Does Secular Music Have Any Place in the Church? by Tim Stevens

First of all, we should clarify terms. There is a big debate in church circles today about what "secular" even means in relation to music. What makes a song secular or Christian? Is it the type? The lyrics? The person singing it? Madeleine L'Engle had an interesting statement in her book, Walking on Water.

She wrote: "To look at a work of art and then to make a judgment as to ... whether or not it is Christian is presumptuous. It is something we cannot know in any conclusive way. We can know only if it speaks within our own hearts and leads us to living more deeply with Christ in God."

Isn't that true? There have been times when I'm in my car with music blaring and God uses the lyrics of a song, written by non-religious people, to speak deeply to my heart.

But for sake of this conversation today, let's agree that secular music refers to popular songs that are written by a mainstream artist without any specific Christ-honoring intent. The song isn't about Jesus or worship or moving toward God. The person singing isn't a known Christian artist.

Here is what I believe: I think it is permissible, and even advisable, to use music in your services that has been written by non-Christians and that doesn't have an obvious Christian message.

How can I make such a statement? How can I encourage you to pull music from the world into your church services, into worship? How can I suggest that a song that was not written for the purpose of pointing anyone toward God could be used to accomplish God's purposes on Sunday morning?

It all has to do with how you view your services. Your service probably contains several elements, including announcements, congregational singing, performance music, perhaps a drama, maybe some video, and a message. You can view these as separate elements that stand alone in accomplishing a purpose, or you can view your service as one seamless experience that builds toward a goal.

If you see it as a seamless experience, then you might use a secular element to open people's hearts to receive a truth that comes later in the service. You might, for example, use a secular drama featuring a married couple fighting about money to prompt people to think about their own lives and prepare them to hear a message about God's plan for financial peace.

Or you might use the song called "Untitled" by Simple Plan to show the pain of messing up and hurting other people in the process. Over and over the song writer proclaims, "How could this have happened to me?" What better way to set up the service, open people's hearts, so when the teaching pastor talks about what to do with your shame, people are ready to hear God's Word. They may already be thinking, "That's me. I've messed up. How could this have happened to me?"

And the next week, when they hear that song on the radio, they may be instantly pulled back to the service. They may remember again about God's plan for them, that he can help them start over. Maybe they will remember a decision they made in that service.

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Tim Stevens, Ministry Toolbox

Tim Stevens is the executive pastor at Granger Community Church near South Bend, Ind. Granger is a purpose driven church and was recently identified by Outreach Magazine as one of the country's top 30 fastest growing churches in the 21st century. ©Copyright 2005. Used by permission. All rights reserved.