"Christian" "Music"

Sorry to keep my tens of faithful readers waiting for so long. I was at a church camp this past week being a guilt-free goofball. I will not write a blog on any of my experiences at camp because it is none of your business dadgummit. However, there was one thing that stirred up my ire. During the camp one of the staff members was playing music during meals, and one of the points he made was that the kids needed to be exposed to Christian music because they did not get enough of it at home. While he said this I listened in a little and could have sworn that we were listening to Cake's "The Distance" (the bass line was the exact same---completely copied which is not exactly "Christian"). Though there doesn't seem to be anything terribly immoral about this song, I doubt anyone would call it Christian.

So what is Christian music? I think the title has been absolutely warped. And I don't mean by people trying to lump their favorite bands into Christianity because they think it will make them feel more Christian. No, this is a business model that has been put together, and Christians are buying it. Before I dig further, some full disclosure:

1. I am, by most definitions including mine, a Christian (for about eight and a half years now).

2. I am in the process of becoming a Catholic Christian (thanks for reading Southern Baptists, Reformists and Puritans-- be on the lookout for my blog entitled "The Left Behind Series and The Salem Witch Trials: How to Properly Arm Yourself for Hell" in the next couple weeks).

3. I was a member of the religious organization known as Musician long before I became a Christian and still belong to those ranks.

4. If N.W.A. appears on my iPod shuffle I don't change it. If Chris Tomlin appears on it I go to the next track.

5. Contradicting the previous point is the fact that I play a ton of "worship music" for a lot of church functions (I also have a long history of being in church choirs and handbell choirs).

6. I enjoy most of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, which is almost entirely "Christian" based on many definitions but mostly ignored in the Christian circles (so not only do some Christian music purists judge people for what they listen to, but they are also fairly uneducated on their own history).

There you have it. My perspective on this music is unique because I am simultaneously ensconced in it and try to avoid it all at the same time. But seriously what is Christian music?

Thank goodness for Google. If I didn't have Google I am not sure I could know anything. When you google the words Christian music here are the top ten sites you get:

-- K-Love Radio (they play Contemporary Christian Music)

--Christian Music.com (where they brag that you can find all the great Christian genres including rap and rock)

-- TodaysChristianMusic.com (another radio station--no need to link it I think)

--Funeral Arrangements for the founder of the band America (not to disrespect death but this is easily the strangest entry)

-- Christianmusic.org (more of the same)

-- Air1.com (another Christian radio station centered on alternative rock music that gets major cool points for their graphically bold yet impractical layout)

-- A wiki entry (we will check this out in a minute)

-- ccmmagazine.com (the Rolling Stone of Contemporary Christian music)

-- Christianmusictown.com (seems to be the Pitchfork of Christian music-- on a side note the girl in the band Addison Road looks kinda cute)

There you have it. It's all the same stuff. Christianity is extremely massive and a worldwide phenomenon. It is unfortunate that very few cultures are represented by the understood definition of Christian music when many (if not most) cultures in the world have Christians among them. If you look at the Top 10 Christian songs on Billboard you will see a ton of white dudes who have been around for at least twenty years along with a rock band and a contemporary gospel artist. Of course, you can't argue with what people buy, but how about the fact that Christian radio suffers from the same sort of shady "market research" that mainstream radio does. In other words, it's a profit margin business.

Let's go back to the wiki page for a minute. According to the top synopsis-style definition of Christian music it is "music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding the Christian life and faith. The page goes on to spend a sliver of time on the entire history of Western music up to the present day (which for those of you who don't know was dominated by the church). The majority of the article is then dedicated to what should be termed Christian pop music but for some dumb reason is labeled Contemporary Christian Music (any label that has the word contemporary in it is doomed to fail because it won't be new and current forever, such as this classic Contemporary Christian jam). It is ridiculous that if I wanted to have a conversation about Christian music with someone I actually need to be able to reference Reliant K to be taken seriously. Reliant K does not define Christian music for me. Some of their songs (nay many of their songs) are not about Christian life or Jesus or anything.

Before people start thinking that I got drunk on haterade this morning let me make one thing clear. I have no beef with music that has a Christian message or music that is used to worship God. My beef instead goes towards another issue-- an entire industry that is feeding messages to kids about right and wrong based off a business model. I spoke of this earlier. If you turn on one of those radio stations (like K-Love) you will undoubtedly hear them say that the music on their station is what kids should be listening to if they don't want to be "part of the world" (I'll let Nick Buck tackle this issue). There are two fallacies with such a statement.

The first problem is that K-Love is a business that exists to make money. They want to make a profit because that is how they function. The second problem is that if kids want to get away from pop culture ideals (which I am not for or against), they should probably just listen to classical/art music (we need to get an acceptable name for this). Listening to Christian pop music to get away from secular pop music is almost as lame as switching over to diet soda because you can't handle the original.

I refuse to base my ethical stances on a business trying to sell me an ethical stance (feel free to comment if you can find the hypocrisy there) and then feel guilty that I am not doing the right thing if I chose a different business. The fact that Christian music has gotten wrapped up in popular music (whose main purpose should always be to entertain and make money) is really kind of sad. I enjoy a lot of the music that has come from the Christian music business, but it still seems a little questionable how it is all presented.

There is still another issue I am grappling with here. Almost everything discussed above has been about lyrical content. I may not have expressly stated that, but most of you probably assumed that the differences between Christian pop and secular pop are in fact lyrically based. What about the music itself? People don't say music with Christian lyrics. They say Christian music. But some of these genres started out as anything but Christian.

I like rap. I don't look it, but I am a big fan. I like stuff from every decade-- even this one (yes that means I can tolerate some Li'l Wayne). But the fact is that rap is party (as in drink, drugs, sex) music. It is meant to amp up the party and amp up those party elements. Does Lecrae know this? But that is not the most interesting Christian genre to me.

Fun fact: I used to go to Hardcore shows a lot. They were fun as long as I stood in the corner and avoided the blood coming from that one dude's head. Some of these shows even had Christian bands like Gwen Stacy. Hardcore is an extension of punk music that was meant to be faster, harder, stronger, better (no that wasn't a Daft Punk or Kanye joke-- the words are out of order). The music was meant to be more violent and inspire violence (mosh pits and other violent dances usually involving flailing of limbs). It doesn't exactly sound like the type of music Jesus would turn the other cheek to. And yet, it has a massive underground following in Christian circles. There are a lot of bands out there to check out and they do have Christian lyrics. But if the music was just instrumental, could we call it Christian?

Is there good Christian music? I think so, but I'm honestly not that opinionated (just keep me away from all the crap that sounds like Nickelback and I'm good). Just don't think that by listening to exclusively Christian music that somehow you are doing the right thing. You should probably figure out if the music is actually Christian (or music) first. And don't worry kids. If listening to Beyonce sends you to Hell, I will be right there with you with my Coltrane records, Warren G tape, Pearl Jam CD's, and Death Cab for Cutie mp3s.