Three of the greatest artists of all time in popular music have professed belief in Jesus Christ:
*Johnny Cash, considered by many to be the greatest artist in the history of country music … and who wanted to quit music and become an evangelist until Billy Graham talked him out of it.
*Bob Dylan, almost universally lauded as the greatest songwriter of the past half-century – if not the entire twentieth century – whose conversion to Christ in the late 70s shocked the music establishment who viewed him as their prophet and poet.
*Bono and The Edge from U2 – members of one of the greatest bands of all-time – who are known for turning the last portion of their concerts almost into a worship service.
Each of the above artists regularly incorporates Scripture and Christian ideas into their music.
Keep that in mind as we look at 5 more secular songs you can sing … or hear someone else sing … in church:
Number 5: “Magnificent” by U2
U2 writes their songs almost like parables … and they have admitted as much. If you’re a believer, you get what they’re singing about … if you’re an unbeliever, you can just enjoy a song on its own merits. Since Jesus taught this way, it’s a perfectly legitimate way to present truth … but there are always Christians who demand that a truly “spiritual” song include explicit references … and even praises … to Jesus Christ.
But should that be the rule when you’re trying to create art?
How about “Magnificent?”
The second verse goes like this (and Bono raises his hands heavenward at this point):
I was born, I was born
To sing to you
I didn’t have a choice
To lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb
My first cry
It was a joyful noise
Sounds like a psalm to me … and Bono loves the Psalms so much (he wrote an introduction to a collection of Psalms in England in the late 90s) that U2 even did a song in 1983 called “40” which is based on Psalm 40.
But in “Magnificent,” Bono gets both romantic and theological:
Justified
Til we die
You and I
Will magnify
The Magnificent
The video of the song is itself magnificent:
When U2 were launching their last album, No Line on the Horizon, they played some songs on the balcony of the BBC building in downtown London … with continual views of All Souls Church across a little street … the church where John Stott was rector for years:
Number 4: “Viva la Vida” (Long Live Life in Spanish) by Coldplay
Coldplay’s lead singer, Chris Martin, grew up in a strict Christian home in England, but there is no indication that he has chosen to follow Christ into adulthood.
And yet Martin and his band hit gold with this 2008 song, which captured the Grammy award for Song of the Year in 2009. Lyrics aside, it’s my favorite tune out of all ten “secular” songs. On a recent trip, after hearing the song once, my wife asked if we could play it again. It’s a song I’ve never tired of hearing.
The song is a mini morality tale. The narrator was once a king … someone in authority … but has since been deposed and sings:
I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
With an infectious string background, the narrator continues:
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand
Remind anyone of Jesus’ words about the rich man at the end of the Sermon on the Mount?
The song refers to “Jerusalem bells” and “my missionaries in a foreign field” … the latter phrase being one that someone raised in a Christian church would know.
Then at the end of the song:
Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?
For a Christian, the saddest phrase of all occurs when Martin sings:
For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter won’t call my name …
What did the king do to merit banishment? The song doesn’t say, but it’s obvious he fell from grace … an illustration of the biblical idea that “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).
Our church in Arizona not only played this song during their pre-service music, they also did it as a performance song in their services one weekend.
There are two videos for the song: one that’s a bit edgy, another that’s more conventional. Here’s the conventional video:
Number 3: “When He Returns” by Bob Dylan
When I went online to try and find a performance of Dylan singing this song, I discovered dozens of cover versions, many of them by Christian artists. This song obviously resonates with many people.
Dylan’s classic album Slow Train Coming ends with this song … with Bob singing and playing the piano alone. It makes the song that much more powerful.
After Slow Train came out, I preached on the second coming of Christ at my church, and after the message, I wanted someone to sing the song live … but I didn’t know who could do it justice. Next best option: to play Dylan doing the song while projecting the words, but Christians weren’t used to that kind of thing back then.
So I read the words to the song to the congregation … and they still hold up to this day. For example:
Surrender your crown, on this blood-stained ground
Take off your mask
He sees your deeds, He knows your needs
Even before you ask
How long can you falsify and deny what is real?
How long can you hate yourself for the weakness you conceal?
Not exactly hand-clapping, toe-tapping lyrics … but they make you think. The song ends this way:
Of every earthly plan
That be known to man
He is unconcerned
He’s got plans of His own
To set up His throne
When He returns
The lyrics are powerful on their own, but when you consider who’s singing them …. wow!
Since nobody does Bob like Bob, check out this video … has to be from around 1980:
Number 2: “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables
When I was a kid, I heard scattered warnings that Christians shouldn’t attend plays in the theatre. Before movies, I suppose decadent ideas were first introduced to the public through plays.
I’ve seen maybe 15 shows in my lifetime, but most of them have made me a better person (although considerably poorer financially).
But the best one of all is Les Miserables.
If you haven’t seen it, the musical is at once inspiring … and sad … and bawdy … and intensely spiritual.
And the most spiritual song in the musical is “Bring Him Home.”
Jean Valjean … a former criminal who seeks redemption while being chased by a relentless policeman (The Fugitive TV series and film were both based on Les Miserables) … sings this song about a young man named Marius toward the end of the show.
God on high
Hear my prayer
In my need
You have always been there
I can’t hear this song without thinking of both my children … my son Ryan because the song expresses how I feel about him … and my daughter Sarah because she knows every word of Les Miserables by heart.
And every time I hear this song … I am moved to tears … primarily because of Jean Valjean’s last 12 words:
If I die
Let me die
Let him live
Bring him home
The song is a prayer … a prayer for safety for a young man who has been standing for what’s right … and a prayer for an old man who is willing to sacrifice his life so the young man can live.
See if you can hold back tears while watching this video of Alfie Boe singing “Bring Him Home”:
And if you’d like to see a sterling performance, watch the Valjean Quartet … 4 vocalists who have played the part of Jean Valjean on the stage … sing this song together (Sarah loves Colm Wilkinson the most … the first vocalist) at the 25th anniversary of the musical:
Number 1: “Yahweh” by U2
U2 is one of the greatest rock bands of all time … certainly in the Top 10, and arguably in the Top 5.
But would John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Roger Daltrey, or Robert Plant ever sing these lyrics?
Take these hands
Teach them what to carry
Take these hands
Don’t make a fist
Take this mouth
So quick to criticize
Take this mouth
Give it a kiss
And then the chorus:
Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I’m waiting for the dawn
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is, in my opinion, U2’s most spiritually-oriented album … so much so that I used to give copies of it away. “Yahweh” ends the album with a heartfelt prayer … the modern-day equivalent of the hymn “Take My Life, and Let it Be.”
The song ends this way:
Take this city
A city should be shining on a hill
Take this city
If it be Your will
What no man can own
No man can take
Take this heart, take this heart
Take this heart
And make it break
“Yahweh” isn’t necessarily my favorite song from this list … I’m partial to “Walk On” and “Viva La Vida” … but I believe it’s the song that could most easily be done in a church service.
Here’s a moving video of Bono and the Boys ending a concert with a slowed-down (hymnlike) version of the song:
So that’s my list. What’s yours?
Check out our website at www.restoringkingdombuilders.org You’ll find Jim’s story, recommended resources on conflict, and a forum where you can ask questions about conflict situations in your church.
Restoring Kingdom Builders 
I have really enjoyed these two articles Jim! I listened to all of the songs and I will be adding most of them to my iPod. I took my daughter to see Coldplay in concert in April and they were fabulous. I have done some reading about Chris Martin and his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, and if I am to believe what I read she has decided to raise their two children Jewish-but I digress. Secular songs we can sing in church:
1. “I Look to You” by Whitney Houston. If there was ever an example of a singer whose life did not reflect her faith it was Whitney. How many stars have we lost in the last few years due to drugs? Too many, and she was the one I was actually rooting for to change her life. The song was introduced just after she started getting her life back together. The song talks about looking to God for strength.
2. “Open My Heart” by Yolanda Adams. She is actually a well-known gospel singer, but this song appeared on the secular urban and R&B charts. The singer asks for God’s guidance as she makes a life decision. How many times do we rely on ourselves first instead of going to the Lord in prayer?
3. Of course, as I already mentioned, “Jesus Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood. Many “Idols” are Christians, which leads me to #4.
4. “Rescue Me” by Daughtry. I believe this song is about accepting Jesus, but I can’t find any interviews with Chris Daughtry that would confirm this. Most of his songs, even the love songs, are about hope and redemption. There are Christian radio stations that play his song “Home” and I see why-it can easily be a song about coming home spiritually.
5. “We Believe” by David Cook. He is one of the non-Christian “Idol alums” but this song leads me to believe he might be re-thinking that. It talks about there being a reason why we are all here, that all doubts will disapear.
6. “Turn! Turn! Turn!” by the Byrds. Okay, I get it, the last line is a war protest, but maybe some churches in conflict need to see the benefit of peace!
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Ce Ce, thanks so much for your song ideas. I love “Turn! Turn! Turn!” and wanted to include it in my list. It has a great guitar solo and words that come directly from Ecclesiastes 3. However, it could probably only be done on a Sunday where the pastor was preaching on Ecclesiastes.
Kim watches AI more than I do. She has all of Carrie Underwood’s stuff except her latest CD. But I have noticed how many AI vocalists are believers and got their start in church.
I’ll defer to you on the gospel singers … but thanks so much for your ideas!
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How about “I Wanna Hold Your Hand (slower version used in ACROSS THE UNIVERSE and GLEE)” by the Beatles. I sang that in church, mashed up with “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” and it was a huge success.
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If a Beatles’ song were to be used, maybe parts of “Let it Be” or “Long Long Long” (which is about God) would be preferable since “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” is definitely about a girl and not God. I love “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” though. Thanks for the idea!
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actually…if you take out one of the verses about “let me be your man” the song is not about the love of a girl. (I.e. Oh yeah, I’ll tell you something I think you’ll understand When I say that something I want to hold your hand
I want to hold your hand I want to hold your hand
And when I touch you I feel happy inside It’s such a feeling that my love I can’t hide, I can’t hide, I can’t hide
Yeah, you got that something I think you’ll understand When I say that something I want to hold your hand
I want to hold your hand I want to hold your hand
And when I touch you I feel happy inside It’s such a feeling that my love I can’t hide, I can’t hide, I can’t hide
Yeah, you got that something I think you’ll understand When I feel that something I want to hold your hand
I want to hold your hand I want to hold your hand I want to hold your hand )
And you can get the sheet music to this version, which is more heartfelt:
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Well, that’s certainly an interesting way of looking at the song. Bob Dylan thought the Beatles were singing, “I get high, I get high.” A friend of mine thought the Beatles were singing, “I’ve got hives, I’ve got hives.”
Thanks for your very original thoughts!
Jim
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I have been looking for secular songs to use in a skit for church and your list plus some of the songs in the comments really helped. Some of the songs I have thought of using ” Your Love Lifts Me Higher and Higher” when the woman is caught in adultery, “You Lift Me Up”.when Peter walks on water, and ” Bridge Over Troubled Water” inserting Jesus where the word “I” is used, not sure when to use this song.
Please let me know if you know of other songs that could be used in this context.as I have no musical background.
Thank you,
Mark
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Mark,
Thanks for writing. When you get stuck for a song on a particular passage or theme, write me at jim@restoringkingdombuilders.org and I’ll research my iTunes library for you.
Hope this helps!
Jim
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Songs I’ve sung in church very successfully – all from musical theater:
“The Hardest Part of Love” from “Children of Eden”
“Nothing Stops Another Day” from “Ghost”
“You Walk with Me” from “The Full Monty”
“Music of Heaven” (not from a show, but by well-known musical theater composer Jason Robert Brown.)
“I Believe” from “Altar Boyz”
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Thanks so much for your song suggestions, David. To show my cultural ignorance, I don’t know any of those songs, but I take your word for it that they’re appropriate for church. Thanks so much for writing!
Jim
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Before I make a suggestion please remember the words of our Lord … “Let him without sin cast the first stone” … DMX’s “Lord give me a sign” ?
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Ossie,
Sorry I’ve taken so long to respond. I don’t know the song but it sounds intriguing!
Jim
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