Is It Okay to Use Secular Music in Corporate Worship? - a podcast by Jonathan Michael Jones

            A
few years ago, a prominent church in the United States came under controversy
for beginning their weekly worship gathering with a secular song. The scrutiny
was not as much because the song was secular but because of its questionable
lyrics, which include, “Baby, you turn me on.” Like many of you, growing up, it
became clear to me that secular music should be used in the context of
corporate worship. I have laxed on that stance since then; yet, I still draw
the line at God’s glory. We should always remember that all we do is to be for
the glory of God. With that said, it is certainly possible to glorify God and
listen to or perform secular music. I would, however, like to focus on the
music we utilize in our corporate worship gatherings.

            Is
it okay to use secular music in corporate worship? The underpinning question (I
think) is this: for whose glory is worship designed? Throughout church history,
there has existed a fine line between the use of secular and solely sacred
elements in music, e.g. secular tunes were often parodied and set in corporate
worship contexts in the Reformation and post-Reformation eras. In fact, many
hymns in our various denominational hymnals employ tunes that were once
considered secular. Many congregants likely do not know that now because the
tunes have been familiarized in sacred worship for so long. The church shares a
rich history of employing secular mediums in worship. Recently I recorded an
entire podcast on art in worship and discussed the fact that there is no sacred
and secular divide except what humanity has created, i.e. God created music and
art for his glory so any artform that does not glorify him has been distorted.

            How
then do we, as worship leaders, approach the use of secular music in corporate
worship? Is it okay? Is it not okay? I would like to answer these questions as
best as possible by discussing three unique aspects to this conversation.
Thinking through these three imperatives will help us determine what is okay to
use in corporate worship.

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