The secular and the sacred

I have been meaning to blog for a while on the subject of Christian versus secular music. The River had a discussion on this a while back which relieved much of my skeptism from the past. At one point in my life, I thought that if I only listened to Christian music then it would ultimately lead me closer to God. I think many Christians get caught up in this idea that if we "behave" ourselves and not do certain things that the "church" frowns upon then we will be alright in God's sight. In the scriptures, this concept is irrelevant because it is not about what we do but it is about our faith and walk with God. It isn't about works. What I find interesting is the fact that many people in the church don't want you to listen to certain styles of music. This simple fact bothers me because you can take inspiration from any type of music and use it for God's glory. The church people want to tell you "Don't listen to Backstreet Boy. Listen to Plus One". I find it entertaining that people in the church do not want you to listen to one group that sounds just like another but the only difference is that one is CCM(Christian Contemporary Music) and the other is "secular". Please don't misunderstand me when I speak down about Christian Contemporary Music. I am a worship leader and I love to play worship music. I get irritated when people tell me I shouldn't/can't listen to a certain genre of music. I am more inspired by music that isn't written in the CCM realm most of the time. If you take the group U2 for example, you will see that they write very spiritual lyrics but many people who are in the charismatic or fundamental realm say that it is secular and shouldn't be listened to. The funny part of it all is that U2 has had the biggest impact on CCM music out of any other group in pop music. If you listen to casting crowns, hillsong united, delirious, and many other groups; you will see direct correlation stylistically in the playing. Something else I find humorous is the people who get mad when Christian artists "sell out". Suddenly if an artist goes from being under the Christian label to a secular label, they supposedly are no longer living for God even if nothing has really changed in the way they write their music. These are simply my frustrations and thoughts on the concept of Christian and secular music.