Christian music must die. 

“What’s that?” you say.  “Isn’t Christian music more popular than ever, selling more CD’s then ever, having a greater impact on the secular music scene?”

All that may be true, but I still believe that the time has come for Christian music to die.

“But what about Carman?”

Like I said…

Perhaps you’ve seen the charts that are omnipresent on youth group walls across America.  They’re called “Christian Music Comparison Charts,” and they go something like this:

If you like…                                     Then try…

Aerosmith                                       Petra
Rage Against the Machine                 P.O.D.
Gwen Stefani                                  Superchic[k]
Eminem                                          KJ-52

And so on…

The premise is simple:  “our kids are listening to music on the radio, and they like the beat, but the words don’t honor God, so let’s give them a “Christian” alternative that sounds similar but is full of God-honoring lyrics sung by committed Christians.”  For some reason, this all seemed to make so much sense ten years ago.  But it is becoming increasingly apparent that many singers and bands in the music scene make it difficult to construct a sacred/secular divide.  There are bands such as Switchfoot, Sixpence None the Richer, and P.O.D., whose music was marketed mostly in Christian bookstores until they experienced crossover success in the mainstream in recent years.  There are other acts, such as Chevelle and Dashboard Confessional’s lead singer Chris Carrabba, who also got their start in the Christian music scene before breaking through to mainstream success, but have ceased writing music with much spiritual content.  There are increasingly more singers and bands, like The Fray, Sufjan Stevens, and Mat Kearney, who consider themselves Christians but for the most part skipped the Christian music scene and are experiencing mainstream radio play or critical acclaim.  And, of course, there are numerous singers and bands who tackle Christian subjects or sing songs that talk about Jesus, salvation, and redemption, without trying to target the Christian audience – think U2, Evanescence, Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks,” and Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel,” among others.

As the lines become more and more blurred, I think it is it time to dismantle the notion of a sacred/secular divide, that there is such a thing as “Christian music” vs. “Secular music.”  I am not arguing that Christian bands and artists need to stop making music; rather, that the belief that there is such a thing as “Christian” music vs. “secular” music needs to die.  Certainly there are Christians, and there are those who would not consider themselves Christians.  There is also music made by Christians, and music made by people who do not follow Christ.  But if I subscribe to the notion that I should only listen to music that honors Christ written by people who follow Christ - “Christian” music - where do I draw that line?  Does it have to say Jesus in the song?  What if it mentions Jesus but I don’t know the “salvation status” of the person singing the song?  What if the singer and guitarist are Christians, but the bassist is a Wiccan and the drummer is Buddhist???  What if I know the person is a believer, but they are singing about silly, meaningless things?  Is that better for me than a song written by someone who does not follow Jesus but discusses spiritual matters?  And what if the so-called Christian artist gets divorced, or struggles with drug abuse, or lives in a million dollar house?  If I only listen to Christian artists, how am I to judge their character so as to know if they are REALLY following Jesus or just paying lip-service to it in order to further their career?

To explore this ambiguity, consider this quote by Spencer Chamberlain of the band Underoath, a hardcore band that has experienced success in both the Christian market and the mainstream:

 ”A lot of this album is about my struggle as a human, with drug problems and emotional problems and fighting yourself and figuring out, really, how you’re going to change….But many people will be bummed out because I’ve been struggling with drug problems on-and-off since I can remember, even recently–really recently–I don’t believe in lying to people. Being honest, at least I know I could help somebody. As dark and twisted as the songs are, they have that element of hope in their heart, that there was a God, and the only way for me to get out was to hold onto his hand. A lot of people may feel that they’ve done too much or it’s too late, but that’s never the case.”

So… does this qualify as Christian music?  Music performed by a Christian who admits that he still struggles with drug problems?  Would you let your children listen to Underoath, even though they may get the message that it’s okay to be a Christian and to use drugs?

And, just to complicate things further, surely there have been songs written by people who do not profess to be Christians that have inspired you and brought you closer to God, regardless of the songwriter’s motives.  I think of Sarah McLachlan, best known for organizing the Lilith Fair tours a few years ago.  These tours, which brought together many of the leading female singers and bands (including some Christian artists like Jennifer Knapp), were named after Lilith, the mythical first wife of Adam, who according to legend left Eden of her own free will because she found Adam inferior.  Although Sarah McLachlan would not want to be confused as a Christian, her video for her song “World on Fire” is a stunning visual tale of how far $150,000 could go if it were spent on things such as school rooms in Afghanistan or clean water in Africa instead of on producing a music video (you can see the video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzoNInZ2ClQ).  This video has done more to inspire me to think about global issues of justice than any so-called Christian song has ever done.

I still think it is beneficial to draw lines between those songs that add to our lives and those that subtract from it.  There are songs that inspire us, educate us, challenge us, or give us joy, and there are songs that lead our attention from God, from things that are good and add value to our lives (Think about what Paul wrote in Philippians 4:8 - whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable– if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things).  But in my experience, there are many songs written by so-called “secular” artists that belong in the first category (inspiring and adding to my life) and many songs written by Christian artists that belong in the second category (subtracting from my life).
 
Psalm 24:1 says that “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”  The book of Genesis tells us that we were all created in the image of God, and Paul writes in Romans 1 how the whole world can know that there is a God who has revealed to the hearts of man what is good and what is wrong.  These passages tell us that all humans have the capacity to do good, to know and speak truth, and to create beauty because of our status as image-bearers of God.  As some theologians put it, “All truth is God’s truth.”  The corollary, of course, is that we are all fallen and sinful beings who are capable of serious evil and damage.  But the truth of these passages is that all songwriters are capable of producing music that communicates truth, even if they do not recognize it as the truth of God.  It is possible to find good and truth outside of the realm of Christian music.

I believe it is time to tear down the sacred/secular divide, to recognize that the whole world belongs to the Lord, and to celebrate God’s truth wherever we find it, whether it comes from the lips of a drug-addicted Christ-follower or a spiritually minded singer who does not recognize Jesus as Lord.

(Next week – Part 2 of “Christian Music Must Die” – Is bad music written by Christians better than good music written by a non-Christian?)

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