While I am huge fan of music and appreciate all types of music, I do believe that we have to be very careful about what we listen to. The excuse of “it’s a good beat”, or “the melody is catchy” is not good enough when the lyrics communicate a terrible message.
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 says, "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
How is listening to music that talks about taking advantage of women, treating them like sex objects, or about gang banging beneficial to our spiritual growth? It’s not. It perverts the mind, it makes us numb to this type of mistreatment towards women, and it indirectly says that we condone it. It is not beneficial to us in a spiritual sense and doesn’t spur us on to be better Christ followers.
Would your raise an eyebrow if all of sudden, hip hop was coming through the speakers at service, and you heard swear words being used left right and center? Would it then bother you to find out that that was coming out from my iPod?
People are watching Christians all the time, so we need to be aware of our actions so not to smear the name of Christ, rather to use our actions to proclaim Jesus. Some of you may ask if it's okay to listen to it if we are mature Christians - on an inward level, it may be okay to watch it because you’re mature to understand that the content is not reality, but again…what about your testimony? What happens if you’re watching it, and your little brother or sister see you doing it? It’s not a good example of Christ.
So in conclusion – technically, yes, it is okay to watch it if you’re mature enough to. However, I believe our witness to the righteousness of Christ weighs far more than our maturity to handle this sketchy media.
[answered by Pastor KJT, who loves and buys legit music]
