During a family drive, my daughters asked why I didn’t change the secular song playing on the car stereo. They wondered if it was “good” since it wasn’t a Christian song. I explained, “It’s not a Jesus song, but it’s not bad either – it promotes morals and dignity of labour.” I used the moment to teach them about the secular and the sacred.
Friend, we have been called to live a sacred life in a secular society (Philippians 2:15). A lot of Christians don’t know how to fulfil this mandate. Some have always thought that their work, business, academics, etc., must always be in sacred settings (Isaiah 60:1-3). They want to attend Christian schools, work for Christian organisations, stay with Christian neighbours, etc.
If you want to do life only in sacred settings, you would have to go to heaven (1 Corinthians 5:9-11). God was intentional in leaving us here on the earth when we got saved. It is to affect the secular and sinful society. If you don’t know how to do this, your Christianity would not make much impact (John 9:5).
As salts and lights, our places of operation would be tasteless and dark societies (Matthew 5:13-16). Rather than running away from these, we are to embrace them as our assignment under God. We are to deploy the wisdom of God in changing the world without allowing the world to change us (Romans 12:1-2). We maintain contact without contamination.
If some Christians were to be the Daniel and Joseph of the Bible, they would have resigned their jobs. These guys worked for godless kings and in godless societies. Yet, they stood for God and shinned the light (Daniel 1:8, 2:46-49). Allowing us to live and work in secular and sinful settings is God’s strategy for evangelism (Daniel 12:3).
By the way, secular does not always mean sinful (John 2:1-2, 11). We all go to secular schools, hospitals, markets, etc. Not all secular songs are sinful, and not all “Jesus” songs are biblical. But how do you draw the line of safety when listening to songs (Colossians 3:16)? Be loaded with scriptures and the Holy Spirit so you can discern when the devil subtly injects poison in your feed.
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria