Key Differences between secular and Christian songwriting

Hey everyone! So today, I’m going to go over some key differences between secular and Christian songwriting. Keep in mind that this is my perspective on the whole thing and not necessarily the absolute end all be all method of songwriting for a Christian. 

Before we get into it, let’s have our moment of silence. 

At this time, I would like all of us to take a moment of silence and pray to God to help us to make us great songwriters for him. Ask God to guide us more towards him throughout all of our days. Take a minimum of 5 minutes and pray for this. 

Now back to the show

Key differences between secular and Christian songwriting

So what happens is that there a few differences between secular and Christian songwriting. 

Let’s take it back a few notches. 

Songwriting in it’s originality

So in the bible, music was made so that we could worship the Lord through song. 

The original concept of the art of sound is so that we could worship the Lord through song and make a joyful noise for him.

The Lord made us to worship him and song is one of the methods that we are supposed to worship him. 

Fast forward to the early 1900s 

People started using music to create songs that were not for God. 

And it’s understandable and not understandable in a way. 

It’s understandable because we understand that mankind will almost always take what is good and use it for their own ways that are not good.

And it’s not understandable because it was something good and now it’s being used for something evil. 

So there are some key differences between what songwriting for the Lord should be about and what it shouldn’t be about. 

Let’s talk about it

Writing secularly

So when you write secularly, there are different goals to be considered when writing for the people. 

You could want to make the crowd dance, you could want to make the audience sing, you could want to make the audience cry or get them pumped up as an anthem. 

There are a variety of different goals to be considered when writing for a crowd. 

But when you write for God, there is really one main objective and that is to write the song in a manner that glorifies God. 

Now I’m not saying that it can’t sound good and can’t have guitars or drums or synthesizers or anything like that in the song.

But what I’m saying is that the objective is different. 

You might be saying, “But how German, can we glorify God and know exactly how God wants his songs to sound?” 

Well the Lord isn’t picky. And the Lord knows that he gave different peoples of the world different instruments to worship him. 

Some people he gave guitars and pianos, Others he gave maracas and steel pans. 

Sometimes guitars aren’t available to worship the Lord even though they are very cheap instruments, and other times it’s the only thing that we have. 

So God doesn’t have any preferences as to what your music should sound like. 

But I will say that there are different elements in a song. 

In mixing, we ask ourselves the question, “What is the focus element of the song?” 

The Focus element is the element that you bring out the most. 

Sometimes you notice that the bass drum is really out forward in a song, sometimes you notice that the voice is the one that is forward, but you have to pick which one is the focus element and mix around that. 

But what happens is that as Christians, our focus element is God and it’s usually showed in our songs straight from the top. 

So our focus element almost always will be the lyrics that we sing because we are trying to adore God through song. 

So, make your focus element God. 

The lyrics themselves

So what happens is that the lyrics that we sing are just as important as the method that we deliver them.

In secular music, you don’t need to make sense all the time. 

Sometimes it’s actually recommended to leave the aura of mystery in the song so that the listener can go ahead and try and decipher what you’ve said. 

Sometimes you say lyrics that literally make no sense and it would go great with the song. 

And it’s just fine. 

However, in Christian music, we must make sense almost all the time because we are trying to worship the Lord through our words. 

So they have to make sense. 

However, that doesn’t mean that they have to be boring or be not deep.

Actually it means that we are to make our words deeper than if we were to be writing for the world. 

If we make our words deep, then God himself will be the one to be glorified. 

And you can actually make your words deep by practicing writing poetry. 

If you practice writing poetry, you will succeed at making your lyrics deep. 

Broadcast

I sure hope that I have been an inspiration and a hope to you all. Please remember to pray, read your bible, go to church, and love God above all else. Like, comment, share, subscribe, and I will see you all next time.

If you want to go to heaven, then believe in Jesus and you will go to heaven. (John 3:16)

Thank you all for listening in on this blog post. 

German Gonzalez, signing out!

Hey guys! Be sure to check out this blog post about performing at bars or nightclubs.