Christian Music: Irrelevant

There are many who have been going to church since birth. I, however, didn't begin to grow and attend church until I was a freshman in high school. It was in the church youth group where I was first exposed to Christian music. Over time I found that I could only listen to a few Christian artists, but the majority of Christian music was just too cheesy and out of touch with the world in which I lived. Today very little has changed in the world of Christian music. I still find that 99% of Christian music is irrelevant to the struggles and suffering we experience here on Earth. So why is Christian music so irrelevant in the 21st century? Why can't Christian music critique or lament about the struggles of everyday life?

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First, Christian music has to be perfect. Some years ago there was a popular Christian artist named Michael English. He was topping the Christian charts and nominated for lots of Dove awards. But his career suddenly came to an end when it was discovered he had committed adultery. What is it with this notion that if you don't live a "perfect" life, then you can't perform Christian music. What if Michael W. Smith smoked or chewed tabacco or even used foul language in times of frustration? What if Casting Crowns went to the casinos for a birthday party? What if Third Day had a couple of glasses of alochol at dinner? Their album sales would plumet to nothing. They would be cast out of the Christian music business forever. Christian music can finally be relevant when it admits it's just as sinful as the rest of us.

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Two, Christian music is about money. If you listen to Christian artists on the radio or at concerts, then you often hear them say that they are performing for God and not the money. Bull! The Christian music business is a milion dollar business. If this is their only job, then it is all about the money. At least secular artists admit they're in it to make money. If we could only have more Christian artists like Rich Mullins who gave all his earnings away, but artists like Mullins are so rare in Christian music today. Though Christian artists don't earn as much as secular artists, it is still more money than most of us will ever see. Glory may go to God, but the checks go to them.

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Third, We live in an imperfect world. There's war, aids, cancer, and terrorism filling the world with suffering. Christian music pretends as if everything is all sunshine and roses. Yes it is ok to sing about the mansion over the hilltop, but we can't ignore the starving single mother here on Earth. We may feast on milk and honey one day, but there are some who need bread and water here and now. Christian music needs to be addressing these issues and stop pretending that everything is ok. If you think you can relevant by ignoring the plight of those around you, then you are kidding yourself.

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There are some Christian artists worth listening to. Audio Adreniline(old stuff), Third Day (old stuff), Cademon's Call, and Sara Groves. But for a band that is profoundly Christian and relevant I would suggest of course, U2. A band that critiques and loves at the same time. A band that sings of hope and yet despair too. My hope is that more Christian artists would follow U2's lead because U2 is a band that is real. U2 is a band that is relevant.

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CJE

Coming Tomorrow: Spiritual Adultery

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Once And For All

"11Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."
- Hebrews 10:11-14


Today we come to Good Friday. The darkest day of the year. The day when hope is crushed. The day when truth is destroyed. The day when Christ is crucified.

The world changes in the wake of catastrophic events. Many believed that the world changed as a result of events like Hiroshima or 9/11. Though these events are horrific, they do not compare to the way the world was changed with the sacrifice of Christ on Good Friday. It is through Good Friday that we are redeemed once and for all. If Christ's sacrifice was once and for all, then how does it effect our lives today as disciples?

First, is the blood of Christ sufficient? Absolutely. We are no longer like the priests of the old covenant who sacrifice daily the lambs and bulls, but never have their sins taken away. We have a new high priest who became the lamb himself for all time. One reason I hold to pacifism is because of the ONE sacrifice of Christ. There is no need for war or violence because enough blood has already been shed. The blood shed once on Good Friday is all the blood that needs to be shed. Any more blood shed on the battlefield or at home is completely unnecessary and insult to Christ himself. The whole reason Christ died on Good Friday was so that the world could be spared a violent death. Like the great song goes, "he could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set him free, but he did alone for you and me." Despite what comes, the only blood that will ever be on my hands is the blood of Christ.

Second, who did Christ die for? For all. At the center of campus of Lipscomb University there sits a statue of the bison mascot. Social clubs have made a tradition of spraypainting the bison with various colors and messeges. On 9/11, some "Christian" spraypainted on the bison "Bin Laden: Dead or Alive". In response, me and friend designed a shirt with the messege of Hebrews 10 that basically said that if Jeus died for all, then Jesus died for Bin Laden. Bin Laden is not out of reach of God's grace and forgivness. If he would just ask for it with a sincere heart, then God because of Christ's sacrifice for all would forgive Bin Laden. The simple truth is that if Christ didn't die for Bin Laden, then he didn't die for me.

So this Good Friday I ask us to realize what we have been saved from and how much we have been forgiven. Such a realization can only result in one offering the same grace to those at home and around the world. How void is the world of such grace? It is easy to lose hope in the face of Good Friday, but Sunday is coming. MLK said death may occupy the throne for day, but soon it must make way for the drums of Easter. Today hope is crushed and truth is destroyed, but it is not lost. Our hope is in the truth that the kingdom is coming in its fullness. When the kingdom comes in its fullness there will be no more Fridays, but everyday will be Sunday.

CJE


Coming next week: Spiritual Adultery

Read more...