Adara: Worshipping to Non-Christian Music

-By Adara

Growing up, all that came out of the speakers of our family mini-van was “Positive, encouraging K-LOoooVE”. As you would imagine, Church and my local AWANA club played worship songs exclusively. I even had my very own collection of early 2000’s “WOW” CDs that I listened to on my own time. The point is, I was saturated with Christian music - and I loved it! Songs like Jeremy Camp's “There Will Be A Day” gave me great hope in the midst of the pain and chaos I experienced from the mental illnesses of my parents. I could say that God met me in my pain, but it would be more accurate to say that the Spirit of the Living God sang songs over me, with such melodies that wove through my soul, hemming in the suffering along with the joy, holding it all together, and strumming my whole being into a new song of worship for Him. 

The Lord your God is in your midst,

    a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

    he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.

Zechariah 3:17

Because of the grace of Jesus, my Heavenly Father sings over me!

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gradually been exposed to other types of music. I walked through my high school years to the rhythms of deep, soundscape-y EDM and dubstep. It was an important way that I connected with the intensity of my emotions at that time. I used to listen to one song on repeat, because through the heavy rise and fall of the sound, my mind conjured a story of a small child being used to defeat a great darkness through the delivering help of a rider of light. I know it might be easy to question how genuine worship could happen through listening to electronic music–but God met me through that song, and I worshipped Him through it. The story I imagined was both a metaphor of my own redemption and an adoration of my redeemer, the God of light. 

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5

As the years have gone along, God has sung over me, has helped me process and find His truth, and has caused me to love Him more through classic rock, folk, indies, 80s – and most recently – early 70s music. I treasure these songs as good gifts from God. Like James and John say, God is light and He never changes. While God never changes, He is also infinite in magnitude. There is always more of God to explore and enjoy and wonder at. 

So my encouragement to you is to explore more of God and fall in love with Him more through different kinds of music. If you only listen to worship songs, consider branching off a bit. See what God has to teach you about suffering, anger, longing for love, and looking for hope through music pouring from hearts that are made for Him, but don’t yet know Him. 

If you already listen to a lot of secular music, try approaching it more reflectively. Why do you like the intensity of that rapper? Why do you feel a sense of release or validation when they cuss or are brutally honest about brokenness? What might God be inviting you to process with Him? What parts of God’s character can you draw out from these songs? Perhaps, His justice, His jealousy, His righteous anger?

I’m not saying that secular music doesn’t include themes that God, in His word, would deem sinful. If you’re listening to a certain type of music and it's a sin issue, chances are – you already feel/know that. But be encouraged! Because of Jesus, your Heavenly Father sings over you. He’s not afraid of your music - so bring it to Him, process it with Him, and let Him heal you. He loves doing that. And the Holy Spirit will change your heart, so you develop a taste for what pleases God. 

I’ve talked about music for long enough–so rather than listen to me yap more–you should go listen to some! Explore. Listen well. Enjoy God…and don’t forget to share what you discover with others – especially me!