Jesse Nathaniel is a young man living in Texas. In 2009, he began a series of YouTube videos entitled “Pure Handles”, where he discusses various aspects of his Christian faith.

Jesse Nathaniel:

Pop and other forms of music are good, but for a Christian, we have to look at the lyrics. Most people don’t listen to the lyrics. If the beat sounds good, that’s what they go for… The lyrics of mainstream songs now contain very explicit, wrong, sinful lyrics. They can cause you to stumble. So you have to be careful what you listen to…

Music is not ALL sinful. All worldly music is not worldly. I’ve heard my pastor say that also. Worldly music is music that causes you to sin.

(1 JOHN 2:16) Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world… For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh” – is the craving for sinful gratification. That’s the lust of the flesh. If you’re listening to music that gives you the craving for sex, music that’s getting you to get revenge… That’s why I don’t really like a lot of Hip-Hop…

The bible says also “Don’t love the world, because it’s the lust of the eyes”, which is being greedy, it makes you want to long after things. If you’re losing your focus on Christ through that song, then you don’t need to be listening to it. If it’s causing you to sin…

When you become a believer, God will begin the sanctification process. He will begin to show you, and separate you every day from what is right and what is wrong. And you will know, if you listen to the song… and it’s causing you to stumble, then you already know not to listen to that song. There’s going to be a conviction, and you say “Wait, this is not of God. I don’t want to listen to it.” And you won’t. Music & sanctification goes hand in hand. You know what’s wrong to listen to. You already know. Now, if you’re going to rebel against your own conscience, that’s YOUR problem. You’re going to receive judgment for that. But it is important for you to understand that that is what it’s about.