Christian music must die.
 
Last week I made the above statement, which may have been shocking or puzzling to you.  My point was not that Christians need to stop making music, but that the concept known as “Christian music” needs to die, that the sacred/secular divide that has been created between “Christian” artists and “secular” artists is artificial and not Biblical and needs to be destroyed.  I argued that instead we should heed the words of Paul, who 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.”  I believe we should celebrate truth and beauty wherever we find it, whether or not it comes from someone who calls themselves a Christian, and be wary of those things which subtract from your life or lead you away from the truth.

Today I want to continue the discussion by considering a quote by Madeline L’Engle, a Christian woman who is most famous for her classic book A Wrinkle in Time.  In her book Walking on Water:  Reflections on Faith and Art, L’Engle wrote that “Art is art, painting is painting, music is music, a story is a story.  If it’s bad art, it’s bad religion, no matter how pious the subject.”  Essentially, L’Engle argues that the line is not between sacred and secular but between “good” art and “bad” art; if a Christian makes bad music, it is bad religion.  If a non-Christian makes good art, then there is truth and beauty in their work that point to the Creator of truth and beauty, whether or not they realize it.
 
When I became a youth pastor, one of the things I was most excited about was a music subscription service called Interlinc.  For a reasonable price, I was sent quarterly about twelve CD’s from Christian artists, along with posters, videos, and Bible study material based off of the songs.  As a huge music fan, I was looking forward to becoming an expert on the Christian music scene and hearing all sorts of bands that I might never have found on my own.  After three years of receiving CD’s, I remember looking around my office and thinking, “I’ve never owned so many BAD CD’s!”  It seemed that in each shipment there would be a couple of really good CD’s, one or two more that were good that I never would have found on my own, and about eight embarrassingly bad ones.  I think it was through that experience that I came to understand what Madeline L’Engle was trying to say:  bad music is bad religion, even if its subject is God.  The reason it is bad religion is that it reflects badly on our creative Creator when His followers make music (or any other type of art) lacking in creative excellence.

Just as bad “Christian” music is bad music, no matter how pious the subject, good music made by someone who does not recognize Jesus as Lord is still good music.  Madeline L’Engle goes even further than this, arguing that an artist or musician who is not a Christian can actually produce what one might call “Christian” music as he or she “gives birth” to the art that comes to him or her for expression:  “Provided he is an artist of integrity, he is a genuine servant of the glory which he does not recognize, and unknown to himself there is ‘something divine’ about his work” (Timothy Kallistos Ware, Eastern Orthodox theologian). 

The truth is that for some, Sandi Patty or Michael W. Smith sing songs that lead them into the presence of God and give them a sense of who they are in this world.  For others, the same songs are “bad art,” doing nothing to connect them to God, truth, or beauty.  However, those same people might consider a song by U2 or Johnny Cash to be a spiritual experience, magnifying their view of God and communicating truth about their relationship with God.  As L’Engle put it, “What is a true icon of God to one person may be blasphemy to another.  And it is not possible for us flawed human beings to make absolute zealous judgments as to what is and what is not religious art… the smarmy picture of Jesus which I find nauseating may be for someone else a true icon.”  The lesson here is to be careful about drawing artificial lines dividing “religious” art from “secular” art, but instead to broaden our appreciation for how God can reveal truth and beauty to and through believers and unbelievers alike.

I encourage us again to hold fast to Paul’s exhortation to fix our minds on that which is true, noble, excellent, and praiseworthy.  Let us celebrate truth and beauty wherever we find it, as we recognize the Creator of all truth and beauty, remembering that “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father” (James 1:17).

Next week:  If there is such a thing as “Christian music”, is there also “Christian engineering”?  What about “Christian auto repair”?

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