Acts 17:24-28
In Him We Live: Paul in Athens and God's Presence in Culture
Paul does not condemn Athenian culture. He finds an altar 'To an Unknown God' and declares that God has been at work all along—'in him we live and move and have our being.'
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations... God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'"
— Acts 17:24-28
Paul's speech on the Areopagus is a masterclass in finding God already at work in culture. He does not begin by condemning Greek philosophy, poetry, or art. He quotes their own poets: "In him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). He affirms that God "gives everyone life and breath" and has arranged history "so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him" (Acts 17:25-27). God is not far from anyone.
This has direct bearing on music. If we "live and move and have our being" in God, then all of human experience—including music—exists within His domain. A rock concert, a jazz club, a folk festival—these are not inherently outside God's reach. They are part of the creation in which He is already present. Music that captivates, connects, and unifies people can be a site where God invites them to "reach out for him and find him."
The counter-argument—that God only works through explicitly God content—would have constrained Paul in Athens. Instead, he found points of contact. So it is with music. A song that speaks of longing, loss, hope, or love may not mention Jesus, but it may create the conditions for someone to seek Him. God works through human nature and human experience. Music is part of that. We do not have to baptize every lyric to believe the Spirit can move through the medium itself.