I am a little shamed to say that I have not fully read the Bible, but I lead a good life, and try to help everybody I can while not straying too far from the path, but one thing in particular that I heard kind of disturbs me.

I was told by a pastor that anything, including music, that takes you away from non stop worship of the Lord is a sin and is considered an addiction.

For somebody like me, music is much of what I have. When I was too poor to eat healthy food every day, music helped pass time. Music brings me peace in mind and peace of heart. When my last girlfriend left me, I was torn to bits, but music helped me get over that. Its done so much for me, that thinking of it as a sin scared the Hell right out of me. I mean honestly...can I go to hell for liking music other than Gospel?

I listen to a lot of stuff, but never hardcore rap or death metals that encourage sin like drugs and money flaunting and vanity...but I love stuff like CCR and Skillet (well...Skillet is actually a christian band) and Metallica.

Can anybody provide either a scripture to confirm or deny this? Or both even?

found this: http://www.prayers-for-special-help.com/bible-verses-about-music.html

went to a monastery when i was a kid, with the class. and a nun told another: don't be caught by 'satanist' stuff like that girl over there, with her medallion. She had a Jon Bon Jovi medallion.

now I grew: better to refrain from 'commercial' music -- is simply sh*t

This post was edited by the_rest on Aug 19 2014 05:30am

Like you, music impacts millions of people on this earth. Some are positive, while others are negative impacts. My view with anything, music included, is how it affects your testimony and your relationship with Christ. Is the music you listen to a positive reflection of your testimony to the world, or a negative? Meaning, when you're listening to music and people can also hear it.. do they think you have a relationship with God or not? Much of the music today is wonderful stuff, but as you know, much of it is filled with explicit language, talk of drugs, alcohol, and sex, and much more. If you listen to music like that, I can't imagine people are thinking that God controls your life with is a bad thing.

I too love music, but I am very careful of what I listen to. If it makes me think, act, or speak in a way that is not within God's will, I abstain from it.

Hope that helps!

Very well said actually, that is how our youth pastor explains is to us as well.



I wouldn't really refrain from it, just check out the lyrics to make sure they're not insane. They're are some great Christian commercial groups. For example, Hillsong United Y&F, The Afters, Newsboys off the top of my head.

sufjan's some easy listening.

This all helps very much. I dont only listen to Christian music, but I do have a few Christian bands that I love.

Old Evanescence when they started out, they were Christian (the song Tourniquet comes to mind)
Skillet is an awesome band. If you dont know who these guys are, they dedicate everything to getting people into worship and Christ. Because of them, I actually donate to a foundation that helps feed kids all over the world called Compassion International.
Red is a band I used to listen to but fell away from. They put on a heck of a show at Joshua Fest.

These are just a few christian bands I really like, but of course with that comes other bands that are not Christian but still make me happy inside when I hear them

Mike Shinoda was part of Linkin Park but went on his own and formed a rap group that does songs like Remember the Name. It swears in it, but its a story of his and his friends beginnings
The new-ish band, Volbeat, which sings the wildest assortment of music around from Johnny Cash and Elvis covers, to Folk music and modern rock. his voice is astoundingly good
Disturbed (hence my JSP name lol, I love this band. By far my top band ever) which sings about a LOT of stuff, although some of it is questionable even by me (Down with the Sickness has a rather disturbing part that even the radio cuts)
and lastly, Trivium, which is a Metalcore band that sings a lot about political stuff. In particular, a song called Down From the Sky which sings about how governments and extremists use religion and other means to basically cause havoc as seen in the lyrics below
~~The vampires feed on the wars of mankind
~~Growing fat on the throne of an empire
~~Tyrant rules with the threat of a great fire
~~I've opened up my eyes
~~Seen the world for what it's worth
~~Tears rain down from the sky
~~They'll blow it all to bits
~~To prove whose God wields all the power
~~Fire rains down from the sky
But they also sing about injustices done by police in excessive force cases and question why they do not stand trial or get off with no time in a song called Contempt Breeds Contamination (again, lyrics below)
~~The four "protectors" fired 41 shots
~~Hitting him 19 times
~~Searching the body there were no weapons found
~~He lies with all who died in vain
Trivium screams predominantly in their songs, and anybody overhearing my music may think that Im an angry guy (Ive actually been asked why I was angry because I was listening to that) but it isnt anti Christ music for sure, and it doesnt make me angry in any way but people perceive it that way.

And then of course, there are bands I listen to that swear and have no deeper meanings like Trivium does at ALL, like Metallica, Blue Oyster Cult, and Judas Priest just because that is the kind of music I was raised on and I love how it all sounds.

So yea...from classic rock, to christian rock, to rap, to metal...my music selection is quite diverse, and while it is not all worship music, it only affects me for the better. Never do I listen to music and plot a crime or anything. I listen to it when I clean, when im sad, when Im playing video games (which is on the same level as music as far as addiction goes, correct?) and when Im in the car.

If I understood Dune1 said correctly, as long as the music doesnt take my attention away from the Lord and into a dark thought pattern then it is generally okay?

Sorry for the long read, and I thank all who take their time to help me through this. I am seriously torn sometimes because I LOVE my music, but I am almost scared to listen to some of it because I dont want to be in eternal torment for it.