Asked by ShadowsWithinMe:

Thanks for such a great question!

Question #1:
I personally cannot stand it. To me, music is something I go to when I need a boost or sometimes just a little comfort, to get away from the world, so when the modern music is all about worldly pleasures, like sexual related content, breakups, curse words, money, drugs, etc., it bothers me. I know this isn't the case for everyone, but here is an important thing that is: I've touched on it before... We, as humans, especially as teenagers, are like sponges. We tend to soak in whatever comes across our path and that same stuff is also what we squeeze out, if that makes any sense to you.

Listening to that type of music is just putting things into your mind and gradually convincing you that it's okay to say/do those things. It's a bad influence on you as a Christian, and even as a non-Christian.

Some people will say that listening to such music is a sin. To some extent, I totally agree with that statement.
As far as listening to such music being a sin, let's begin by asking ourselves this question:

What is a sin?

I Googled this, but a few answers that stood out to me were these:
•An offense against reason, truth, and right conscience
•A desire contrary to the external law
•Sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it

Music that suggests or encourages bad things is definitely against right conscience, is a worldly desire, and turns our hearts and thoughts away from Christ.

The Bible commands us to lay our thoughts on...

"...whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." -Phillipians 4:8

Filling our mind with good things is God's plan for us!

So...
•Try to avoid negative stuff
•When you can't avoid the negative, have a Jesus filter in place
•Check out positive alternatives

Question #2:
Lots of the popular Christian music today gets to me and bothers me, but it's not so much the lyrics of them as it is the... Well, the people and the way they present themselves and their music. For example, Hillsong. Especially at their 2014 Christmas Concert, the piece Silent Night.

(There are videos online if you want to see the entire performance.)

Her outfit is extremely revealing! She kept thrusting her hips this way and that causing you to be able to see nearly everything, and she wasn't the only one! Also, in the last photo, that man's hand is in a very dangerous place on the woman... :/

I'm not completely against Hillsong United. They do have very inspiring and touching music, but at times they're just a bit too much for me. I get a feeling that they're doing it more for the show than for Jesus. And they're not the only ones. That's just my opinion though. Yours might be completely different.

But I believe that everyone has a different taste and certain types of music speaks to some people more than it does others. Honestly though, if you're getting something out of it, if your faith and relationship with God are growing as a result of listening to such music, go ahead and listen to it. As long as it's not filling your thoughts with worldly desires and sins, it's okay.

You also have to think about how much the world and society is changing, this including a change in music and the people's preferences. Some like rap, some like pop, and some of us still love the old hymns. It's just how we are. But like I said before, if it's glorifying God and you like it, it's totally fine.

I know that some people think that all Christian music is lame, but that is a total lie. I am a huge fan and there are some totally rockin' bands out there. If you can't find any you like, message me because I've a got a nice sized recommendation list for you! :D

•••

Thanks for reading my long response that turned into another mini sermon! I hope I answered your questions well! Some of this information and advice came from a website called reapteam.org, so please don't give all the credit to me. (Not that I couldn't have answered these on my own, I'm just extremely busy and ShadowsWithinMe has been waiting a while for this (sorry!). Besides, a little help from the Internet is always nice!)

Remember, if you have a prayer request that you would like to make known, please notify me via PM. This also includes unspoken requests, just mention them to me!

Thank you so much! Have a blessed day!
God bless you!†

•BPL