saving christian music

8/6/2019 Saving Christian Music

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Saving Christian Music

By Chaz Bing



Defining Christian Music



Defining “Christian Music” is almost as impossible as defining“Christianity” itself.

Within Christianity, there are hundreds of denominations.Lutheran, Pentecostal, Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, EasternOrthodox, Reformed, Anglican, United, and Apostolic are just a

few. These denominations can be further divided down into splinterdenominations, and within these smaller segments, theologiesand styles can differ so much that churches can be dissected intoeven tinier components based on preferences related to pastoralstyles, music traditions, Biblical interpretations, liturgicalpractices, dress codes, and behavioral and spiritual expectations.

When you take into consideration different geographic and

cultural traditions, there are literally millions of differentvariations, and therefore, the term “Christianity” can mean amillion different things to a million different people.

When it comes to defining “Christian Music”, the task is just asdaunting.

A quivering six-year-old girl nervously squeaks out the song“Amazing Grace” on the piano during an offertory being sungduring a Sunday morning service. She misses half the notes butpolitely bows to a splattering of applause from the smilingcongregation.

A large choir produces a wall of sound as they belt out “Joy To TheWorld” during a Christmas Mass. The centuries-old auditoriumholds each note captive as it reverberates off marble floors andrattles the stained-glass windows.

A Congregation sings the latest version of “Hosanna.” The front of the church is lined with professional musicians and vocalists, andthe sound system rivals that of a professional rock band.

A different congregation down the road softly sits and sings oldhymns in a rented community center, accompanied by a singleacoustic guitar.

A family sits together at home and sings “It Is Well” a cappella.

A worship song blasts from the local Christian radio station.



A cello, violin, and viola work to produce beautiful sounds thatmysteriously complement each other. There are no words.

A single drum beats.

A chant is sung.

A symbol is clashed.

This is just scratching the surface of what Christian music is andcan be.

Like Christianity, “Christian Music” cannot be completely defined.But for the purposes of this book, we’ll accept the genericunderstanding that is commonly accepted by the masses, onethat includes music being sung as worship to God, or generallythought of to be “Christian” by the public or by those who callthemselves “Christian.”

Yes, this definition is somewhat vague, but when I’m asked by mywife to turn the radio dial to a “Christian station,” I know whichstation that is.

And when a friend asks, “do you listen to Christian Music?” wequickly reply with either a “yes” or “no.”

And when we ask a customer service representative where the“Christian Music” section is located at Barnes and Noble, theyquickly take us down an aisle to the far back corner, usually

located between “World Music” and “Nature Sounds.”Even though defining Christian music is hard, we all generallyknow what “Christian Music” is. The term “CCM” stands for“Contemporary Christian Music,” and is often used as a catch-allphrase to describe Christian music. But the way things areheaded, “CCM” could soon change its meaning to “Crappy Christian Music.”



A Cause for Concern



When was the last time a coworker, friend, relative, or completestranger overheard a worship song and remarked, “Wow, that’sreally good”?

Do people other than Christians even listen to Christian music? They’re more likely to prefer eighties-experimental-light-

alternative-country-rock.Music is everywhere. It plays on the radio as you drive into work,it floats through the air as you shop for groceries, it provides amoving soundtrack to your favorite movie, and it’s beingdownloaded on your teenager’s laptop, cell-phone, and Ipod—most likely at your own expense.

But Christian music is found almost nowhere outside of churchesand Christian radio—and funerals. Ironically, Christian music—

music that portrays the good news of Jesus, and of the worldbeing saved and redeemed—is conspicuously absent from placesthat are joyous, happy, or festive.

If a bride and groom want their wedding reception dance to beentertaining, wild, and fun, Christian songs will not be put on theset list. The DJs in charge of keeping the nightclubs full, and themusic “pumping,” would probably laugh hysterically at the idea of playing Christian music. For those seeking to set an energetic andcelebratory mood while hosting a party, Christian music won’t be

on the mix CD that they’ll pop into their sound system. AChristian song will not come blaring out of the PA system at anNFL stadium in an effort to get fans revved up. Not even the

jingles used to advertise your favorite brands, products, and fastfood joints incorporate Christian music, and neither will the musicstreaming throughout the newest, latest, and hippest clothingstores at the mall.

Why is this? Is Christian music so bland, uninteresting, andirrelevant that it has virtually disappeared from public society?

I own an Ipod and I only use it while I’m jogging or working out atthe gym (which is rarely). My playlist includes an array of musicconsisting of many different genres, but within my entirecollection, there is no Christian music.



This is because I fear I might fall asleep while struggling to lift 50pound dumbbells over my head, or start dozing off while running(or in my case, walking) on the treadmill.

I need the adrenaline energy of classic rock and the poundingthuds of club music reverberating through my head. Contrarily,Christian music lulls me into a sleepy trance, somehow sappingme of all my physical and mental strength.

Being the quintessential Christian hypocrite, as a youth pastor,I’m constantly trying to pawn off Christian music to the studentsat my church.

I’ll champion the moral benefits of listening to wholesome lyricswhile simultaneously deriding the evils of profanity-laden lyrics(that inevitably conjure up images of sex, drugs, and worldwideanarchy). I’ll insinuate that Christian music really is cool, and thatthey should listen to it in order to be a shining light throughout

the darkness that surrounds them within our nation’s deprivedpublic schools—where apparently everyone is heading straight tohell.

“Who cares what your peers will think about you?” I’ll say in mymost hipster-sounding tone. To my dismay, I end up sounding likea nagging parent.

The Doobie Brothers (or was it DC Talk?) once sang, “I don’t carewhat they may say, I don’t care what they may do, I don’t care

what they may say, Jesus is just alright, OH YEAH, Jesus is justalriiiiight!”

See, Christian music is still cool, or at least it was back in theseventies. Do students today even know who The Doobie Brothersare? Or DC Talk for that matter?

During youth group I’d give out the CDs as door prizes, contestprizes, and graduation gifts. I’d sneak them into kid’s backpacksand coat pockets. I’d resort to pleading with them. “Take them!

They’re free!”No matter how hard I try, the sales pitch fails, and after a fewweeks I’ll eventually find the Christian albums laying on the floor,unopened and still in their plastic casings, resting next to a fewpieces of stale Doritos and discarded wads of bubble gum.

My attempts to give away Christian music as gifts, awards, oreven as doorstops are futile. Teenagers are just too smart. They



know I’m full of crap, and they know what I’m trying to give themis crap, too. I can’t blame them for not wanting to listen toChristian music. Most of it sucks.



The Simplicity of Christian Music



If you own an instrument and know how to play the chords of E, C,D, G, and A, congratulations, you can now play ninety percent of today’s worship music.

Not only are the chords elemental and repetitive, the musicalstructures of the songs are so similar that you can sometimes use

the same musical pattern for different songs by merelyinterchanging the lyrics.

Imagine yourself in a beautiful European church surrounded bytall spiraling pillars. You happen to be sitting in a wooden pewdirectly in front of a stoic choir, each member wearing a perfectlyclean red robe and dwarfed by a monstrous organ that has metaltubes shooting upwards right behind them.

The organist, an old lady wearing thick round glasses and whose

denim blouse smells like a thrift store, gently presses her wrinkledfingers onto the keys, and deep, low, foghorn-like chords rumblethroughout the tiny church, shaking the pew you were just aboutto fall asleep in.

The choir starts to sing, “Praise God from Whom all blessings flow,Praise Him all creatures here below...”

Suddenly, and subtly, the words change.

“All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful

voice...”

Two different songs are being sung with the exact same chordstructure and rhythm. This tradition was started hundreds of years ago during an era when music was the same and wasintentionally interchanged with different lyrics.

But while music has greatly evolved over time, Christian musichas somehow been left behind, stuck in antiquity. It is simplistic,anthem-esque, and boring, light years behind modern-day trends,

technology, and creativity.

At one of the first churches that hired me as a youth pastor (theirfirst mistake), I quickly discovered that the students struggled toworship God through music because the youth ministry wasmissing a worship leader, so reluctantly, I was forced to learn theworship tunes all by myself.



Fortunately, I owned an acoustic guitar (every good Christiandoes), and was amazed at how easy the music was. Not only did Ilead worship for the youth on Wednesday nights, but withinweeks I was quickly substituted in as a main worship leader forthe Sunday morning services (their second mistake).

At first I was impressed with myself, but I eventually realized justhow pathetic the situation was. Is worship music so bland and

simplistic that even an idiot like me can learn complete songs inless than five minutes? Disturbing trends within the Christianmusic world started to arouse my curiosity.

The first and most apparent trend I noticed was that musically,most worship songs are depressingly simple. A frighteningamount of worship songs really are founded on only a few basicchords. The songs can be learned in minutes, and although someare intentionally meant to be easy to sing and play, I think Godwould also appreciate ones that are complicated and difficult.

The second thing that surprised me was how dangerouslyunoriginal Christian music had become.

Every year I’m surprised by the number of mainstream Christianartists who cover old worship songs and hymns by subtly “addingtheir own style.”

How many different renditions of “Amazing Grace”, “Be Thou MyVision”, and “Holy, Holy, Holy” can we have? Hundreds?

Thousands?During my stint as a worship leader, one of the most frustratingthings was trying to find credits to certain songs. Five differentartists would be listed under one single title. Artists basicallyreworked old songs and “modernized” them by slightly modifyingthe rhythm or changing a few chords. This happens over and overagain. Are Christian artists capable of creating original music?



CCM: Clichéd Christian Music



We often accuse the young Christian generation of falling intoSatan’s trap of secular music, and we—responsible Christianparents and adults—find it inconceivable that they would willinglychoose to listen to it. But maybe they listen to the songs becausethey can actually relate to the words being sung.

Traditionalists will surely respond in shock and disbelief. “What? That can’t be!” They’ll put the blame on the Devil, their kid’smisbehaving friends, and the inherent evil of the world—especially the “younger generation.” They shake their heads indisappointment. “The world just keeps getting worse and worse.”

Maybe Christian music is getting worse and worse. It’s sad that allother forms of music have become more truthful and relatablethan worship music. Lyrics that talk about sickness, divorce,drugs, depression, debt, breakups, and sex are concepts that

people can actually understand and relate to.

Have you been a Christian long enough to have the jargonmemorized? Concepts like “holiness,” “blood of the Lamb,”“cleansed,” “grace,” “sin,” “saved,” “light,” “redeemed,”“assurance,” “witness,” “confess,” and “repentance” are oftentoo vague to clearly understand.

These words, along with hundreds of others, are sungrepetitiously without the singer really knowing, or appreciating,

what the words actually mean. These overused—but vitallyimportant—ideas need to be written out and translated into real-world scenarios that can relate to people’s lives. Unfortunately,significant Biblical ideas and concepts have become genericChristianese lyrics that are repeated over and over again just tokeep the religious status quo.

One of the scariest things to see in a church are congregationsmoving their mouths again and again for the millionth time,staring at the screen as if in a stupefied trance, waiting to go

home and watch football.

The lyrics of Christian music have been overused. They have losttheir ability to capture our imaginations or rightly describe ourlives. Their potency is gone.

It is a worldwide problem. I’m always surprised and disappointedwhen I attend mission trips to faraway countries, only to discover



that they sing the exact same worship songs that we do back inAmerica.

I start to feel sick. Singular worship is overtaking the world,destroying languages, cultures, and unique traditions by replacingthem with Westernized versions of our worn choruses. HearingAmericanized worship thousands of miles away from the UnitedStates felt similar to the time I was in Vienna, Austria, looking for

a great local restaurant to eat at, but all I could find was aMcDonald’s. I traveled to Europe to experience unique culturalcuisines, not to eat another Big Mac Extra Value Meal.

In the Bible, Jesus avoided communicating his ideas throughgeneralizations. Instead, he used detailed stories, examples, andparables to clarify His teachings. Jesus adjusted his messageaccording to various audiences. We added the generalizationslater.

Worship music needs to add the same kind of clarity to itsmessage that Jesus had.

Ironically, secular bands have taken Christian concepts and wordsand transformed them into mega-hits, much like the DoobieBrothers were able to do by taking a gospel song written byArthur Reid Reynolds and turn it into a pop sensation: “Jesus Is

Just Alright.”

Another example is the sorrowful and moving song originally

written by Leonard Cohen, and famously covered by Jeff Buckley(among others), simply entitled “Hallelujah”:

I heard there was a secret chord, that David played, and it pleased the Lord

But you don't really care for music, do ya?

Well it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, theminor fall and the major lift,

The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you



She tied you to her kitchen chair

And she broke your throne and she cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah


Well baby I've been here before

I've seen this room and I've walked this floor

I used to live alone before I knew ya

I've seen your flag on the marble arch

Love is not a victory march

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah


Well there was a time when you let me know

What's really going on below

But now you never show that to me do you?

And remember when I moved in you? And the holy dove was moving too

And every breath we drew was Hallelujah


Well maybe there's a God above

But all I've ever learned from love

Was how to shoot somebody who'd out drew ya

And it's not a cry that you hear at night

It's not somebody who's seen in the light

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah




The song is a beautiful description full of depth, meaning,symbolism, and complexity that relates to concepts Christianshave been attempting to sing about for years.

“Hallelujah”: one simple word with so much meaning andimportance.

While this song is saturated with Christian truths and a convictingweight that searches the soul, it was hardly intended to be a songof worship. The author was not a Christian. Rather, it was amasterpiece done by an artist who took the idea of “Hallelujah”and coupled it with Biblical references—creating a musicalmasterpiece that somehow grasps the hard realities of relationships, spirituality, and faith.

If only Christian artists could be brave enough for the type of

honesty and boldness that worship music requires. Instead,Christians are handed hundreds of songs with generic lyrics thatmention “Hallelujah” over and over again, but with no realdescription of what it means. Therefore, Christians are left singingabout words that they don’t understand or even really thinkabout.

During most Sunday morning services, why am I not cognitively oremotionally moved by the worship songs in the same way that I’mmoved by songs sung by The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie,

The Who, The Temptations, or Phoenix? This realization is startingto make me sick.

Am I possessed by Satan, immersed in evil, incapable of worshipping God because of my sinful heart? Or have the wordsof Christian music been repeated so many times that they havelost their ability to powerfully move me? Have the phrasesbecome over familiarized and too meaningless?

Every time the band U2 does a concert tour, people testify about

the mystical feeling that overwhelms them during theperformance. Audience members get goose bumps, are filled withan abnormal amount of energy, become emotionally jolted totheir core, and recognize profound truths about themselves,others, and the world. U2 is a good example of a group of artistswho have successfully incorporated spiritual truths into theirmusic that seem to touch people’s souls.



Transformational music that is true, profound, moving, and justplain good is what Christians crave, and maybe that explains whyU2 has practically been adopted as an alternative source of worship music by many Christians who struggle to find that typeof music within their own churches.

Our worship songs are missing complicated details of life’srealities (or even the realities of the Bible). Instead, the songs are

flowery and bright, filled with an empty hope, and painfully voidof the brutal candor required for true transparency and worshiptowards God.

The Bible is brutally honest about life, faith, and God, andChristian music should follow suit.

How does our worship today relate to our lives and the everydaylives of the world around us? Does it strike a resounding chord?When people hear a particular chorus, are they moved by thinking

“Yes, this is how I’m feeling!”? Or are they simply singing thewords out of habit?



CCM: Changeless Christian Music



The Billboard 100 changes constantly. If a song is really good itwill remain on top for more than one week, or maybe even two orthree, and if a song is epic, it will remain in first position for over amonth. Eventually a newer, better song replaces it, and theformer song will eventually be forgotten, forever removed to thebacklogs of radio and the annals of VH1 trivia. Unfortunately, in

the Christian world, our “top” songs seem to live on forever.

In Christian music, the biggest names stay big for what seems likeforever, and their songs stay around for decades. As Christians,we all know who these artists are and what songs they sing (I willrefrain from specifically naming them).

Contrarily, in the secular world, new and upcoming artists areconstantly challenging the realms of music by introducing newmelodies, technologies, and styles, constantly pushing music to

new worlds of possibility.

New songs replace old ones. New sounds replace old ones. Newbeats replace old ones. New looks replace old ones. Creativity isin full swing. A new song is sung, and this is a Christian truthbeing used by everyone within music except Christiansthemselves.

God is a creator. He created the world. He created us. He’sconstantly doing new and creative things—just look around! But

why are we so afraid to affirm His creative nature within ourchurches today?

Worship music is the best example of our stubbornness, maybeeven sinfulness, in the area of creativity. Worship songs sounddepressing. They are dull, boring, and have put countlessbusloads of traveling youth groups to sleep at night (I’m speakingfrom experience).

Once, during one of these caffeine-filled youth trips, I was driving

a van full of kids to a Christian convention that was hours away.Like many good youth pastors, I tried to “feed their souls” by onlyallowing Christian music to be played on the radio and CD player.Unfortunately, it just served as background noise, and thestudents continued to chat with one another—seemingly ignoringwhatever music I chose to play.



Then, as I ejected one of these Christian CDs, the FM dial kickedin and “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen spat out from thespeakers. Suddenly, as if my van had transformed itself into thecast of Glee, they started wholeheartedly singing along with theanthem at the top of their lungs:

I see a little silhouetto of a man Scaramouch! Scaramouch! Will you do the Fandango (they pump their fists in the air, the sugar

they’ve been incessantly eating for the last four hours suddenlykicks in all at once)

Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening me (they’rereaching fever pitch—I’m yelling at them to keep their seat beltson)

(Galileo) Galileo (Galileo) Galileo, Galileo Figaro (shy students whohaven’t spoken two words all trip are suddenly belting out theirbest falsetto, as if they were auditioning for American Idol)

Magnifico-o-o-o-o (The van is now in danger of veering off theroad, I’m afraid the front windshield may crack from the girls’piercingly high voices)

They went on and on, utilizing their air guitars, air drums, airkeyboards, and gyrating with their best rock impersonator moves,until finally the song ended. They cheered and laughed, theneagerly waited for whatever song was going to be played next,and I left the radio on, which provided cheap—although

painstakingly loud and irritating—entertainment for the next hour.I was struck by how much enthusiasm they showed for Queen.Queen? Why didn’t they exert that much energy or emotion whilesinging worship songs? Sometimes the most complex questionshave the simplest answers.

Youth want to dance. They want to feel alive. They want a drivingbass drum and an insane guitar solo. They want lyrics that arefun, profound, powerful, and sometimes even hard to sing. They

don’t want routine, mundane, and cookie-cutter worship.I’m convinced that adults still want that profound sense of beingalive, too. But why are our churches and worship services so goodat taking the life out of worship?

I once attended an Easter service that started ordinarily enough:a few opening worship songs followed by a sermon detailing thedeath and resurrection of Christ. But as the pastor prepared to



close the service, he reminded us that Jesus had risen, and thatas Christians we should celebrate this momentous moment.

Yes, I had heard this all before: celebrate Jesus’s defeat overdeath—blah, blah, blah. I was starting to get irritated. Just dismissus already so we can bring the kids home for the Easter Egg Hunt .

But then something happened that changed the entire feel of the

service. As he closed his benediction, the Black Eyed Peas song “IGotta Feeling” (an edited version) pounded through the church’ssound system:

I gotta feelin, that tonight’s gonna be a good night

That tonight’s gonna be a good night

That tonight’s gonna be a good good night

Suddenly, the very real truth that Jesus had defeated sin and was

victorious became powerfully real. A joyous party atmosphereovertook the church congregation, and it was a holy moment.



CCM: Copycat Christian Music



One mistake Christians often make when trying to create art thatglorifies God is that they plagiarize, or simply copy an already-existing concept but replace all the secular components with“Christian” ones—much like t-shirts that are sold at Christiancamps that have the words “Jesus Christ” replacing the iconic“Coca-Cola” symbol.

I’m sure a Christianized version of “I Gotta Feeling” alreadyexists, but Christians need to start being original. Cheapreproductions of secularized songs are pathetic. Copying themelodies of today’s hits and subtly replacing the lyrics with wordsof worship is laughable. Instead, we need to strive to give God ourbest worship.

I’ll never forget the first time I visited Yosemite National Park.Growing up in the bland, flat, corn-filled environment of the

Midwest, I wasn’t accustomed to witnessing towering cliffs,majestic waterfalls, and valleys that dipped and sank beneath thebreathtaking rock formations that dominated the Yosemitelandscape. It was something new, grand, and beautiful to me.

Driving into the park was like entering a make-believe world. Myskin tingled, my eyes swiveled in all directions, and I cursed mylousy camera for not being able to perfectly replicate what I wasseeing in real time. My senses were overloaded.

Today, worship music has become like the corn fields I was usedto being around growing up: unspectacular, familiar, known, andalmost unnoticeable. Giving God our best doesn’t mean wealways need to give God something different, but it does meangiving Him what He deserves: something that is spectacular,worthy of His infinite greatness, and simply amazing.

When my kids get older and I end up taking them on a familyvacation, I would be cruel if I packed up their bags only to bringthem down into the basement, next to the washer and dryer—a

place where chores have been performed almost every day of their life. Instead, I’m going to take them to a place that isexciting, new, and awe-inspiring.

Unfortunately, Christian music has yet to gain a reputation forbeing new, grand, or breathtaking. Instead of taking an adventureand searching for something beautiful, Christians are oftencomplacent to stick within boring and familiar surroundings.



Read the Biblical accounts of how the Temple was built, of howintricate the constructors were during the entire building process.

The design, materials, and development of building God’s Templehad to be flawless.

They wanted it to be the best of the best. This was the opposite of shoddy, average, or even good—it was going to be incredible.

How many stories throughout the Bible show that God wants ourall? He doesn’t want half, He doesn’t want what we can afford togive at the time, but He wants everything—and He wants it to beour very best!

Is the worship music Christians are writing, producing, and singingreally our very best? Is this all we have to offer?

In the movie Walk The Line starring Joaquin Phoenix, about thelife and career of legendary singer Johnny Cash, a scene is shown

where Johnny (Joaquin) auditions in front of a music producer inan attempt to cut a record deal. As Johnny and his band playthrough their regular lineup of songs, the producer suddenly stopsthem and gives them this advice:

If you was hit by a truck and you was lying out there in that gutter dying, and you had time tosing one song. One song that people wouldremember before you're dirt. One song that wouldlet God know what you felt about your time here

on Earth. One song that would sum you up. Youtellin' me that's the song you'd sing? .... Or...would you sing somethin' different. Somethin' real.Somethin' you felt. Cause I'm telling you right now, that's the kind of song people want to hear.That's the kind of song that truly saves people.

Even though that quote was added by Hollywood and was not

part of Johnny’s real-life audition, it is a powerful truth aboutcommunication.

As Christians, we only get a limited amount of time on earthbefore we die and reach eternity. If we truly believe we have thissingular life before arriving at either heaven or hell, and we havethis one chance to worship, to create worship, and to share ourworship of God to others, is this really the best we have to offer?



In the Bible, the Psalmists repeatedly encourage us to “sing a newsong” to the Lord (Psalm 33:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1) and to“play skillfully” on our instruments (Psalm 33:3).

Too often, Christian artists mistake simplicity for humility, andrepetition for ceremonious worship. The church has become usedto patterns, traditions, and routines, and we underestimate ourown abilities to create and interact with worship that requires

increased “skill.”

When was the last time you heard a “Christian” song played onsecular radio?

I love to take random driving trips in my car during the summer. Iroll down all the windows, lazily let my left arm (sunburned) feelthe passing wind as I slowly stroll down tree-lined boulevards andlisten to the week’s Top 20 hits on the radio.

Whenever I’m stopped next to another car, I want to discoverwhat type of music they’re listening to. I turn off my radio andlisten to see if they have the same musical tastes as me. If theydo, I feel as if I’m somehow united with them, and although thebond is on a superficial basis, I still think we could’ve been goodfriends in some other life.

Surprisingly, for as long as I’ve been doing this over the years, notonce has a worship song been blaring out of a car window.

One theory is that Christian listeners are the type that keeps theirwindows rolled up and the air conditioner on.

Another theory is that Christian music is too depressing for abalmy summer day.

My personal theory is a combination of the two, added with myown opinion that hardly anyone voluntarily listens to Christianmusic out of a sense of enjoyment.

Think about it, when you see a carload of people head-banging

rhythmically to some pounding bass—odds are they are not listening to the local Christian radio station.

Blaming the secular media is hardly the answer. I find it hard tobelieve that media moguls and CEOs are sitting behind their hugemahogany desks (with huge flames in the background) andconspiring ways to transfuse images of sex, drugs, and profanityinto people’s minds by pouring corrupt songs through the radio.



The station executives who rule the airwaves are probably notpossessed by demons and probably don’t adhere to extremeleftist agendas that are supposedly obsessed with destroyingChristianity. In reality, they just play whatever songs get thehighest ratings.

Unfortunately, many of those songs do have messages that aredistinctly secular and counterproductive to the messages being

portrayed by the gospel of Christ.

Given the fact that radio is a business seeking to give the publicwhat they want, with the purpose of making a financial profit, itprovides an accurate—albeit depressing—perspective of whereChristian music stands within our current culture.

In the last decade only a handful of Christian artists (whose musicdistinctly glorifies and worships Christ) have experiencedmainstream radio success. Switchfoot, P.O.D., Skillet, and

MercyMe are some of the recent groups who have achievedcredibility outside of Christian-only radio genres.

But their songs were, well, actually good. When listening to theirhit singles, they sounded the exact opposite of what one wouldnormally think of as Christian music. They were catchy, skillful,complex, relatable, original, and first-rate.

Unsurprisingly, they succeeded in “making it big.” Unfortunately,the list of Christian groups who have followed in their footsteps is

painfully short. But why?Do Christian music groups just generally suck more than most?Do they reach it big then sacrifice their Christian values in orderto continue getting airtime? Do they become corrupted by fame,fortune, drugs, and sex?

Maybe Christian groups are just stuck in the cycle that has beencursing Christian culture for years: comfort, repetition, familiarity,routine, and patterns.



Christian Music and Churches



I have attended only two churches that “created” their ownworship. They actually put in the time, energy, and creativitytowards making their own worship music. It was a piece of artthat glorified God and had never before been made within thehistory of the world—completely original.

They collaborated, they prayed, they reflected, and they workedtowards writing, playing, and incorporating music that wasunique, powerful, and the best that they could give to God. It wasprofound.

Why do we play and sing the songs we do during our worshipservices?

Are they the ones that are currently popular? Are they the onesthat appease the grumpy congregants who recently complained

to the pastor because a particular type of music made themupset? Are they the songs that are familiar and comfortable to us?Do they feel safe to use? Are they inoffensive and wholesome?

On a more spiritual level, did the Holy Spirit direct us? Was thereprayerful consideration about which songs to choose? Was ourfaith and communication with God intimately involved in theprocess? If not, the worship is going to experience problems.

I’ve been familiar with the worship music at nearly every churchI’ve ever visited—regardless of the denomination, culture,location, and language. Is this what God wants? Does this reflectthe many facets of God? Does this portray His never-endingcreativity and limitless nature? Does this show God’s mystery?Does this reveal God’s greatness?

We should not reject tradition, bash hymns, or destroy thereputation of the current mainstream worship artists. Instead,Christians should shift their paradigms from being centered onthe past, and instead focus towards the future, the new, the

possible, the “what if,” and the vast potential. If we serve a Godwho is all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing, why is our musicabout Him so limited, so restricted, so restrained?

As Christians, we all have unique stories of how we started arelationship with God. We have different experiences, andtheologies, and ideas, and ways of communicating. Does ourworship express these variations?



Previously, when discussing the definition of the term “Christianmusic,” it was shown just how many variations of Christianitythere are, literally hundreds of different denominations andthousands of sub-denominations. The surprising thing is thatwithin the hundreds of thousands of churches that make up thesegroups, most of the music is exactly the same.

As a Christian, you’ve probably experienced this before when

visiting a different church. You enter the church, and even thoughyou may have never been there before, you know the worshipsongs. They are the ones you’ve grown up with, sung in Sundayschool, and heard on Christian radio.

The Christian song pool is used by everyone, by churches from allover the world. The pool rarely changes. The pool is rarelycleaned. The pool is stagnant. The pool isn’t being refreshed ormaintained.

Christian artists and churches need to climb outside of this pooland wipe themselves off. They need the bravery to create theirown pool. Music is a language. It needs to transform and evolve inorder to survive.

I want to enter a church and be filled with wonder. “What is thismusic? What are these unknown lyrics that are being sung? Whatare these new notes being played?” I want to hear and sing a newsong.

Worship is a form of loving God. Do we want to reuse ourmethods, forms, and poems of love, again and again and again,presenting the same offering to God for the thousandth time? Ordo we want to give Him something special and new and heartfeltand totally original?

When it comes to musical forms of worship within churches,leaders and congregants usually get tangled up by focusing onthe wrong set of questions and problems. For example, a certaingroup of parishioners may prefer older style hymns, while the

younger generation may prefer more modernized “rock” forms of worship.

Surprisingly, these types of debates are common anddevastatingly harmful. Whispers of unrest transform intovenomous rage, and soon the church gossip factory is runningovertime, spewing the latest insults, complaints, and personalattacks in all directions.



In a worst case scenario, families leave the church, leaders arevoted out of their positions, pastors are forced to “resign,” or achurch split occurs.

Alternatively, if things are handled smoothly, a compromise cangenerally be agreed upon, and worship sets are thoughtfullymade to incorporate various styles of music, or a church has aseparate “traditional” and “contemporary” service for people to

choose from.

No matter how church leaders deal with the inevitable questionsrevolving around musical worship, hardly any churches areactually creating new worship. This is a disturbing trend that hasreduced the church’s impact regarding cultural, societal, andartistic change. Instead of being on the forefront, the church islagging, continually being reactive instead of proactive.

Churches are shying away from taking risks, venturing into the

unknown, and embracing and creating art. The result has beenthat many churches have fallen so far behind that manyindividuals—even within a church community—are abandoningthe “sinking ship.” They feel as if the church has become tooirrelevant for the world they live in.

Does that mean that all churches who sing classic hymns, usetraditional liturgies, have wooden pews, and still incorporateorgans need to quit what they’re doing and start transposing theirmusic into forms of Rap, Hip-Hop, Dance, and Rock? No!

If those churches are experiencing honest communication withGod and truly worshipping Him with all their hearts, souls, minds,and bodies, then by all means they should keep doing whatthey’re doing! But even to “traditional” churches I would still askthe challenging question, “Why aren’t new forms of worship beingcreated?”

By “new forms” I don’t mean new styles, but rather, why arethere no new hymns being created? If Isaac Watts, Charles

Wesley, Frances Jane Crosby, Ira Sankey, and John Newton werealive today, I doubt they would be content singing the samerenditions of songs over and over again.

These great hymn writers were artists, musicians, poets, andcreators. They didn’t just author one song and then call it quits.Instead, they strived to keep working towards glorifying God innew and original ways throughout their entire life. So I find it quite



ironic when certain groups of people religiously adhere to onlyworshiping using a specific mode of music, whether it is hymns,choruses, rock, jazz, or bluegrass.

“New” doesn’t automatically equate to better or more “holy”worship towards God. Instead, as pastors have preached forthousands of years, it all comes down to a person’s “heart.” Whatis your attitude? What is the spiritual state of your being? Are you

personifying love? People who are connected to Christ and exudeHis love don’t seem to have problems worshipping God—nomatter what type of music is being played.

In Revelation 4:8, the Bible talks about four living creatures whohave just one job, day and night, to “never stop saying: ’Holy,holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is tocome.’”

That’s it. This is all they do, just repeating that phrase, day and

night. It’s simple, repetitive, short and sweet and to the point.

There is a danger of going too far in the “new” and “modern”direction. We can easily lose sight of the basic truths that havekept us founded on Christ for thousands of years. It’s important tonot forget about our tradition, our history, and our legacy—thegood and the bad.

Strive to give God the best. Sometimes this means being boldenough to go outside of our comfort zones and trying something

new, and sometimes it means humbly reflecting upon familiarreminders. “Strive” by definition means: “to try hard, to struggle.”Sometimes we fail in our musical worship of God simply becausewe aren’t trying. Once the church becomes effortless, it becomesdead.



Christian Music and Worship Leaders



You would think that being a worship leader is the easiest positionwithin a church. You just find whatever music is popular onChristian radio, search for the chords online, recruit an acousticguitar player, find some eager vocalists, give them each themusic, and then facilitate the songs during a service. Easy, right?

No!Pray for your worship leaders. Encourage them. Buy them dinner.Be patient with them. Forgive them. They have one of the mostdifficult, precarious, volatile, and utterly sacred jobs within anentire church: to lead people in worship towards God.

I’ve heard it said many times before that all a worship leaderneeds to have is a pure and righteous heart. If they have thatquality, things will magically turn out just like the Brooklyn Gospel

Tabernacle—the worship will be angelic.Finding people who are passionately “on fire” for God, puttingthem on the worship team, and assuming that everything else willfall into place sounds too good to be true. It is. Worship is muchmore complicated than that (insert gasps here).

Communal musical worship is somewhat mysterious andunquantifiable. There are no formulas or solutions to how it canbe properly facilitated, making the job of “facilitating worship”that much more difficult.

There are so many paradoxes, interpretations, and complexitieswithin musical worship that it often becomes impossible tocategorize, describe, or explain.

For example, after a worship service, one particular person maybe moved to tears, while another may think they just sufferedthrough the most excruciating half hour of their entire life. Oneperson may have wished to sing for hours on end, while anotherfeels that the set has gone on for far too long. Some think the

music was too loud, while others complain that is was too quiet.Some accuse the vocalists of looking distracted and distant fromthe words they are singing, while others accuse them of “entertaining” and “putting on a show.” One musician feels as if God is telling him to play a particular melody, while another feelsGod telling her that everyone should stop playing altogether sothe congregation can worship in silence. Some feel that the music



should be more “thoughtful” and “reflective,” while others feelthat it needs to be more “energetic” and “emotional.”

And on it goes. The advice to simply “listen to God’s voice” is wiseand true, but what if people are hearing God’s voice and claimingthat God is telling them to do things that contradict each other?Why does one worship experience end up being a life-changingevent, while the next week it seems to suffer?

The changing factors aren’t just spiritual or theological. Whathappens when the sound equipment suddenly shrieks fromfeedback? What happens when the sound system completely failsaltogether? What if a guitar string breaks? What if the lead singergets a sore throat? What if an unattended child runs wild andstarts jumping onstage and screaming into the microphones?What happens if the air conditioner seems set for thirty degreesbelow zero, or contrarily, the room feels like the middle of theSahara desert? What if the baby sitting next to you just poopedand now smells horrid? What if the person standing in front of youhas noticeable lice? What if you and your wife just got into aheated argument right before the service? What if the musiciansforget to show up? What if they purposefully skip out on theircommitments? What if the power-point attendant loses track of the slides that are being projected onscreen? What if the sheetmusic gets lost or the songs get out of order?

I wish every worship service I went to ended up being like one of

the Hillsong services I see on Youtube. Everyone is deeplyinvolved in worship. The musicians are perfect. The voices areflawless. People are so focused on worshipping God that youwould think they were all in some sort of drug-induced trance.

The reality is that not all worship will be like that.

I once tried to replicate the Hillsong experience at my ownchurch. I created a set with all of their songs. I practiced hard tocopy the exact way they sang each verse and chorus. I forced theworship team to do the same. Then, when I thought we wereready, we brought our version of Hillsong to the congregation.

Unfortunately, nothing went according to plan and I wasn’tprepared for what was about to happen.

I should have foreseen the first disappointment. Instead of beingfilled in a stadium-like atmosphere with thousands of hipster



college-aged students, we were at my church, where there wereabout forty people total, and most were above the age of fifty.

We had no light show, and were so short of microphones that weended up having four singers per mic. Things got worse once westarted our set. Nobody knew the music. The congregantsconfusingly stared at the screen and tried their best to mouthalong with the lyrics they were seeing for the very first time.

It was as if two worlds had suddenly appeared within the church.One world consisted of the worship team, who were doing ourbest to be enthusiastic and energetic—just like Hillsong— and theother world consisted of the congregation, many who were too oldto stand up, staring at us like we were clowns from anotherplanet. Instead of Hillsong, we had become alien clowns.

I desperately tried to salvage the set. I sang louder. I closed myeyes tighter. I bobbed my head up and down. I started to sway

my body. I was turning myself into a lame Christian version of Mick Jagger. I peeked one eye open to see if the congregation wasresponding—they weren’t.

Things had gotten worse! Most of the congregation had becometired of standing and had now sat down. A few people had gottenup to “go to the bathroom.” The worship team felt like comedianswho were mistakenly performing at a funeral service. In a lastditch effort to “lead” people into worship, I did what I had seenworship leaders do a million times before—I started acting like a

radical televangelist.

I used my fire and brimstone voice. “God is good! How many of you believe that God is good?” I yelled with as much enthusiasmas I could muster. The worship team continued to play the lead-into our next song, a song that was lively, upbeat, and loud.

A few heads nodded with me in agreement.

“Amen! Alright then, I want us to take a moment to just focus on

God. Turn your hearts to Him.” The music continued to play.“Cut out any distractions.” At this point, most of the congregationwas probably trying to cut me out—along with the rest of theworship team.

I prayed. I hoped. I felt like God could do a miracle and turn thingsaround. “Alright now, as a worship offering to God, I want us all tostand up and raise our hands during this next song!”



We started the song and I finally opened my eyes. Although mostof the congregants were once again standing, nobody (with theexception of my wife) had their hands raised, and everyone stillheld an expression on their face that exclaimed, “This is weirdand awkward.”

It was weird and awkward. The Hillsong routine was a completefailure. Later that week the pastor understandably received lots of

complaints, feedback, and just plain confusion regarding ourworship, and he graciously relayed the information back to me.Lesson learned.

You can’t just copy worship. It’s not robotic or routine. Sometimesit may not even make sense. Like God, much of it is mystical andmysterious. Sometimes it happens during a church service, andsometimes it happens while fishing on a quiet stream in themiddle of nowhere.

No matter how hard you prepare, pray, or try to make worship“work,” sometimes it just doesn’t. This is why worship leadersneed our constant prayer and support. It’s not easy to be taskedwith such an important responsibility.

I know what people are thinking: “But it is easy. It’s just aboutfocusing on God and loving Him.” I agree to a point, but then Iwitness scenes similar to the ones from the Academy Awardwinning documentary (1972) entitled Marjoe, about the infamoustraveling evangelist named Marjoe Gortner, who purposefully

documented how he “tricked” people into a “worship experience.”

The images are chilling. He leads worship. He sings. He preaches.He has an alter call. Thousands are moved by the “worship.”Fathers are weeping. Teenagers are asking for forgiveness.Congregants are responding to the calls for salvation inastounding numbers. They are immersed in a worship“experience.”

But after the service, Marjoe Gortner confides to the camera crew

how he manipulated the environment in order for people todonate large portions of money to his “ministry.” He laughs. Headmits he doesn’t even believe in Jesus. He counts the cash hemade from the night’s offering. In the end, I can’t theologicallyexplain whether the worship was genuine or not, or even makesense of everything that happened, but I do know that trying to



manipulate our congregations—or forcing Hillsong on them—iswrong.

There are no simple solutions or patterns to follow. I wish therewere. I wish I had profound answers or easy fixes. They don’texist. Sometimes all we can do is strive to give God our best.



$$$ MONEY, MONEY, MONEY! $$$



Although Christian music has a long way to go before reachingthe musical standards of secular music, strangely, the economicsof Christian music are exactly the same: nothing is free.

Go and compare the prices of a worship CD to that of any secularalbum—there is no difference. Sadly, Christian music is

expensive. The Christian music industry is a business. Money has replacedGod as the driving force behind much of the genre. AlthoughChristian music has a different message, the mode of communicating this message is the same one used by the rest of the world: profit.

Churches can hardly sing a worship song without having to clearall of the legal hurdles revolved around copyright infringements

and royalty costs.Do you want to use a Christian song in a church service? Becareful, because you might end up paying thousands of dollars infines because you decided to worship God by using a Christianartist’s personally—or corporately—owned song and lyrics. Oops,time to get a good lawyer.

What if you were moved by an inspirational song heard over thelocal Christian radio station? The single can be yours for only 99cents on Itunes, or you can purchase the entire album for $9.99 atthe nearest Wal-Mart.

Want to see the artist perform live? No need to worry, the artist istouring to a city near you this month! For a limited time, ticketsare a steal at only $30 a piece! A backstage pass is only $400—autographs and photos are included!

For the hardcore fans, tickets can be bought for a CaribbeanChristian Cruise, where all the entertainment is exclusively family-friendly and Christian-based! The cost: a few thousand dollars—

but think of how much you will grow closer to Christ!

What if you want to listen to worship music without paying for it?Forget it. Downloading it for free off the internet is illegal! Whatwould Jesus think if you did that?

I realize that we live in a free-market society built onconsumerism, but is the Christian music industry required to



follow that precedent? I grew up being taught that the gospel wasfree. Apparently, I was wrong.

In Matthew 21, verses 12-13, a brief but dramatic incident isrecorded in the Bible:

(NIV) “Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all whowere buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the

money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It iswritten,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of

prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Obviously, Jesus was upset. In Biblical times, doves were oftenused to make sacrifices to God, and in this passage the doves arebeing used under the false pretenses of holiness (sacrificing toGod) in order to make money (the doves are being sold). Jesuswas not about to let that happen.

Numerous verses in the Bible make it clear that our worship is atype of sacrifice to God:

Joshua 22:27 On the contrary, it is to be a witness between usand you and the generations that follow, that we will worship theLORD at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices andfellowship offerings. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no share in the LORD’

Isaiah 19:21 So the LORD will make himself known to theEgyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will makevows to the LORD and keep them

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in viewof God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and

pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship

1 Chronicles 16:29 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;bring an offering and come before him. Worship the LORD in thesplendor of his holiness

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship Godacceptably with reverence and awe

In many ways, the CDs, DVDs, concerts, and overallcommercialism we sell in the name of Christian worship is similarto turning God’s temple into a “den of robbers.”



Many non-believers reject the gospel for this very reason, notbecause they disagree with the story of Christ, but rather becausethey can clearly see the hypocritical business side of Christianity.If we want the gospel to be taken seriously, we need to present itwithout any strings attached. We should avoid turning Christianityinto a profiteering industry.

I realize that Christian artists are simply using the methods and

tools that have been given them, but maybe those methods andtools need to change. Christ used techniques that were radical—He was eventually crucified on a cross—so why is Christian musicrefusing to do the same?

A few years ago, the band Radiohead created an album and thendid something almost unheard of: they offered their album toanyone for free via internet download. If people wanted to donatemoney they could, but they weren’t required to do so. Idownloaded the album without paying, and I was shocked that Ihad actually downloaded an album that was both free and legal.

If Radiohead can supplement costs in order to present their art tothe masses, Christians can do the same.

Think of the impact free good Christian music would have on ourworld. Free songs, free albums, free DVDs, free concerts, freeworship services! The gospel being presented like never before—and for free! I dream for that day.

Commercialization is making Christian music too expensive toown or even listen to. And while I assume that most Christianartists put in large amounts of prayerful and Biblical meditationwhen creating their lyrics and music, when did the Holy Spiritinspire them to sell their music for exactly $12.99 exclusively atBest Buy?

When did God speak to them in a vision and command them touse that particular record label, or charge that exact cost for theirconcert tickets, or price their bumper stickers and t-shirts for that

precise amount?

Yes, Christian artists have many non-profit organizations that arebenefiting the world in amazing ways, but what percentage of theoverall profit is actually being directed into those organizations?And every popular artist, even secular ones, has at least one non-profit these days. In general, Christian musicians are not at theforefront of humanitarian (Christ-like) causes.



Throughout our society, televangelists have gained a badreputation for being sleazy, hypocritical, and dishonest. Theyadorn late-night cable channels and pawn superficial trinkets:holy water ($12), prayer books ($25), Bible software ($20), andany other product that can be sold using spiritual manipulationand old-fashioned salesmanship.

These preachers are master communicators. In person, they are

friendly, congenial, and relatable. Their messages are usuallystraight from the Bible.

But if we look deeper, we start to find disturbing patterns. Theirshows always ask for money. Their book tours focus more onautographs and pictures than the gospel. Their websites flashhuge pictures of themselves yet hardly mention Jesus Christ.

Worship artists use almost the exact the same marketing strategyas televangelists. The first images on their websites are of

themselves, and the gospel message is hidden away behindadvertisements for their latest albums and concert tours. Theysign autographs. They ask for money. How would Jesus react tothis?

Televangelists are easy to target because they have a longhistory of being superficial schemers. But why do Christians treatworship artists so differently?

Money has a history of destroying things: reputations, marriages,

corporations, and churches. Money is already corrupting Christianmusic, and this needs to stop before it becomes too late.

If the message is about presenting Christ, why is the price pointset so high that hardly anyone will be able to hear it? As it standsright now, Christian music is presenting an inferior product for thesame cost as superior secular art. If Christian artists are trying topresent the gospel through those means—good luck.



Christian Music’s Infamous Past



Christian music has been in the middle of an identity crisisbetween “good” and “evil” for thousands of years. Anyone canread the Bible and see the various musical references that involvesinging, dancing, harps, horns, cymbals, and many other forms of music. Add this to the fact that music seems to be an intrinsicpart of our soul and being, and it becomes hard to argue that

music cannot be used towards worshipping God.

Here are just a few—of many—scriptures that reference musicrelated to God and worship (all verses are from the NIV versionunless otherwise noted):

Exodus 15:20-21 Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, withtambourines and dancing. Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the Lord,for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into

the sea.”

1 Samuel 10:5“After that you will go to Gibeah of God, wherethere is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you willmeet a procession of prophets coming down from the high placewith lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played beforethem, and they will be prophesying.

2 Samuel 6:5 David and the whole house of Israel werecelebrating with all their might before the Lord, with songs and

with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.

1 Chronicles 25:1–7 David, together with the commanders of thearmy, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthunfor the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres andcymbals. Here is the list of the men who performed this service:From the sons of Asaph:Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah and Asarelah.The sons of Asaph were under the supervision of Asaph, who

prophesied under the king’s supervision. As for Jeduthun, from his

sons: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei,a Hashabiah andMattithiah, six in all, under the supervision of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied, using the harp in thanking and praising the Lord. As for Heman, from his sons: Bukkiah,Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shubael and Jerimoth; Hananiah, Hanani,Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-Ezer; Joshbekashah, Mallothi,Hothir and Mahazioth. All these were sons of Heman the king’sseer. They were given him through the promises of God to exalt



him. God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. Allthese men were under the supervision of their fathers for themusic of the temple of the Lord, with cymbals, lyres and harps,for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Hemanwere under the supervision of the king. Along with their relatives—all of them trained and skilled in music for the Lord—they numbered 288.

Isaiah 38:20 The Lord will save me, and we will sing with stringedinstrumentsall the days of our lives in the temple of the Lord.

Revelation 5:8–9 And when he had taken it, the four livingcreatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb.Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a newsong: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,

because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased menfor God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

Even with lots of Biblical evidence, many of today’s churches stillvigorously resist music as a form of worship, and traditionally,many famous Christian theologians and “fathers of the faith”have viewed music as a hindrance to following God. For example,

John Calvin, Adam Clark, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, andeven Martin Luther are all quoted as being staunch opponents of

utilizing musical instruments during worship or within a churchenvironment.

And although music was used in Biblical times, it was also widelyincorporated within pagan worship, Greek literature, and Greekfolklore, and by many non-Christians throughout human history,adding a strong and vibrant secular counter-element that hascontinued to exist alongside of “Christian” music to this very day.

In many ways, music is a genre of communication that

Christianity has never passionately claimed as its own.Contrarily, speech and the printed word are genres that Christianssimply assume to have practically invented. Since the Bibleplayed an enormous role within the spread of literacy and theevolution of printing presses and the expansion of books and theoverall development of the printed word, Christians are less waryof these forms of communication.



Even speech and language are believed by many Evangelicals tohave been created by God in response to His creation’s evilintention of building a tower that would reach up into theheavens. Genesis, chapter 11, states that “the LORD confused thelanguage of the whole world.” Here is the biblical account:

Genesis 11:1-9 (NIV)

The Tower of Babel

Now the whole world had one language and acommon speech. As people moved eastward, they

found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and

bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of

stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come,let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that

reaches to the heavens, so that we may make aname for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered

over the face of the whole earth.” But the LORDcame down to see the city and the tower the

people were building. The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have

begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will

be impossible for them. Come, let us go down andconfuse their language so they will not understandeach other.”

So the LORD scattered them from there over allthe earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there theLORD confused the language of the whole world.From there the LORD scattered them over the faceof the whole earth.

And although God thoroughly warns Christians throughout theBible that words have the ability to hurt, severely destroy, andcause pain, Christians refuse to view language—unlike music—asinherently evil.

Music is evil? Really ? A small but very vocal segment of Christiansbelieve just that.



Unfortunately, music has a checkered past within Christianity.Many point to the Bible and suggest that Lucifer, otherwise knownas “Satan,” or “the Devil,” was a fallen Angel who was formerlythe director of music for God before he eventually became sinfuland ultimately turned against God.

People who believe this refer to verses such as Isaiah 14:11-12(KJV):

“Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken thenations!”

(It’s interesting to note that many “anti-music” Christians will usethe King James Version of the Bible. They do this because most of the key words and phrases used within their arguments are only

found in the KJV. Other translations of the Bible aren’t ascompatible to their beliefs and theories. Thus, these same peopleoften passionately believe that the KJV Bible is divinely superior toall other forms of the Bible—but that is a whole different issue)

Here, “the noise of thy viols” is used as evidence that Lucifer wasinvolved in music. In addition, many argue that Lucifer means“morning star” or “light bearer.” This meaning attached to Luciferis significant because in Job 38:7 (KJV), the verse states: “Whenthe morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted

for joy?” Here, Lucifer—the “the morning star ”—is againreferenced within a musical context, adding to the idea thatSatan’s essence was strongly associated with music.

Ezekiel 28:13 (NIV) is another verse that is used to “prove” thatSatan was involved in music. It states: “You were in Eden, theGarden of God, every precious stone was your covering: Thesardius, topaz and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire,turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you werecreated.”

Once again, “the workmanship of your timbrels and pipes” arepurported to show Satan’s direct involvement with instrumentsand music.

Although many scholars and Evangelicals dismiss the Satan/Musicconnection as bad theology and horrible exegesis, the fact



remains that many believe it to be true, and this small detail: thebelief that Satan was the director of music, has had a HUGEimpact on how various churches have interacted with music.

The few verses we just discussed are used fervently by a minorityto show that Satan was not just the director of music, but that hecontinues to use music as one of his most powerful weaponsagainst Christianity.

If you couple this message with the examples of extremeprofanity, sexual promiscuity, drug use, violence, hate, and litanyof other perversions and negative influences that permeate musictoday, a compelling case could be made that Satan does in factuse music as a counterforce against the morals and virtues of Christianity.

Although the idea of Satan somehow controlling music soundsabsurd to many modern Evangelicals, it was only a few decades

ago that thousands of Beatles albums were being burned becausethey were “anti-Christian” and deemed “Satanic.”

I also remember when a group of congregants decided to breakaway from my childhood church because the assistant pastor hadthe gall to play drums. Drums were viewed as an instrument of Satan, and thus a significant group of people left the church.

Heavy metal, punk rock, and hardcore genres were alsoassociated with Satanism and evil. Furthermore, images of bands

biting off the heads of bats, killing chickens, wearing all black,pumping gobs of fake blood over their bodies, and portrayingimages of skulls, dragons, and Satanic symbols further convincedhordes of conservative Christians that mainstream music wasindeed a poison concocted by Lucifer himself, meant to diluteteenagers’ minds so that they would eventually have premaritalsex, smoke weed, steal, become lazy, and vote for theDemocratic party.

They were dark times indeed. Rumors spread like wildfire. Not

only did the Beatles have hidden messages that worshippedSatan within their albums, but so did Led Zeppelin and theElectric Light Orchestra. Satan’s musical minions were supposedlyusing “backmasking”: a technique where the sound is recordedbackwards on a track that is intended to be played forward. TheChristian response was fierce, and albums continued to burn.



Unfortunately, this state of fear within churches was occurringwithin a time of musical revolution, when sounds, techniques, andtechnology were expanding at warp speed.

Music was booming, and art was in full swing, but EvangelicalChristianity’s response to this radical change was to not changeat all. Instead of incorporating “Satan’s Rock,” churches stayedloyal to choirs, organs, and the “safer” versions of music that

tended to shy away from the controversial genres that weretaking over mainstream America.

The church turned inward and stubbornly held onto the musicaltraditions it had known for years.

Today, not much has changed. Many churches still vehementlyoppose secular music. Genres such as Rap, Hip Hop, and HardRock are unfairly categorized as being especially evil, andEvangelical communities still attempt local boycotts of MTV cable

channels (among others).

Many of these churches have viable complaints and concerns. Alot of music today is filled with pornographic imagery and lyricsthat are more profane than poetic. But does that mean thatChristianity must once again refuse to progress musically?

Sadly, the music that is incorporated within churches today stillhasn’t recovered from the fear-induced reactions that Christianshad during the sixties and seventies, and Christian music

continues to lag a few decades behind the curve. The mindset that music is associated with Satan and “evil” is stillso strong within churches today that few are bold enough toembrace the musical trends that are currently happening for fearthat both the music—and individuals themselves—will be judgedguilty by association.

Similarly, Christian artists act the same way, and if they are onthe cutting edge of music and technology, they will more likely

find acceptance within a secular audience than a Christian one. This is causing many great Christian bands and artists to turnelsewhere to express their true selves and work. Finding so muchoppression, negativity, opposition, and conflict within the church,they leave the Christian audiences behind, choosing differentdemographics to target—ones that are more open and lesscritical.



Evangelical Christianity’s fear of change and familiarity withroutine has caused a two-fold problem. First, it avoids musicalchanges that could help benefit the worship experience.Secondly, it has forced many of Christianity’s best artists andmusicians to take their talents and skills elsewhere.



The (Nonexistent) Mission of Christian Music



Once a month my church takes a “missions” offering. Thisoffering is dedicated to some missionary who lives far away in adistant land, apparently living off a meager diet of bugs, plants,and care-packages. They are somehow translating the Bible in aneffort to gain converts while simultaneously fending off diseases,wild animals, enemy tribes, and a bankruptcy of funds.

Like most churches, missions is considered important to our smallcongregation. We pray for our brave missionaries (and pray thatwe’ll never have to become one). We raise money for them. Wesend them gift baskets around Christmas time. We listen to theiradventures every five years, or however long it takes for them toreturn home and continue their never-ending task of raisingsupport. We read their monthly update letters (or quickly click the“trash” button in our email accounts), and collect theirrefrigerator magnets that consist of their smiling faces beingplastered alongside their contact information, website address,life verse, and donation information.

Worldwide, Christian churches spend millions, maybe evenbillions of dollars, dedicated to evangelism and missions. “Go yetherefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit ,” Matt. 28:19KJV) is what preachers have been telling us to do for centuries.

Recently, as Western civilizations have discarded their

evangelical backgrounds and left the faith, churches have realizedthe importance of doing missions locally. Churches haveresponded by tempting the public with alluring (yet antiquated)products intended to draw visitors into the pews.

Potlucks are organized, pamphlets and tracts are sent door-to-door, alternative Halloween celebrations (“Fall Festivals”) arehosted, Christian coffee houses are built, and an array of otherChristian marketing techniques are utilized for the cause of gaining converts for Christ.

And while churches have made large strides towardsaccommodating secular audiences by modernizing their sermons,meeting in less intimidating environments, and creating agenerally warmer feel, Christian music is still, well, intended forChristians only.



If you’ve been around churches long enough, you’ll quicklydiscover that they love having “mission statements.” Thesemission statements serve as a way of setting goals, directingfocus, and creating a path for the church to follow. Churchesbecome obsessed with mission statements.

There are mission statements relating to the youth group,nursery, single moms group, evangelism department, mission

board, the trustees, the deacons, the hospitality team, and theoverall church as a whole. The list could go on. Pretty soon therewill even be mission statements about making missionstatements.

But they do serve a purpose. Having a mission statement at yourchurch regarding music is vitally important. Not only will itprovide a better picture of how the church views music, but it willhelp bring up many pertinent questions—maybe even some of thesame questions that are being asked in this book. Thesequestions might not be answered in the way you like, or theremay not even be a definitive answer, but at least dialogue ishappening.

The scary thing about Christian music is that it seems to have nomission. No real dialogue is happening. Churches use Christianmusic for worship—but that’s it. Are we content to have Christianmusic serving this very narrow purpose, or could it be used inother ways?

It happens to me about once a month, usually while I’m in a mom-and-pop type store, but as I enter into the venue I’ll recognizethat Christian music is being softly played over the store’s soundsystem. Immediately, without a doubt in my mind, I know that theowners—or the workers of the store—are Christian.

Inevitably, as I’m checking out at the register or asking for helpfinding a certain product, I’ll find a way to mention that I work fora church, and sure enough, ninety-nine times out of a hundred,they will give me a warm smile and eagerly mention that theyalso attend church, and that they’re also Christians—sometimesthey’ll even give me a discount.

My parents (devout Christians) are always the first to notice theChristian music. Their response is always happy and simple.“They must be Christians!” They also give them a friendly smile



and subtle nod, as if acknowledging a small child for offering thecorrect answer to a quiz question.

But how does listening to Christian music make somebodyChristian? It doesn’t. But non-Christians simply don’t listen toChristian music. Thus, by process of elimination, we know thatwhoever turned on that music must be “Christian.”

Once again, Christian music is alone on an island. This island iscalled “Christianity.” This makes sense to a certain extent, butshould it be this way?

And while churches conjure up unique and entertaining way toreach “the lost,” they still exclusively create and market Christianmusic for a Christian-only audience. This is sad.

While the story of Christ is meant to be shared with everyonethroughout the world, the music that glorifies God, praises Him,

and talks about Him is confined to a Christian audience.Meanwhile, we judge others for listening to secular music withoutproviding them with any viable alternative.

Christian music is marketed only to Christians, and nobody seemsto be trying to reverse this. What if Christian music becamemissional? What if it was created not just for believers, but fornon-believers, too?

We previously discussed the complexity and confusion of using“Christianese” lyrics within Christian music. Words such as “holy,”“purify,” “sanctify,” “hallelujah,” “Yahweh,” “Lamb of God,” and athousand other words (and statements) cannot be easilyunderstood or communicated, even by lifelong Christians (I’m notsaying that it’s wrong to use these words!).

Not only is certain jargon irrelevant and unknown to a secularaudience, but, as we also mentioned earlier, the styles and typesof music themselves are old-fashioned and unfit for a modern,fast-paced, and unbelieving demographic.

Once again, Christians have claimed the genre of Christian musicentirely for themselves, missing out on an opportunity to reach anuntapped population eager for something new and spiritual.

But even as Christian music is entirely introspective and cultish inits unwillingness to go beyond Christian audiences, otherChristian genres such as books and movies have made strides tocross over and reach these secular audiences. Books like A



Purpose Driven Life and movies like Fireproof are examples of how Christians can create art that is both Christian-based andmissional. Christian music needs to do the same.

Why has Christian music refused to become missional? Why is itdistinctly separate and just for Christians? These are questionsthat need to be addressed by all Christians and churches trying tomake a difference within today’s society.

There is one obvious question that needs to be asked: “Bydefinition, shouldn’t music that’s termed “Christian” beexclusively for Christians?” Yes and no.

Yes, because we are instructed to worship and praise God. Weshould have music that is dedicated completely to God. This typeof music should be worship. We should avoid watering down thismusic, and should not sacrifice the theology, glory, and worth of the music as it relates to God.

It’s ok for Christians to have their own music. There are going tobe songs, ideas, and lyrics that are simply impossible tounderstand without having a living and passionate relationshipwith God.

No. For the sake of avoiding confusion (maybe it’s too late), let’scall this missional type of music “Quasi-Christian.”

Quasi-Christian music: music that is wholesome, consists of Christian morals and values, references God, but can also beunderstood and received by a secular audience.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be “worship” music, but it should bemusic that can bridge the gap between the sex, drugs, andviolence music, and the worship music that we sing in ourchurches. To me, this is where the Christian music industry hasfailed. There is no attempt being made to reach out and build abridge.

There’s either Christian music, or everything else. Think about it.

This is how we as Christians have been taught to view music:secular vs. Christian. Christian music is ours, secular music istheirs. This type of attitude needs to stop.

Today’s Christian music is almost exclusively worship-based. It’sintended for Christians to be used as worship, either at church,while driving, while listening to Christian radio in the kitchen, orwherever else an individual might be.



What if Christians want to listen to music for purely entertainmentpurposes? What if we just want to relax? What if we want todance? Can’t Christian music transcend into these genres withouthaving to always have lyrics meant for a worship service? (Yes,Christians should use their entire lives as sacrificial worship toGod, but does that mean that we have to continuously listen toworship music 24-7?)

I hate when Christian couples decide to have a New Year’s Eveparty and then only play Christian music. It’s boring. I don’t wantto listen to Michael W. Smith for the billionth time. I just want todance! I want to party! By definition, you almost can’t have aparty while playing Christian music. Currently, the two aren’tmeant to go together. This needs to change.



Christian Radio



What if there were Christian musicians and artists who wererevolutionaries, changing the way Christian music sounded, washeard, and created? What if these groups sounded really, really,REALLY good? What if they rebelled against the status quo inorder to create art that was modern, relevant, hip, andtranscending?

Contrary to almost everything I’ve written so far in this book,these bands do actually exist! I’ve heard them, I’ve seen them,and I’ve witnessed their validity. Unfortunately, the Christianmasses will never know about these fine artisans, and thesemusicians will eventually live in anonymity, valiantly ploddingalong despite their lack of popular success.

The stoic systems and traditions that have been churning out thesame old Christian music for the same old audiences refuse to

change—or acknowledge—these new forms of music. And tomake sure that these new voyagers stay relatively unknown andout of the mainstream, Evangelicals will rely on Christian music’smost trusted guardian: the radio.

Christian radio. The stations have call names such as: “Love FM”,“Praise 101”, “Life Radio”, “The Fish”, “Positive 105.3”, and “Faith

Talk.” The list could go on. More than any one person, institution,or influence, Christian radio stations have the greatest impact onwhat type of music Evangelicals are listening to, buying, and

creating.

For years, Christian stations have been a bastion of hope,strength, and encouragement to believers. These stations haveprovided individuals with a source of worship and Bible-basedteaching that can easily be accessed by simply turning on a radio.

But like Christian music, Christian radio is refusing to modernize,and the focus on financial profits and corporate success is callinginto question their true motivations.

I live in a populous region that consists of roughly four millionpeople. For years, there has only been one major Christian radiostation, and it hasn’t been until recently that I started to doubt itsintegrity.

Christian radio has a nasty habit of playing the same music overand over again, seemingly for years, sometimes even over a span



of decades. My local radio station is still fervently playing“Imagine” by Amy Grant, “Awesome God” by Michael W. Smith,and “You Are My All In All” by Nicole Nordeman.

These songs aren’t bad, but they lack the newness and freshnessrequired to relate to audiences younger than 30. The sad factisn’t that the station managers and owners are clueless to variousmusic styles available, but rather, they are intentionally and

specifically targeting a specific demographic for financial gain.

Christian radio stations hardly differ from secular stations. Theyknow how to market, advertise, and make a profit. Although theyself-righteously claim to be ministers of God, and often insertlistener quotes that consist of weeping individuals testifying tohow the station has positively impacted their lives, the reality isthat these stations are less concerned about ministering andmore concerned about surviving the cutthroat world of the radiobusiness.



CCM: Caucasian Christian Music



For example, turn on your local Christian radio station and listenfor about an hour during prime market times such as rush hour,late afternoons, and early evenings. You will most likely hearmusic that is being catered far a Caucasian audience between the

ages of 35 and 60. Why? Because from a station manager’sperspective, this is the demographic that is most likely to fund theprogramming.

The telethons, donation requests, and pledges (that “come with acomplimentary Chris Tomlin t-shirt!”) are all being carefullydocumented by the station, and they know which people arepaying—and exactly how much. The information is saved andanalyzed. Then station executives will play whatever music thatthese paying customers want to hear.

Christian radio stations refuse to play a lot of cutting edge music,or market to younger crowds or minorities because they viewthese listener segments as secondary sources of viable income.Once again, money is helping ruin Christian music—with theassistance of the radio.

Most major Christian radio stations will passionately deny thischarge, and they will point to a deluge of taped callers—most of who are white, middle-class, and middle-aged—who will audibly

testify that the music helped them accept Christ, kick drugs, orsave them from divorce.

But actions speak louder than words. While listening to yourChristian radio station, count how many songs are sung by artistswho aren’t Caucasian. I did this test with my own local station,and I counted one song within a four hour period during primetime hours. One song!

Four million people, thousands of different cultures, ethnicities,

and backgrounds, and the major Christian radio station ishonestly trying to tell me that they’re “ministering” to thecommunity?

When I was a little kid I remember our Sunday school teachersleading us in the song called “Jesus Love the Little Children.”

Jesus loves the little children



All the children of the world

Black and Yellow, Red and White

They're all precious in His sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world

“Black and Yellow, Red and White,” is obviously politically

incorrect by today’s standards, but the song is implying thatEVERYONE is equally loved in God’s eyes.

We should avoid giving special preferences based on skin color,language, or origin. God loves everybody!

Unfortunately, Christian radio has a different message. Thismessage would replace the lyrics with the reality of Christianradio. The words “White and White, White and White, They’re allprecious in His sight” obviously doesn’t sound right, and in fact, it

isn’t right. So why are Christians putting up with this one-sidedairtime?

This preferential music that is called “Christian” is killing thegospel message by being exclusive, ethnocentric, and close-minded.

It’s a well-known cliché by now: “Sundays are the mostsegregated day in America.” Unfortunately, the Christian musicworld is no different. We need to change this, and in order to do

so, Christian radio needs to start making bold choices towardschanging their programming.

Funding should be mission-oriented instead of profit-obsessed.Success shouldn’t be judged by ratings. Can Christian radioovercome years of bad precedent by making these radicalchanges and replacing corporate expectations with Biblical ones?I doubt it, but with God all things are possible.

There is hope. The internet is allowing for alternative forms of Christian music to stream throughout the world—free of charge,and social media has allowed for upcoming artists to share theirmusic with an online audience.

National programs have also been started in an effort to competewith “traditional” forms of Christian radio. They creatively cutcosts by being minimalistic, prerecording programming, and byditching the concept of having on-air hosts. But even with these



cuts, the stations are usually found on a frequency filled withmore static than music, and they can hardly afford to competewith local advertising campaigns. But these new trends arepositive signs that change can happen.

In the meantime, Christian music that is modern, geared towardsyounger audiences, cultural, new, unique, and not intended forthe middle-aged and white middle-class, will have to wait to be

heard on the radio.



The Benediction



During college I played in the orchestra. We accepted everyone who was socially

clueless enough to “try out” for the group. The songs were elemental. We were

extremely pitchy and often missed our entrances. Our performances were very bad,

and my friends eventually started referring to us as the “Dorkestra” instead of

“orchestra.”

During one of our rehearsals—a particularly dreadful one—the conductorstepped off his pedestal and began telling us an interestingtheory relating to God and the music we were attempting to play.He believed that the Holy Spirit actually changed the sounds thatwere coming out of our instruments and transformed them intosomething beautiful to the listener’s ear.

Telling us that we needed supernatural help in order to makequality music didn’t exactly boost our confidence, and the ideathat the Holy Spirit literally changed the way a person heard our

instruments sounded like rubbish to me. Besides, I could hearevery bad note we were playing, so why wasn’t the Holy Spiritchanging the sounds for me?

Then, while on tour in Germany—the birthplace of many of Europe’s greatest classical musicians—we played one of our worstconcerts ever . We were off key all night, our soloists soundedsimilar to claws scraping against a chalkboard, we lagged andrushed and disregarded tempos, and at times were so jumbledthat our conductor almost stopped us midway through a song just

so we could recover.

It was embarrassing. As we neared the end I started planning myquickest getaway route backstage. Finally, after what seemed likethousands of years, we completed our last song. That’s when themiracle happened.

A thunderous applause rose up from the auditorium. The Germanaudience rose to their feet and yelled, “Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!”

They cheered! They whistled! Their clapping got louder and

louder and would not stop. The orchestra sat in disbelief.

Quickly, the conductor instructed us to pull out our prearrangedencore piece (that nobody had honestly expected to play), and weproceeded to play the song just as poorly as the previous ones.But again, upon completion, the crowd went into a jubilant frenzy.Shouts rang out from all directions. “Encore! Bravo! Encore!Encore!”



We played another song—more chants and adulation. Someaudience members were actually crying—out of joy! We didn’thave any more songs, so we repeated a song we had alreadyplayed earlier in the evening. They loved it even more, and thechants continued until finally, having exhausted our minimalrepertoire, we reluctantly and confusedly left the stage.

Once we were safely backstage the entire orchestra immediately started wondering

what was going on. “Are these people insane?” I was just as confused. “Were theylistening to the same concert that I was hearing?” Nobody had a logical

explanation. Once I saw our conductor, the only person who appeared somewhat

calm—but even he was smiling—I knew that he had been right allalong. The Holy Spirit had done a miracle.

You may think I’m exaggerating, but it was a miracle. We werereally that bad. To this day, that moment is probably the onlyviable miracle I’ve ever witnessed within my entire life. It wasillogical, crazy, and unexpected.

In many ways, today’s Christian music is a lot like my collegeorchestra: it sucks. But the good news is that God still uses it topowerfully minister to people despite its lack of quality.

Does this mean that we should just stop trying to improve themusic or make things better? No! Just like our conductor made uscontinuously practice until we eventually got better, we also needto strive to create better Christian music. The process will neverend. But no matter what, God is still working, and the Holy Spirit

moves in mysterious ways, and because of this we can have somemuch needed blessed assurance.

saving christian music

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