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What’s in Your Playlist?
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July 2, 2026
Family shouldn’t keep secrets, but I must admit, most days I wouldn’t dream of telling my sister I’m adding her songs to my playlist.
During a family road trip, the always-clever middle child convinced our dad to let her play her music. From my spot in the backseat of the van, I complained, “Let me play my music. You never let me play my music. Her music is boring! Please? Come on, don’t do this to me!”
Yet somehow, three songs into her “summer vibes” playlist, I found myself bobbing my head and tapping my foot as my gaze drifted from the front windshield to my phone.
At first, I resisted the siren’s call. But with the windows down, the landscape rolling outside, and the folky acoustic tune drawing me in, what began as a casual car ride quickly became a top-secret mission.
Snatching up my phone, I forced a nonchalant expression as I scrolled through Spotify to find the song. Save to playlist. Phone off. Hands folded in my lap. Done and done, and my sister was none the wiser.
This wouldn’t have been an issue if she and I hadn’t had a history of opposing musical tastes. She criticizes my favorites, and I criticize hers. It’s a strange thing to get defensive over, but maybe the intensity reflects the personal nature of our musical tastes!
Music touches the human soul in a way few other things can. Author Hans Christian Andersen once put it this way: “Where words fail, music speaks.” As it turns out, this is more than a charming quote to slap on a sticker: beneath the drumbeats, riffs, and harmonies, music holds undeniable power. Even people who don’t listen to a lot of music can be moved by it. It can bring people together or push them apart, uplift someone or tear them down, put into words those feelings we struggle to convey, or make those same feelings even harder to understand.
Considering this power, then, how can we better understand how music affects and shapes the human experience, why the music we listen to matters, and how the Bible instructs us to use music?
First, how has music influenced cultures and evolved over the ages?
Music Throughout History
This art first appears in Genesis 4:21, where we’re introduced to Jubal, “the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.” Throughout the Bible, music is mentioned especially in connection with praising the Lord (see most of the Psalms, Mary’s worship in Luke 1, and the song of the redeemed in Revelation 14, among many others).
Beyond Biblical history, many cultures have used music to preserve their histories, share treasured folk tales, connect communities, and express the vibrant range of human emotions and experiences. Tribes and cultures without written languages passed down their folklore through stories and songs. In these cases, oral tradition united societies through shared understanding.
As recording technology advanced in the 1800s, artists began recording and publishing songs across a wide range of genres. The earliest known vocal recording was a snippet of a French folk song sung by an unknown female artist in 1860. Still, as technology advanced, the recording world boasted a plethora of other performances. (1)
Today’s global music industry is valued at over $65 billion and encompasses about 41 primary genres and upwards of 1,200 recognized subgenres, all of which are constantly evolving. (2, 3)
As of 2025, the most listened-to genre in the U.S. is pop, with other prevalent genres including hip-hop/rap, rock/alternative/indie, and country. (4)
What Are You Feeding Your Soul?
Modern music typically features catchy beats and memorable lyrics, but with all its pros, it also has many cons, particularly in its messages. Broken people making music in a broken world means some of what we hear, regardless of who’s singing it, will reflect sinful pleasures and passions rather than godly ones.
Many of today’s popular songs feature themes that don’t fully align with the Christian worldview. Are the lyrics we “ignore” so harmless after all, or do the songs we listen to actually matter?
According to the Bible, there’s more here than meets the eye (or ear). As much as the Bible commends music, it also reminds us that its power goes beyond merely creating earworms. Whether we realize it or not, the music we listen to impacts us on a spiritual level.
Themes that run counter to God’s truth, wherever we encounter them, can unconsciously draw us away from Christ. Philippians 4:8 offers a filter for everything we take in, including music: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Wherever we find these qualities in a song, whether Christian or secular, we can celebrate them. Wherever a song runs counter to them, that’s where we need to be cautious.
Music can convey themes of sexuality, substance use, mental health struggles, or partying that fall short of that standard. We may claim we “don’t pay attention to lyrics” or “are good at compartmentalizing,” but whether we admit it or not, music affects our thoughts, speech, and behavior.
In other words, what goes in inevitably shapes what comes out.
Proverbs 4:23 puts it this way: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” What we allow into our hearts, including the music we listen to, directly shapes our thoughts, words, and actions.
Artists, both Christian and secular, express a full spectrum of emotions, both positive and negative, in their music. People say, “You are what you eat,” or “You become who you hang out with.” In the same way, you “become” the type of music you listen to most.
As one of the many inputs we allow to speak into our lives, music needs to be used responsibly to encourage us and fix our thoughts on Christ, not on the things of this world. If used improperly, music can stir up as much doubt, anxiety, and insecurity as it can joy, empathy, and inspiration, making us more likely to act in ways that reflect ideas that might not honor God.
Not to mention that everything we do is a form of worship. 1 Corinthians 10:31 commands us, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
If every action is an act of worship, we need to ask ourselves what we’re truly worshipping. Though in our day and age we might not worship physical idols, we’re all guilty of putting other things, such as wealth, power, status, relationships, and achievements, above God. Even good things become idols if we make them more important than our Heavenly Father.
A Better Way to Listen
As you assess your life by these standards, you might start to think, “Hey, I’ve been listening to a lot of music that’s affecting me negatively, but I love the styles.”
What if I told you there was another way to enjoy music that’s both satisfying and edifying?
Throughout this blog series, I’m here to help you enjoy your favorite music genres while learning to discern what’s worth taking in and what’s not. Fortunately, the Christian music industry is expanding well beyond contemporary Christian music (CCM) and praise and worship. Artists like Forrest Frank, Rend Collective, Hulvey, Josiah Queen, and more are topping the charts across genres, from indie pop to rap to folk and back again!
It turns out that some of the most popular genres in the secular world are trending in Christian music, too, giving you more places to find music with a message that aligns with truth. Sounds like a win to me!
The point of all this? Music can blend Christian themes with popular styles and be just as compelling, if not more so. As you dive into these resources, I hope you’ll find something that suits your musical taste and feeds your spirit as you seek the things of God.
REFERENCES:
1 https://www.recordingcopyright.org/learnmore-timeline.html
2 https://frontmanphilosophy.com/music-industry-stats/
3 https://www.musicalmum.com/how-many-genres-of-music-are-there/
