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11/20/03
Comments (14)

Christian Music: Is There Such A Thing?

Two completely unrelated events gave me the inspiration for this article. The first was an awards show that I did not watch and the second was a drive home from a rather dull meeting.

The American Music Awards were presented this week and for just the third year, one was presented in the category of Favorite Artist in Contemporary Inspirational Music with Steven Curtis Chapman taking home the award. Not being a fan of award shows, I merely read about this the day after the event. The second event was devoid of any real significance. I happened to be driving home from a meeting with a client of mine and flipped on the radio. I heard a song I used to enjoy in my youth but had not heard for a number of years. The song was Bryan Adam’s Everything I Do which of course was the most popular song from the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Soundtrack.

So what do these events have to do with each other? I already told you! Absolutely nothing! However, they combined to make me start thinking about something.

What is Christian music? What makes one song Christian and another mainstream? What makes an artist Christian while another is mainstream?

The American Music Awards distribute awards based on genres. They give out awards for rap music, jazz, pop and heavy metal. Each of these forms its own musical genre. Though the lines dividing the genres may not be perfectly clear, there is usually little doubt as to what constitutes a jazz album versus what constitutes a blues album. But then there is the award for Christian music (or, as they call it, Contemporary Inspirational Music). This one is not awarded based on a style of music, but on lyrical content, or further, on the beliefs of the artist. Is it not strange that Christian music forms the sole exception to the rule? Is it not strange that in a system divided by genre, a hard rock Christian album can be considered in the same category as an adult contemporary album?

I have no answers except to suggest that according to the American Music Awards, a Christian album is probably one that has been distributed by a Christian label. How those labels define a Christian album or song is anyone’s guess, though I’m sure it varies greatly from company to company. I know the Gospel Music Association holds to the following definition. A Christian song is one:

  • substantially based upon historically orthodox Christian truth contained in or derived from the Holy Bible
  • and/or apparently prompted and informed by a Christian world view.

Now, let’s bring Bryan Adams into the mix. I already mentioned that as I was driving home today I heard Everything I Do. I noticed that it does not have any words in it explicit enough to tell the listener for whom it was written. The only object he refers to is “you,” with no reference to the usual “baby,” “girl,” or “lover.” Therefore, it could be a song sung from a woman to a man or a man to a woman. Fair enough. I’m sure we can all think of examples of songs that are written in such a vague fashion. As I listened to it I began to wonder what would happen if we were to sing that song in our church. Couldn’t we just direct the song towards God? Listen to these words:

Look into my heart - you will find
There’s nothin’ there to hide
Take me as I am - take my life
I would give it all - I would sacrifice
Don’t tell me it’s not worth fightin’ for
I can’t help it - there’s nothin’ I want more
You know it’s true
Everything I do - I do it for you
There’s no love - like your love
And no other - could give more love
There’s nowhere - unless you’re there
All the time - all the way

There are songs we sing in church that are little different than that. Consider Sonicflood’s I Want To Know You:

In the secret, in the quiet place
In the stillness You are there
In the secret, in the quiet hour I wait only for You
Cause, I want to know You more
I want to know You more
I want to hear Your voice
I want to know You more
I want to touch You
I want to see Your face
I want to know You more

Surely if heard outside a Christian context no one would guess that I Want To Know You is directed to God. Similarly, inside a Christian context I doubt if anyone would guess that Everything I Do is just another mainstream love song. Evidently this further complicates the matter.

So again I ask, what constitutes a Christian song? Though certainly not an exhaustive list, here are some options. Perhaps a Christian song is:

  • A song written by a Christian. This speaks of the songs’s authorship.
  • A song written to be a Christian song. This speaks of the motive of the song’s author.
  • A song sung as a Christian song. This speaks of the motives of the individuals singing the song.
  • A song with explicitly or obviously Christian lyrics. This speaks of the song’s content.

Does any one of these, taken alone, provide a definition of Christian music? I don’t think so, as each of them seems to have an obvious flaw.

[Note from Tim] I wrote this far into the article and got stuck. When I began writing I had a pretty clear idea of the conclusion I would reach, but suddenly found it was not so clear. I was truly stuck, so decided to define �Christian� before proceeding.

Maybe it would be helpful to look at a definition of the word �Christian.� A Christian is a person who professes a faith in Jesus Christ. A Christian is a person who has been saved by the blood of Jesus. The very essence of the word �Christian� speaks of people. In that light, can any song truly be Christian? No, in reality no song, book, bumper sticker or t-shirt can be called Christian. They may be read, sung or used by Christians, but that does not make them Christian.

So what are we to do with music? Again, at this point I am without answers. All I can suggest is that there are songs that are honoring to God and there are songs that are dishonoring. If singing a song draws attention from ourselves and focuses our attention on praising God; if it helps us to learn about God and to glorify Him, it honors Him.

So might Everything I Do become the “Heart of Worship” of the next generation. I certainly hope not as I simply can�t imagine my church singing anything by Bryan Adams, but if it helped Christians bring glory to their creator, who would I be to complain?

I would love to get some feedback on this, so if you have something to say, please post a comment.

Christian Music: Is There Such A Thing?

Comments (14) »

1. cheri
November 20, 2003
7:15 PM

Hmmm…well tht was a good one. I have never really paid attention to the words in that song…and I can imagine him singing it to God. Then I got thinking that maybe we think of a Christian song by it’s artist… we assuming Brian Adams is not a Christian, so if he stood on the Sanctuary stage, before he opened his mouth, we would probably sit in our comfy green chairs and our mouths gapped open with our hands quickly slapping across our mouths to cover up the gasping sounds. Now, if sang “I want to know you”…we’d have confused looks on our faces? Right? So, in trying to figure all your comments out on this one, I better make a tea. Then I decided that if I am going to keep reading you writings, that I have to first pick up my dictionary to improve my vocabulary (reallY!) and I am going to have to get used to really using that organ in my head called a brain…as you leave me much to ponder, and I am in wonder now. !!

2. Joe
November 20, 2003
7:22 PM

Hey Tim. This is Joe from church. I think that your letter is truly an inspiration to a new Christian or just a confused Christian. Joe

3. Paul Morrison
November 20, 2003
7:24 PM

I think an definition of ‘christian’ music is decidedly arbitrary, and we’d be wise to consider who is telling us that it is ‘christian’ or not.

On a purely technical level, NO MUSIC can be fairly called ‘christian’, since it is ultimately mere soundwaves arranged in a pleasing pattern. The sound itself is devoid of such labels. That said, music is something much bigger than it’s components. Music has the ability to tweak our emotions, make us angry, sad, happy, joyful, set our hearts on good things.

However, if you look at it from a purely historical outlook, you begin to notice something squirrely.

The first modern ‘christian’ music which sounded and seemed like popular music came from honest folk who were converted from a hippie culture which highly valued such music. As the Jesus revolution of the late 60’s changed people, those people desired to continue playing there musical styles while adding christian meanings into their songs. Bands like the Ressurection Band (who for some reason are experiencing a rennaisance in my listening lately), Petra, Larry Norman and the like all played honest music of this sort, but it was never really classified as ‘christian music’, it was music that just happened to be written and performed by Christians.

Then, in the 80’s some marketting flack somewhere realized that there would be a lot more money to be made if these sorts of bands catered more to their audience. The Marketeers then proceeded to reinforce the negative image of popular music and pushed ‘christian’ music to a niche market. This proved a very wise marketting move (and very lucrative) for the labels which did this. There were some labels which percieved themselves as either more mainstream or more evangelistic (and occaisonally they were both to their respective audiences), Enigma is a good example of this trend, they tried to have it both ways. Some ‘christian’ acts were so good they ‘crossed over’.

So, now we have a strong niche market, which is very much played up as an ‘alternative’ to ‘secular’ (meaning worldly) music.

In reality, there is no such thing as ‘christian’ music in terms of artists and songs, it is an artificial marketting construct designed to line the pockets of record labels.

All that said, there are songs which lift us up, and songs which bring us down. There are some songs which reinforce good values, ethics and morality, and others which don’t. Some songs make us angry at the things which anger God. Others just make us angry and bitter. There are lots of bands on both sides of the secular/christian music divide which do both. Our job as believers is to obey scripture when it commands us to focus on the things which are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy. We simply have to examine our song preferences and find songs which fit in that list and listen to them, irregardless of who wrote them.

There are great ‘secular’ bands who have written songs which have great messages which Christians can I identify with. My shortlist of these would be: anything by U2, pretty much all collective soul’s music, ‘Bargain’ by the Who, ‘Closer to Fine’, ‘Bury my Heart at Wounded knee’, ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ and ‘Galileo’ by the Indigo Girls (who’d have thunk that a band of lesbians would so succinctly pose such great questions about existence and the quest for truth!?), ‘Lightning Crashes’ by Live!, ‘Don’t tell me What love Can Do’ and ‘Can’t Stop Loving You’ by Van Halen, some Pearl Jam songs (they get very angry over some of the same things God gets totally pissed about, and they also often deal in Christ imagery like sacrifice, kindness to one another and other Jesus-like attributes), anything by King’s X, Galactic Cowboys, P.O.D. and there’s still probably hundreds I have forgotten.

Christians are not the only people who live in this world, see the problems and shortcomings and sufferings of humanity and seek a solution. Our job should be understanding the words of the unbelieving around us and teaching ourselves to speak the gospel into those longings. This would be far more effective use of our time than arguing about whether a song which has drums and electric guitar is ‘christian’ or not.

4. Jason McGibbon
November 21, 2003
4:22 PM

The question, it seems to me, is far broader than what is Christian music, or whether or not this is a helpful or realistic category. The question that I would ask is whether ANY category is acurate or purposeful. Yes I think that at a very superficial level they are helpfual and needed. It saves a bit of time when we are in the CD store. Apart from that they are useless, and especially frustrating within the realm of awards shows. Anybody who has an interest, or knows anything about jazz for example, can tell you that there is probably more diversity within the world of jazz than even the world of popular music. Just go and find a copy of Miles Davis’ “Bitch’s Brew” and compare it to something from Duke Elington. It is just not the same stuff, and this example just scratches the surface. Most awards shows however, fail to truly represent the diversity that exists. There are generally a few categories for jazz, and much of that never makes T.V. I can only imagine that this is true for most genres of music. I think that like most creative endeavors categories tend not to be a benefit but a hinderance and do nothing more than ghettoize. Paul makes a comment above that I think is well taken, it is about commercialism. Those styles of music deemed as popular and which are the money makers tend to be most well represented by categories on awards shows. Aside from these awards shows is thier really a point to any category. I think that in some ways the Christian music categories are the most humourus or maybe the most sad. Take for example the categories of Worship Music or Praise Music versus CCM or Christian Content Music (or whatever similar category is used). Isn’t this distinction a bit superficial. When the Apostle Paul writes that we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices which is our spiritual act of worship, does he not suggest that all that we do should be considered worship? When one writes a song with a “Christian Woldview” or one with “Christian Content” is this not then worship? Or Why should we expect the music that we do in a worship service to be so significantly different than what we find ourselves singing in our car, when we should be aiming to have everything we do be as worship unto the Lord. It seems to me that when we are so concerned with specific categories we are focussing on artificial distinctions and compartmentalizing our lives and our music in ways that seem to stand in direct contracdiction to the life of Worhsip tht I believe the apostle Paul and even Jesus Himself was teaching. I think that God, who himself has proven to be so wonderfully creative, is more concerned with honest and creative expressions of worhsip than he is with marketing.

5. Tim
November 21, 2003
7:43 PM

Great comments!

So maybe a good question to ask is this. If you were a worship pastor, how would you decide whether a song is appropriate for use in a worship service. Let’s focus on lyrics since the style of music varies greatly from church to church, but any words could be set to any music.

So how would you go about deciding?

6. Tim
November 21, 2003
7:47 PM

A couple more things:

I don’t think we necessarily need to focus on modern Christian music. Because the style of music is, in my mind, a matter of preference, it is the lyrics I am most interested in. We would probably go through the same thought process whether deciding whether to use a song written in 1800 or one written in 2003.

The comments about marketing are well taken. I suppose the reason the Christian market has been so segregated from the mainstream is that it makes for easier marketing. It is easier to market a specific product to a specific people. Therefore, once you have divided Christian music from the rest of the music out there it is easy to focus your marketing. A lot of Christian artists would be overlooked if they did not have a specific market they were marketed to. I think I have used the word “market” and its variations too many times!

7. chris
December 30, 2003
8:58 PM

What an interesting discussion1

I am a Christian who wrote a pop/rock musical to tell a Biblical story. Is it “Christian” music? It has been performed in churches - but also in a coffeehouse and a club. It is a variety of musical styles - not the praise & worship acoustic guitar based style that most of us play in services. It has been aired nationally on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day - but on a secular station for unsigned artists, even though it is overtly Biblical.

There is a distinct Christian music market - it is BIG business and in many ways not a whole lot different from the rest of the music industry - money drives it. There are certainly people who create Christian music because they are answering a call. And there is certainly music written about/for God or the church. So the spin I’d like to put on the question is IF there IS such a thing as Christian music, should churches take their music outside of the church to reach out to the unchurched?

8. Tim
January 2, 2004
10:02 AM

Interesting question. You do not find a Biblical model for music as evangelism, do you? Music is always used as worship, and of course one cannot worship unless he is a believer. That being said, there is a power in music and there is power in watching people worship.

So it’s a good question for which I don’t have an answer! :)

9. WolfmanRobichaud Sarah
January 19, 2004
11:22 PM

Nothing’s far when one wants to get there.

10. i wonder
June 6, 2004
2:41 AM

i guess we have already taken our music to the ‘unchurched’, as tim has mentioned. think Jars of Clay- Love Song for a saviour; jaci velasquez-her latest album. these are ‘christian’ songs, but yet played on national radio stations like any other pop song.

Q1: songs from these albums (amongst others) are played on the radio like any other secular songs, so what specificities are we looking at, in order to ‘label’ any music as Christian or not? or are there actually any possible and absolute specificities?

Q2: and as for worshipping with music, have any of you ever gone for a non-christian concert but yet sang your heart out along with the band? Granted, there is no Christian spiritual level, but how do i explain this to a non christian? Non christians could even close their eyes and sing along with the performers and the rest of the audience.

11. Joe Forman
January 18, 2006
7:46 PM

Hey, I just stumbled across this site and I like what I’m reading. Here’s a thought though… Do we label our paintings or sculptures as “christian”? What about our furniture or our cars or sporting gear? What about our pets? The only thing I can think of that really can be a christian is a person. Then a person’s life and talents can be consecrated unto God. What are your thoughts?

12. thomas
February 8, 2006
7:54 AM

i loved your observation. you are totally correct, for who you are, and where you are. you have come to a level of maturity or understanding, that others have not come to. the work of GOD, and the depth of his wisdom, is so far beyond me. Amos 9:13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. (KJV) GOD will supply what you need for this day. look at what you do, look at the tools we have.

check out http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=482005 or search on the site for the artist newwine, but is this type of music agreeable to you?

be well thomas - newwine

13. genaetta
August 14, 2006
9:02 AM

What about U2 Lyrics? Christain music isn’t that definitive, we can still be inspired to write about Him, about our pains, but the end Focus is not how WE get through it.. but How HE helps us through it. Just cos they are songs abt JEsus dont make them suitable to sing in Praise and worship where we shld focus on singing to HIM not about Him I understand your focus on lyrics. I can have a piece of music with drums, simular melody,structure just like pop/rock songs on secular radio..the only difference is lyrics. And if thats not obvious then the true meaning of the song.. who it is directed to— Consider Blue October’s “HAte me”, while it sounds like any other sappy sorry resentful love song to a past lover, its true meaning of the song is directed at the musicians mother and his love for her. The true meaning behind the song.

Gloria - U2 tomorrow-U2 October-U2 With a Shout-U2 walk on-U2 Peace on EArth-U2

consider, is a song that hasmore “me” and “i”s is more focused on ourselves than HIM? or perhaps this is what christainity is about, a connection/relationship with God(which we wouldnt have experienced when we are separated by sin), and singing about that is praising His grace, His love, His Glory—I agree, that HE looks at only ours heart,that we sing with gladness. Perhaps you need a mixture in Praise, to sing of every aspect of Him , including “You songs” and some “I/Me” songs…However I have declined singing U2 our praise andWorship. =P

14. mikbry24
August 14, 2006
10:51 AM

I honestly don’t think, in reality, there is any such thing as “Christian” music, as explained in many of the previous comments. I tend, as a worship leader, to focus on the “Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs” aspect of music, and try to incorporate this admonition not only into the songs I choose for our worship services, but into my private listening as well, though the styles may be different. There are many songs I will not use in a worship service, (even many in our Baptist Hymnal) because they simply disagree with Scripture or with the nature of God Himself. Ironically, the people who tend to complain about using newer choruses and want to sing only from the hymnal tend to overlook these shortcomings simply because they are in the Baptist Hymnal, which proves, at least in my mind, that it is more of a preference/tradition issue. In my mind, I want to use songs that glorify God and are truthful in their expressions of the traits and/or essence of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Songs like “The Savior is Waiting” that exist in The Baptist Hymnal are far from this:

“Time after time, he has waited before, and now he is waiting again to see if you�re willing to open the door, Oh how He wants to come in.”

I cannot reconcile this powerless, impotent portrayal of God the Son with Scripture, therefore, even though it is in “The Hymnal” I will not use it. Some people don’t like this, but as I tell our folks often, I don’t plan our worship service for them, and if they don’t like a song due to their preference, it really doesn’t matter to me, nor does it offend me in the least. I’ve heard people complain about songs that are taken directly from Scripture simply because they don’t like the “style!” I think our focus is on the wrong thing in a worship service, namely our own wants, wishes and desires rather than God’s when we complain, even privately, to ourselves, about style as opposed to substance in a worship song. Unfortunately, I doubt many people get further than this when contemplating the music to which they listen.