According to some college chaplains at this conference I’m at this week, long term exposure to Christian music may have unsavory side-effects.I don't have time to deal with this one today but suffice to say, there will always be extremely talented, beautiful, and winsome people, Christian and non-Christian who will garner the interest of thousands who are willing to pay money to hear and/or see what they do. This is a great reflection of our Creator God and should not be devalued as sub-spiritual. We are created in his image and our talents reflect his ultimate creativity.
They feel like they’re fighting bad theology and unbiblical perceptions created by the music business. They’re students grew up listening to K-LOVE in the minivan on the way to school with mom. They grew up in “event-driven” churches singing songs from “stars” who also came to town to play concerts.
Did the industry change the church/students or did the church/students change the industry? Either way, these guys don’t think all change has been good.
Worship songs, these chaplains say, might be too important to college students. Singers are marketed (and sometimes, apparently, behaving like) nothing but saved rock stars. And don’t even get these chaplains started on lyrics!
These guys also say college students think involvement in a “worship gathering” is optional too – students can text or talk or sing or pray…whatever they want…like a concert. “This is what happens when communion with God becomes commercial,” one said.
“Why would I bring an artist to my campus for chapel and further propagate Christian celebrity and worship as concert?” another asked.
These guys are suspicious, at best, of the Christian music business and its artists. They say we don’t think enough about what we write and sing and how it will affect people exposed to it for years and years.
How could Christian artists, signed and unsigned, serve God and God’s people better?
But our hearts are prone to idolatry. We love to worship what we can see, taste, touch, and smell over and against our God who is unseen. The combination of commerce and Christianity has not done very well historically to push back against the idolatrous pull of our hearts. Many people are willing to make great theological and ministerial sacrifices to make loads of money. Oh, it will never be said like that, but I know I would have a really hard time as a Christian record executive saying "no" to a song that was theologically weak if I knew in my heart of hearts it would be a "hit". It is rarely that black and white, but the tension is there nonetheless.
What is the answer? Christians stop being talented, beautiful, and engaging? That will never happen nor should it. Shut down CCM? Not possible and if it was our idolatrous hearts would just move on to the next thing.
Not to be overly simplistic but a large part of the answer is simply a heart issue. I think there are some artists that have the intangible ability to put on a great show in which you don't feel cheated by paying $25 to see them because they are really good at what they do but at the same time they leave you with the sense of a great God and a great Savior. Few guys have the ability to do a show like this.
Many years ago I remember going to a Steven Curtis Chapman concert and having this feeling. It was an AMAZING show. Dude can flat out play. But at the end of the day I was left with the (subjective, I know) feeling that he was more about Jesus than he was about me digging his cool jeans, his band hair, and his amazing guitar chops. You can't break that down on a spreadsheet. You just know it when you see it.
The gate keepers of CCM have to be willing to look for this type of person, but this type of person may or may not be conducive to the business (ie, make money) that is CCM. Therein lies the rub. It is a tension that will always exist. If we are at least aware of this tension then we are one foot in the right direction.
But it is more than the gate keepers of CCM. It is us, the consumers. If there was not a market there would be no CCM. So if it has bad side-effects, then shame on us for consuming it and bringing our kids along with us.
What do you think?
6 comments:
I like your perspective Zach. . there's too many broad brush accusations against CCM, which in itself, is a neutral entity.
I don't like it that the worship songs written by worship leaders are now being recorded and re-sold by artists to push a few more units. But, that's not the fault of the famous worship leaders.
I'm encouraged that the best music to come out of "Christian" music in the last few years has been from worship leaders (crowder, united, etc. . ).
I wouldn't even indict CCM, I would indict the relative ease with which corporate worship has become/is nothing more than a show. If our congregations hadn't become used to sitting in a large dark room listening (more than singing) to anthemic worship songs I don't know if we'd be so far down this road.
I'm also very intersted in the effect that loud music has on corporate worship. Don't get me wrong, quiet music can be just as distracting as loud music, but it does seem like the volume of music contributes to a general lack of singing and attention. It's harder to people to text/talk/etc when they're actually hearing themselves and others around them sing. Plus, there's few more glorious sounds than a gathering of God's people lifting Him up together in song.
I think the chaplains are noting a characteristic of the generation overall that may not have anything to do with CCM. Student addiction to CCM is probably a symptom of the larger problem: a consumer-driven, sensation-ridden world in which pleasure is instantly accessible in myriad ways. Many college students grew up learning (either from culture or their own parents) and now expecting their adolescent flippancy to extend far into their 20's and sometimes even beyond. Mature Christians have to move beyond the "sound and light show" type of relationship with God that is all about experiencing an emotional adrenaline rush as you surround yourself with a sensational God. The quiet faith that perseveres through times of silence, trouble, or persecution is the mark of a mature Christian who has learned that God does not always show up loud, and is not here to tickle our emotions and egos.
One key may be continued encouragement for these young believers to spend silent time alone with God every day, so they learn to hear the whispers and not just the anthems.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzqaITA3IO0
and Amen to what Genevieve said.
I have often wondered if the emergence of iTunes, Amazon, and the downfall of the CD would kill off CCM. If an artist creates three high quality songs and seven average songs, consumers now have the option to simply buy the best music. A lot of CCM artists do not produce consistently good music. I think that in the long run, it will be hard for the artist that merely replicates the same ol' thing for mass consumption to survive.
It will also be interesting to see how independent artists do in the coming years. One of our favorite artists was not with a label for many years. He played in his living room and simply mixed and produced his music on his Mac. The need for the big label, big tour driven by music execs may be coming to a close.
I think the quality of the music is going to rise. Or I could be totally wrong.
I suspect if we were to go back a hundred years and listen in on a discussion about the contemporary musical taste of young Christians we might be surprised to discover the same concerns being voiced. I suspect there would be this difference, when it came to the worship service there would be no suggestions that contemporary music be used.
There was a clear distinction between the kind of music God required in his worship and the kind of music we might like to sing at other times. Perhaps this might be a helpful distinction to return to. For, worship is not for our entertainment or God's, it is to show him our devotion and gratitude. Woe to us who come to worship and our hearts are far from him and his purposes.
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