Secular Music in Church?

I was recently asked a great question by one of our regular attenders at NDC about why we play secular music before and after service. What a good question! Let’s answer it.

In Acts 17 Paul is speaking with the unchurched Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. This lands him a speaking engagement with the Council of Philosophers. Paul begins his sermon with a reference to something in their culture; an altar to a pagan idol, with the inscription “To an Unknown God” written on it. Then, during his message, he quotes one of their pagan poets, to illustrate his point.

Paul is a missionary. And he uses culture to teach spiritual truths to unchurched people. At New Day Church, we consider ourselves missionaries to one of the biggest mission fields in the world - the United States of America. And we are all for following the biblical example of using culture to communicate spiritual truths to the unchurched.

Here’s an example...One week I was speaking on forgiveness and how bitterness will only eat away at you. So that week we played “Apologize” by One Republic before service started.

Here’s another example...In a series we recently did called 30 DAY TO LIVE we played the audio of an Eminem song called “Lose Yourself” and then quoted the chorus which talked about having only one shot and one chance at life and how you can’t miss your opportunity. This was done during the message, just like Paul did.

While we do play secular music before and after service, we DO NOT play music containing a message that is contrary to the gospel. We have found that unchurched guests are set at ease when they arrive and hear something familiar, something they can relate to. This then opens them up to hearing what we have to say about Jesus. Also, by using something they understand from culture to explain spiritual truths, people with no (or very little) Bible background can learn about Jesus.