I have been struggling with this topic for a while, now. I gave up 'secular' music 4 1/2 years ago. I decided I would try it for a week, and never went back. I then tried to decide that if I would only listen to 'Christian' music, what about movies, video games, etc.? What defines something as 'Christian'? There are a lot of questions (most of which were brought up here). I agree, it's a personal conviction. But there is a lot of secular music that is good and a lot that shouldn't be listened to by anyone.
There was a great article that got this debate going between a co-worker and I. If you get a chance, read the interview by Thrice's lead singer in the latest 'Relevant' magazine. They're a 'secular' band, but he himself is Christian. A lot of his lyrics are positive (though I really haven't listened to them much to know for sure, but my co-worker listens to them) and reflect his beliefs without coming out and saying 'Jesus' or 'God'. He's one who sings what he feels, and reflects Christ in his living, not just words. But in his interview, he gave an example of the question of definining 'Christian' music. He was at his church, when a man came and gave his list of 'Christian' bands that were alternative to the 'secular' music that we shouldn't be listening to. One of those 'secular' bands was Thrice! You can bet how this guy felt when he was being preached to about how his own band was something you shouldn't listen to.
That article really made me think. There is a lot of positive stuff out there in 'secular' music. The problem is finding it. Everytime I turn it over to a 'secular' radio station or MTV, it's nothing but sex, dirty language, and the like. I don't want to sit through all that just to her the occasional positive song. I've felt really convicted to listen to nothing but Christian music. However, I did listen to the new Mase CD because he was trying to be open about his faith (thought now that seems to be changing, soon).
And no one can say that there is no good Christian music. They just haven't found it, yet. There are very few good radio stations out there. I'm stuck with K-LOVE and AIR-1. Both are terrible. I do appreciate Air1, since they got me through those beginning months of getting rid of 'secular' music. But I soon realized that there is much better music out there. The reason I chose to do this in the first place was because a teenager at a youth conference said there was no good Christian music (all he had listened to was Carmen...which IS terrible). Someone gave him a list of artists and told him to give them a try for a week. I decided to do it as well. I know that everyone has different tastes (TobyMac is the bomb! You can't say you like Jesus Freak and not like TobyMac...that was TobyMac), but there is a great variety of Christian music out there. I've pretty much stuck to listening to RadioU (
www.radiou.com) or now WAYK/WAYG FM out of Kalamazoo/Grand Rapids, MI (
www.way.fm, not to be confused with way-fm.com which isn't as good). They both play a lot of rock, hip-hop, etc. that is what I like and a lot of it is better than the 'secular' music out there. I then use that to get the idea of what music I want to purchase and put it on my mp3 player. I then just hit 'play any track' and have 2000+ songs playing in my car...so I don't have to turn it over to the radio. Take a listen to those for a while (way.fm plays a variety of music, but a lot of good stuff I haven't heard elsewhere...whereas RadioU is mostly just rock/hip-hop) and see what you find.
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