Sacred And Secular

Collide Magazine posted an article last month entitled "Secular Music In Sacred Settings".  In the article, the author, Kyle Baker, explores the idea of using secular songs in services.  Traditionally, in more traditional churches, that idea is 'frowned upon'.    
I'm not going to quote the whole article- here's the meat of it:

1. All truth is God’s truth, regardless of the source. The personal righteousness of a creator or artist has surprisingly little to do with the truthfulness of their work. Many humans who deny God in their personal lives create artifacts that celebrate His truths. We make no apologies for using work (music, video, stories, quotes or otherwise) by non-Christians if it contains truth.
2. Not every action during a service or assembly is intended for corporate worship. We assemble the church for a weekend service for a variety of reasons: fellowship, worship, teaching, celebrating, sharing, testimonies and announcements. Generally speaking, corporate worship songs are songs we sing about and to God. Sometimes there are songs we sing for fun, for teaching, or to edify the body.
3. Music is a part of how we participate in our culture. God has not asked us to withdraw from our society; he has called us to reach our community and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with them. For that reason we occasionally make use of secular music as an act of hospitality towards those who are unfamiliar with our church culture. Similarly, we also sing a hymn every week as act of hospitality for those who grew up in church, so they might hear something that is familiar to them. We do this in the spirit of 1 Cor. 9:20-22.
4. There is no clear boundary between the sacred and the secular. The whole earth is His, and everything in it (1 Cor. 10:26). Any attempt to delineate the vulgar from the holy fails, and places us in God’s seat. Man looks at the outside, but God judges the heart. We use worship music by despicable and fallen Christian musicians—some are adulterers and frauds; we also use music from atheists and pagans that is profoundly worshipful to those of us that know God. Strange as it may be, all beauty is God’s, whether it is brought to life by a faithful Christian or proud pagan. To us, this only reinforces our belief that God is alive and active in all men, just as he used Rahab, Pharaoh, and Pilate’s wife in the Bible.

My thoughts?
I agree- but I think you have to be careful.  Some people can see the truths of God in secular music, while others cannot, and see a fun song they heard on the radio, not an opportunity to worship God.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:9, 

"But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak."

Now, there is a difference between playing secular music before the service and during "greeting time", and using in in the worship set.  I find nothing wrong with playing it before and during greeting times, and I personally struggle with its use during worship- mainly because of this verse.


For me, I typically avoid secular songs in worship, for the reason that I don't want to distract from worship or cause anyone to lose focus on Christ.  My job as a worship leader is not to introduce awesome sounding songs, my job is to usher people into the Throne Room of the Almighty.  


So it depends on the people, how will they best connect?
What do you think of secular music in sacred settings?