Signs of life in CCM

Today I sat next to Matthew West on the airplane headed to Philly. Our conversation turned to some of the things that I have been writing about on this blog concerning the Christian music industry. He told me that recently he has been reading the classic book by Jim Cymbala “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire”. He pointed me to this quote that he felt really struck to who he is now as an artist and writer in the industry and how he feels like it has awakened him to reevaluate his ministry for the future. Here is the quote:

To every preacher and every singer God will someday ask, “Did you bring the people to where the action could be found…at the throne of grace? If you just entertained them, if you just tickled their ears and gave them a warm, fuzzy moment, woe unto you. At the throne of grace I could have changed their lives. Jim Cymbala, did you dazzle them with your cleverness or did you make them hungry to come to me?”

Jim’s pointed words speak well to all who are Christians and especially those in the Christian music industry.

Thinking of Jim’s book also brought another thought to my mind. For all my analysis and critique on this blog about the shortcomings of the Christian music industry, how much time to I spend in prayer concerning those shortcomings? Probably not as much as I would like to admit. There is a certain pride in being able to identify weaknesses. It can make you feel fairly self-righteous and intelligent. Conversely, prayer crushes pride, communicates neediness, and points to finite knowledge as we call out to the one who is omniscient.

Father, awaken more Christian artists to give people a passion for the glory of your name and your cross in their music and in all things!