Thanks to Jeff for alerting me to this video. He has compiled all four in the series here.
I enjoy Christian radio / music at times, but I think that exclusive listening to Christian content is not a great idea.
- What do you think about exclusively Christian music?
Rev. Andrew Conard 
15 replies on “Christian Music”
i think if you listen solely to christian music you might have a tendency to not understand the culture you are supposed to minister within. music reflects the feelings of that time, whether it be classical or modern, we should be listening
Gavin – I’m right there with you. “music reflects the feelings of that time…” That’s true. I appreciate that insight. And also, not just to speak to culture, but to listen as well – Good stuff, thanks!
I didn’t look at the video yet… but
I personally can’t really stand CCM, besides a few standouts like David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Hillsong United, etc.
The other stuff… at times, it just sounds watered down mainstream music.
It may sound bad… but I’d rather listen to someone like Switchfoot over (i can’t think of anyone) steve curtis chapman.
But that’s just my opinion.
And ppl that listen to exclusively CCM music… they scare me at times..
^^;
Joseph – You’re right exclusive listening to CCM music can be a little scary. I agree about the watered down sound of some music vs. mainstream. When I was in high school, I was excited about the possibility that for every type of mainstream music there were talented Christian artists. But now, I think that living one’s faith as a musician does not necessarily lead to CCM.
i remember when i was in high school my dad made me get rid of all my cd’s. (i gave them to a friend and then got them back later on after high school – sorry dad!) they included groups like dave matthews band, stone temple pilots, pearl jam, etc… anyways, i remember how i didn’t understand what the big deal was. so in college i did a literature review on the effects of music on our behavior. what i discovered is that music affects our behavior and our behavior affects what we listen to. ever notice how people of similar interests listen to similar music? why is that? well probably because they identify with what they are listening to.
for myself, i love secular rock. but i also love christian music, especially since it’s become SO much better over the past 5-8 years.
the important thing for me in this discussion is to realize how music can affect my mood, language, and behavior. many may say that it doesn’t, but after my research and personal experience, i’d have to say that there is something that occurs within us through the music we listen to whether it is in the conscious or subconscious.
one other thing, i do listen to secular music for a couple reasons…1) i like it (all except rap) 2) i’m a youth pastor and it helps me to know what teens are listening to
just a few thoughts…
Todd – Thanks for your well thought out comments. I think you are right on with the insight about the affinity of similar interest and similar music. I do think that you are right that Christian music has become better and more diverse recently. Rock on!
I’m having a lot of trouble with Christian music right now. I find so much of it shallow and lacking in artistry. Very few things are good on the radio. I am more and more turned off by the false theology that is sometimes present. I don’t know. I also have some trouble with “contemporary” worship. I could be weird…
Jim – I appreciate your honesty. When I do listen to CCM I sometimes find myself singing along with a song and then stopping when I think “I’m not quite sure I agree with where that lyric is leading – theologically.”
What is some of your trouble about contemporary worship? How would you define contemporary worship?
It’s more about the concept that drives many churches (at least the ones that are in my scope of experience) to move that way. Here are a couple of things:
1. It’s not good when it is done out of a consumer mentality: “we get more out of it.”
2. It is detrimental to ignore our history and tradition.
3. In the Methodist tradition, our hymns are one of the most important transmitters of our doctrine and theology. Many “contemporary” songs teach other stuff, if any at all. We lose so much richness.
4. It’s not contemporary when we are still singing Shout to the Lord.
5. My experience (and I know it’s not all inclusive) shows “contemporary” worship to be devoid of sacrament.
6. If there was no electricity, would it fall apart?
7. If there was no music, would it fall apart?
8. I am afraid that many places will confuse this kind of worship with church growth–thereby negating other forms of worship.
As to a definition, the “contemporary” that I am speaking of is a praise band doing praise songs and the preacher preaching followed by an invitational set.
It seems that I don’t struggle so much with doing contemporary things. If it is to be done, we need to do it within the Wesleyan quadrilateral–to experience the tradition and wisdom of our early fathers and mothers, to preach the scriptures reverently (not always in a self-help series), to use reason, and experience.
This isn’t fully formed stuff. It may be a passing thing. This is just where I am today.
Jim – Wow! Thanks for your thoughts. I think that you are right on with number 3, I heard a statistic sometime that more theology is picked up through singing than it is through preaching. 6 and 7 also good questions / critiques. Keep forming and thinking on this topic. Thanks for sharing what you have thus far…
I am not quite sure where I fall in regards to this whole topic. As someone who both listens to all kinds of music as well as writes some of my own, I think the question can never be objectively approached. For instance, while I would agree that a lot of CCM music lacks good artistry, so does a lot of secular music- I don’t listen to secular radio any more than Christian radio, because most of the stuff on both bores me so much or just doesn’t seem to be that interesting.
In regards to worship music- it is often difficult to create a song that is both theologically rich and memorable. In our culture, or at least in my opinion, if a song doesn’t have a good melody or rhythm, then it’s not memorable or interesting and therefore isn’t all that meaningful to me, no matter how theologically rich it may be. I find this with a lot of Methodist hymns- a lot of them are so musically uninteresting or hard to follow, and so when I am singing them I am trying to keep up and sing the words and notes rather than thinking about what it’s saying. This, of course, comes from a shift in culture- whereas in previous generations music was sung from a hymnal, now it is primarily sung by rote; that is, you listen to it enough, it has enough of a hook, and therefore you remember it after awhile. To be honest, most Methodist hymns, in my opinion, aren’t that interesting or lack any hook, and so they really don’t speak to me. This might be my shallowness speaking- I’m happy to admit that.
However, I think there is also the tendency to equate rich theology with the amount of words or content. This, of course, isn’t necessarily so, but I find that’s generally the critique of songs that, while they may have a good theologica message, it is short and repetitious. I think, however, that a theological meaning can be presented in even a couple of phrases that are repeated. But then again, that could be just me.
deviantmonk – Thank you for your addition to moving this conversation forward. I think you’re right with the necessity for theological richness and for the music to be memorable. One of the interesting things that I find about more traditional Methodist hymns is that the lyrics that were written were set to popular / common songs of the day. I wonder what that would sound like today?
I think that your rebuttal to the critique of short and repetitious lyrics is solid. There can be solid content regardless of the length or complexity of the lyrics. However, I do think that there needs to be a mix – longer / more complex and shorter / more repetitious.
Andrew-
I’m not sure if, with copyright laws the way they are, it would be feasible to set worship lyrics to popular songs. Also, I think there might be a different cultural dynamic- whereas in past cultures and societies there was a lot more generic ‘folk’ music, in that there were tunes that were really just tunes and didn’t necessarily have a lyric associated with them, nowadays music and lyrics are pretty heavily associated. Although there is the legal distinction between the lyric and the music, I think it’s hard to separate them, at least in my mind. For instance- I was in a band with my brother, and we put the words of Amazing Grace to Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Although it was pretty ‘cool’, (at least in the late 90’s, lol) I personally don’t think it was such a great idea, because the words are so heavily associated with the song that even if you’re singing something different, your mind is constantly going back to the actual lyrics. At least it did for me.
I think that there is also this tendency to see music written for worship that attempts to sound like mainstream music as simply ripping it off or having little creativity. For me at least, it can come across as cheesy and patronizing, as if the only way I would listen to music is if it’s played to the tune of some arbitrarily selected song that I am supposedly supposed to connect with. I think one of the downsides of the seeker-sensitive movement has been this tendency to git rid of anything that might be foreign to what people are already experiencing. I think this is unfortunate, since it is what is in the mystery of the faith and its distinction from the status quo that gives faith its teeth, so to speak. It’s what makes faith in Christ a radical re-orientation of life rather than a convenient addition.
Back to music- I like the fact that worship music (now I’m going beyond, in some manner, the discussion about CCM) has really started to become its own genre, even though it’s multi-faceted. I think it’s a good thing to see Christians who are artists really explore faith creatively instead of always feeling as if they have to put out the same kind of stuff as the secular market. It’s in that dynamic of innovation rather than imitation that Christianity has, though the artistic outlet at least, the best inroads into changing and speaking to our culture.
I would agree with the having a mix of long/complex and short/repetitious. However, I think the reason that has been hard to find is two-fold:
1. Many of the artists writing the music we sing in church are tied to record labels, which need to sell a product. Long/complex songs aren’t radio-friendly.
2. Because there still exists this division of ‘those who sing hymns’ and ‘those who sing choruses’, I think any inroad into the other by either side is nearly doomed from the beginning.
3. Probably a lot of the artists writing the songs simply don’t have the theological ammunition, so to speak, to develop songs like that.
4. There exists within the protestant/evangelical subculture this nebulous idea that short/repetitious songs that are easy to raise your hands to=true worship whereas complex/long/theological songs=cold intellectualism. Neither is a fair or accurate characiture, of course, but I think they exist nevertheless.
There is hope though. I really liked how Passion develop that album of Hymns Ancient and Modern. I think that it may be in the emergent movement that an appreciation for these types of songs may be found.
I think there needs to be a compromise of sorts. Those who hold fast to traditional music need to stop absolutizing the style and recognize that different types of music are appropriate in worship. And those who embrace only ‘contemporary’ music need to overcome their equally absolutistic stance and realize that you don’t always have to have a guitar playing to worship God. (I can say that, because I have been ‘that guy.’ before.)
Ok, that’s enough out of me.
lol. two-fold=4-fold