The devil was the angel of music before he fell. That simply means he will use music as one of his strongholds to take over the world. In the Bible, it is written that God sent evil spirits to torment King Saul and David would play the harp to chase the spirits away. Music has great power and influence in our lives. It can drive away demons and can also possess us with demons, e.g. demonic rock concerts.
Today am not going to write about music, what you should listen and what you should not but rather a burning topic that was debated in many of Christian WhatsApp groups am in.
The above poster struck a nerve on most members of the groups. Issues of gospel artists should not team with secular artists, Christians yoking with unbelievers and walking in the counsel of evil were raised. In defense, others disputed the claims urging that Jesus ate with tax collectors and never came for the saints but for those who were lost. Students asked if they shouldn’t hang around with non-believers in case they are placed in the same discussion groups etc.
Let’s define the word yoke.
yoke yōk/ noun
1. a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or cart that they are to pull.
synonyms:harness, collar, coupling Example: “the horses were loosened from the yoke”
2. something resembling or likened to a yoke, in particular.
verb
1.put a yoke on (a pair of animals); couple or attach with or to a yoke.
synonyms:harness, hitch, couple, tether,fasten, attach, join Example: “a pair of oxen were yoked together”
The Bible talks of yoke the verb. The best word to use is attach. Do not be attached to unbelievers, do not get harnessed to their acts or conform to their way of living. The question is does it say ‘Do not hang around with them?’
What qualifies a secular or gospel artist? What qualifies secular or gospel music. Gospel is defined as;
gos·pel ˈɡäspəl/ noun
noun: gospel music
1. the teaching or revelation of Christ.
synonyms:Christian teaching, Christian doctrine, Christ’s teaching; Example: “it is the Church’s mission to preach the gospel”
Most say that gospel music is one that glorifies God. I can say that it is one that complements the teaching of Christ.
Secular on the other hand means.
sec·u·lar ˈsekyələr/ adjective
1. denoting attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis.
synonyms:nonreligious, areligious, lay,temporal, worldly, earthly, profane;
So secular music will be one that is worldly and that has no religious or spiritual basis.
I asked some questions that went unanswered from the heating conversations. Suppose my favorite gospel singer ceases to sing gospel music and starts singing secular music, do I delete all his previous playlist? And suppose a secular artist I abhor sings this wonderful song that hits all over and it’s uplifting, Do I disregard him because he is not walking in spirit?
I made my question simpler and asked a question I did in a previous post. ‘Suppose a dunkard, a sinner advised you on your spirituality and you found it tangible, would you take it or would you disregard him because he is a sinner?’ or ‘Let’s get to a much deeper situation; suppose there is this pastor of yours who has taught you a lot in life; aided you in your salvation journey and you became a totally changed man who now ministers to others but this one specific day he is caught doing something very contrary to Christian teachings. Will you be so much disappointed in him that you live in regret and scorn that your favorite pastor turned all evil? Will you renounce your faith because of that?’
I asked my friends in one of the groups to act as a gospel artist and this ‘secular’ artists comes to you and says, ‘Hey, I wan’t to sing for God, I want to sing with you.’ What would you do? As a Christian, wouldn’t you get to your knees and pray that God gives you a discerning spirit to guide you?
I am a great fan of Afro Fusion and African music but someone told me I should not be listening to them as they do not glorify God. I see no bad thing in that but a friend finds that unreligious. Who is right? Who is wrong?
Romans 14:1-10
1Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
5One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
10You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
Am concerned much about the above verse. As we are obviously of different levels of faith, we should not argue to prove a point, not to make yourself just in snippets of the Bible. I believe everyone has a discerning spirit, one that clearly defines to him/her what is good and what is right. What convicts you and what does not but another question arises here, if we have our different thoughts on everything how will we rebuke each other in faith just as the Holy Bible suggests?
2 Timothy 4:2 ESV
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
Who has complete patience and teaching to reprove, rebuke and exhort? Aren’t many in dire thirst and need to make themselves just? To prove a point? Then who will be at play? Our own interests or God’s? Most say Sauti Sol are secular artists who should have no place near the gospel artist Willy Paul and that the new track is not going to glorify God. Some argue that you will know them by their deeds and that Sauti Sol’s previous tracks have been of the worldly and profane -which I do not disagree with- but Paul writes to the Church in Corinth saying;
1 Corinthians 5:12-13
For what have I to do with judging outsiders?Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
As for me, it is not my work to judge Sauti Sol that they are not holier than thou and are unclean, my work is to rebuke the evil amongst my immediate Christians, purging the evil from around me. My work is not to judge that the track before it is even released and neither should it be to judge Willy Paul because he teams up with irreligious persons from the ‘world view’ My work is to seek the truth and Wisdom from He who gives freely and without finding fault and then I will be able to pass my judgement. How do I know maybe Sauti Sol gave their lives to Christ a day before or are in the process of doing so? Who am I to judge whether the move is right or wrong? How do I know whether Willy Paul prayed about it or not?
Christianity is not a battle. It is not proving a point or wanting to be right. It is not about getting snippets from the Bible to put flesh to your argument. It is about seeking to worship in truth and in spirit. It is about how you strive to please your God. You cannot answer or be perfect in everything but through the discerning spirit you will seek answers which you will get from above. There are many questions that I cannot answer but I allow myself to learn from others who are stronger in faith than I am. I think what really matters is, am I true to my God? Do I strive to please Him?