In Walking on Water, L'Engle says: There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred." pg 51. What do you think of that?
Ever heard the debate about secular versus Christian music? I suppose the categorical distinctions are necessary for business purposes, but for the writer, those lines are blurred or sometimes non-existent.
I wrote a "secular" album, and it was still designated as Christian. When I asked why, I was told, "It sounded like all the songs had God in them." You can take the girl out of the church.....
So, tell me what you think!!!
6 comments:
I believe that anything done unto the Lord can be sacred or Christian. Everything is created by God. Sound is created by God and the devil only tries to pervert what has already been created. I do believe that there is some music that doesn't honor the Lord but I also believe that if you are a Christian, even a love song could be Christian. When I started writing Christian music and talking to Christian radio stations, it disturbed me about how many times Jesus/Lord/God was used in a song or a Biblical reference, or how the song is produced that actually makes it a "Christian" song. I believe in my heart that all sound glorifies the Lord, the enemy just tries to twist and pervert it in its perfect form. The only person that can truly judge whether a song is Christian or not is God Himself, and love is who He is. Songs that glorify sin would be a copycat of the purity God created love to be. I think it all comes down to who is ultimately being glorified through the music and whether it releases a message of light or darkness.
I also believe that anything done unto the Lord can be sacred or Christian. I'Engle states "And it is not possible for us flawed human beings to make absolute zealous judgements as to what is and what is not religious art." It is not our place to judge one another, but to love. What may be Christian or religious to one person may not necessarily be the same to another. I really admire artists who are Christians in the music industry that do not always have to use Jesus or God in their songs, but seeing how their music has had a huge impact on those who do not believe is beautiful. I think we need to be careful to not put music in a box and quickly label something Christian or Non-Christian. I agree with Rachel on it coming down to who is being glorified through the music and whether it is releasing a message of light or darkness.
Whether it's my poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or songs, I have always felt called to write about life. Sometimes that means things don't have perfect solutions or happy endings and God may not be mentioned by name in every work. But God is everywhere and "every good and perfect gift is from above" (James 1). So in some ways, we can't help but have God in our songs because He gave us the gift.
I was reading an article once that talked about how. of all the secular genres, country music was the most "spiritual" of them all/referred to God, church or prayer the most. When asked about it, many of the country artists replied "country music is about life, and God is a part of that." Even though I don't steer towards country music specifically either, I definitely agree with that mantra.
I write about life and because God is integrated into my life, He is bound to show up in every song.
When I think of secular, I think of self-gratifying and an of this world mentality. When I think of sacred, I think of God-glorifying and of encouraging lyrics. If people are using their gifts and in a non-offensive manner, I could see how this is not only sacred, but it is also beautiful. If someone writes lyrics about how, "they just had sex last night with their friends wife", I'm not so sure this would be considered sacred. There are so many artists nowadays that write encouraging lyrics and may not even be Christians, and this I would consider sacred still even if they had no clue they were writing it that way. There's no real reason to debate over this topic, it's all a matter of opinion, and this is why writing is so powerful.
I agree with what L’Engle says, but I don’t think that “sacred” necessarily means “Christian.” People have their own opinions and beliefs that they will hold to and defend like it is their religion. No one can say anything or do anything to change that. So, in that sense a song can be sacred. If a person believes that there should be equality for all humans, they could be an atheist and still any song about human equality might be extremely sacred for them. The song doesn’t need to be “Christian” to talk about equality, but it still might be able to reach into and touch a person’s soul. I think that the term “Christian” is limiting for songwriters. It is more of a marketing and business term more than anything else. Most of my favorite musicians are in fact Christians, but their music might not necessarily be classified in a music store under “Christian.” Even though many of the songs they write are about spiritual issues, they aren’t “Christian” because they don’t actually say Jesus, God, or are otherwise completely obvious in their message towards Christianity.
Sean Kilpatrick: “SECULAR VERSUS CHRISTIAN”
I partially disagree with L'Engle's statement, "There is nothing so secular that it cannot be
sacred." There are plenty of secular topics in songs today that I don't consider sacred in the
least bit, but I do believe secular songs have the capability of being sacred and glorifying God. I
agree with Kim about the lines being blurred or sometimes non-existent for the writer. A song
doesn't have to mention God to be sacred, just as a song that mentions God isn't always
sacred.
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