problem with the lyrics of a song/artist's music, so you listen to them, the catchy beats make the message more appealing, and it continues to be a cycle. This can be good (in the case of Christian music, or any music with a positive message) or it can be bad.  

[JesusRocks4Ever]

Now dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Philippians 4:8

As Christians, we should protect our mind from things that are not pure. We should avoid music that leads us to to think about untrue, dishonorable, unadmirable,unlovely,or impure thoughts....


as long as it doesn't have cuss words, or talk about things you know you shouldn't listen to, or affect your faith there is nothing wrong with it  

[Peace Love And Skate]

koolchristiangirl

Now dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Philippians 4:8

As Christians, we should protect our mind from things that are not pure. We should avoid music that leads us to to think about untrue, dishonorable, unadmirable,unlovely,or impure thoughts....


as long as it doesn't have cuss words, or talk about things you know you shouldn't listen to, or affect your faith there is nothing wrong with it

I've yet to figure out why cursing is condemned by many Christians.. someone fill me in? domokun
Personally, I listen to Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Slayer, Matisyahu, and Tool. And music CAN influence how religious I am, what religion I choose to spend my time researching, and it can certainly knock off the god-meter, but that's probably because I'm in religious limbo. D;;; I think what would matter to God would be your devotion, not what you put in your head. I would advise that one would be careful not to fill their head with junk, because you get what you put in, unless you keep that junk in. smile My metaphors are off. I think if your faith is strong enough, no worries. If you are a very susceptible to Satan's beats, then perhaps you should watch what you listen to!  

[Lethkhar]

Only listening to Christian music is severely limiting your understanding of culture within the past 50 years...  

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

Peace Love And Skate

koolchristiangirl

Now dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Philippians 4:8

As Christians, we should protect our mind from things that are not pure. We should avoid music that leads us to to think about untrue, dishonorable, unadmirable,unlovely,or impure thoughts....


as long as it doesn't have cuss words, or talk about things you know you shouldn't listen to, or affect your faith there is nothing wrong with it

I've yet to figure out why cursing is condemned by many Christians.. someone fill me in? domokun
Personally, I listen to Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Slayer, Matisyahu, and Tool. And music CAN influence how religious I am, what religion I choose to spend my time researching, and it can certainly knock off the god-meter, but that's probably because I'm in religious limbo. D;;; I think what would matter to God would be your devotion, not what you put in your head. I would advise that one would be careful not to fill their head with junk, because you get what you put in, unless you keep that junk in. smile My metaphors are off. I think if your faith is strong enough, no worries. If you are a very susceptible to Satan's beats, then perhaps you should watch what you listen to!

The thing with swearing has to do with the associations that society and the culture tie with the words. Our culture has made the f-word bad (and yet it's okay to say it; what a backwards society we live in -.-). If the word sink was bad or considered a curse word, it would be something Christians should stay away from as well, because we should be representing God, not necessarily the culture or society we live in. If that makes sense. confused  

[Rev Shrubbery]

[In my opinion] you should learn about non-Christian music, and listen to it when it doesn't profane the name of God or break any commandments. Music is a difficult thing, because if you're a minister and you are preaching to your 'flock', and then a confirmand finds Nelly Furtado's 'Promiscuous' on your ipod, there might be a problem. It doesn't affect non-ministers and the laity quite as much.

However, the music you listen to shouls be treated as a thought you are deliberately causing yourself to think. If you wouldn't think the thought, you shouldn't listen to the music. I don't believe that this attidute prevents me from listening to the music I enjoy, which is far away from most rap and hip hop anyways.

That's my two cents.  

[A Different Light]

Now, I'm a self-proclaimed atheist, so my opinion problems doesn't matter and you probably already know what I'm going say. I listen mostly listen to rock and alternative pop and all sort of stuff that would near-impossible to classify. None of it affects my faith in God, no matter non-existant it is. My music has some swearing, but that doesn't matter to me, as long as it's not excessive and unnessecary.

Some music is truly tripe. Most popular rap and hip-hop falls under this. It swears every other word, is uninteresting and unattractive.

I basically don't care whether it's christian, as long as it sounds nice.  

[Lady of Serenity]

Well, my personal experience has been this: Ever since I've become a Christian, I've listened to less and less non-Christian music. Not because someone told me that it was wrong, it's just that I had my own personal conviction of what I should and shouldn't be listening to. I just didn't want to listen to a lot of the non-Christian stuff I used to listen to. It wasn't really appealing to me anymore.

Even before I was saved, I had a thing with curse words. I didn't like listening to music that had the words in them, and I personally didn't like to curse (I will admit that I did have moments where I would let some words out in particular situations) I could take a curse word here or there, but I wouldn't listen to music that had the singer cursing through practically the entire song, or music that had some...for lack of a better word, stupid topics ( including but not limited to: "my b/f or g/f left me...nooo!" "shake that money maker!" "We be in da club, yo!" "I'm a gansta, foo!" "my b/f or g/f left me...nooo! *except with whiny, screaming voice*" "Just bought me a pair of new shoes!!!! Look at my expensive new shoes and gold in my mouth that could've gotten the people in my video that I love sooo much out of the ghetto if only I had donated the money to them instead of getting these ugly things on my teeth, dawg!" "Check out my oversized white t-shirt!" ) xd I had too much fun writing that...

So anyways, like someone had mentioned earlier, the thing with cursing wasn't necessarily just because of being a Christian, some people just don't like curse words ( like myself.) Now, why it's condemned by many Christians, I can't really give a good answer. I've always believed it to be wrong, and still do.

But yeah, back to the subject...nowadays, I listen to mainly worship and Christian rock songs because I'm drawn more to that kind of music, not because someone beat me with a Humongoginormous ( Humongous + Gigantic + Enormous ) Bible(tm) and said "Bad! No more secular music for you!"

I just kind of lost interest in the other stuff. xd to be honest, though, I've always thought that most of the mainstream stuff ( MTV, BET, Fuse, radio stuff etc. ) out there was garbage, anyways, so it wasn't too much of a difference.