There Is Nothing Like Gospel Music Or Secular Music – Nigerian Man Clarifies

Here’s something I’ve discovered, which may surprise a few of us:

There’s really nothing like SECULAR MUSIC

Yes you read that right😀

I’ll say it again, just in case you missed it: There’s… really… nothing… like… Secular… Music.

And by implication, there’s really nothing like “Gospel/Christian music” either. 

I’ll explain.

Music is an entity on its own. It is a unique and distinct element that exists on earth, and we know (from scripture) also exists in the realm of the spirit. Like the physical elements- air, fire, water and so on, music is a distinct element- intangible but undeniably evident in our existence.

Have you ever looked at air and felt the need to classify it as secular or gospel? I guess not.

The air in a church and the air in a mosque are both called AIR. The air on a crusade ground and the air in a clubhouse are all simply AIR.

Music exists in the same form.

For those of you who know a little music, you should know your tonic solfas/major scale. 

Doh Re Mi Fa Soh Lah Ti Doh

Familiar right?

Now my question: If I played that sound on a keyboard or guitar, will it be classified as music? The answer is YES. 

Next question. If it is music, and if music is either secular or gospel, according to many of us, then how would you classify the melody of the major scale? Secular? Or Gospel?

The answer would be NONE of the two. It’s just music.

Music exists as a unique element created by God. The sound of drums, the melody of an instrument- all of that is music, with no tag!

When we take advantage of the element of music to communicate messages by adding words (lyrics) to a musical piece, we create SONGS.

There is no secular or gospel music, but there are secular and gospel songs.

The words! The lyrics! That’s what makes a song to be classified as either of the two. Not the style of music.

Some people don’t understand this and as a result, they feel certain styles/genres of music are not suitable to be classified as gospel. So they frown at rap, afro-pop, reggae, funk, disco, RnB, or any style of music that does not fit into their perception of “gospel” or “spiritual” music.

The gospel is a message fam. Not a style of music.

Take that message and put it into any style of music and it becomes a Gospel song. Simple.

The music itself has no allegiance to any of our perceived denominations.

And by the way, “secular” does not equal “sinful”. But that’s gist for another post.

I hope this helps our understanding.

#JIAi