Christians and Music

Christians and Music

By Darian Kelly

Music is something that one deals with in everyday life. Wherever one turns, the sound of the latest pop artist’s hit song can be heard playing. As a Christian, one of the biggest questions one can ask is “What type of music is acceptable for me to listen to?” The younger generations are especially susceptible to this question, with more and more “non-Christian” music becoming accessible and acceptable. With cell phones these days, almost everyone has a whole library of music available at the touch of a button. The problem is drawing the line on what music a “typical Christian” should be allowed to listen to.

The Bible has many references when it comes to music. The whole book of Psalms are different poems that David wrote. Throughout the Old Testament, there are records of people singing and praising God. Even in the New Testament, Matthew 26:30 states that Jesus and his disciples sang a hymn at the end of the last supper. So obviously the Bible accepts and even endorses music; whether we should listen to it or not though, is dependent on what is in the music.

Ephesians 4:29 says “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” While this verse talks more on the issue of what comes out of one’s mouth, it is still something that we need to take into consideration while listening to music and ask if it is building up one’s self esteem.

So while the Bible does not specifically speak on what music we should and should not listen to, it kind of leaves it up to each individual listener. There is no specific verse that says to not listen to any song that has swearing in it; but that does not give the green light to listen to anything one would want to. If one picks up on things quickly, like swearing for example, and listens to a bunch of songs with curse words in it, then naturally they are going to start swearing. That would go against what Ephesians 4:29 says, which would turn into sinning as one would be going against what the Bible says. If one can listen to that type of music without it having an effect on them, then technically they would not be sinning as there is no unwholesome talk coming out of their mouth.

In conclusion, the Bible definitely accepts music especially when it comes to hymns and praise. Anything else, and the Bible has no comment as long as one can walk a Christian lifestyle and not let the other types of music affect anything to cause one to sin or stumble. Ultimately, it is up to the listener to decide if it is going to affect them negatively and whether they think it would be beneficial to listen to that type of music.