I am passionate about music. My IPod is bursting at the seems with every kind of music
imaginable. Most of the storage
capacity has been eaten up by rock n’ roll, punk rock, classic rock, and indie
rock. The rest is dedicated to my
(true) honky-tonk country, doo-wop, jazz, and indie hip-hop records. I love it. The artists all speak to me. They relate to my struggles and triumphs and their lyrics
are brutally authentic and intentional.
.01% of that IPod storage is dedicated to the
Christian music I need to learn when I play with my church. Typically, I learn the songs and then
remove them to save space. I might
have a dozen songs laying around that are tolerable. I have to admit that it takes a serious amount of patience
to listen to these songs even when I know I need to practice them for the
service. My mind knows that it
only takes a single push of a button to bring Face to Face roaring into my
speakers.
I don’t think it is fair of me to fault the players. I think that they are truly motivated
with every kind of pure intent to share the message of Jesus Christ in any way
possible. I cannot fault them for
that.
I think what troubles me is how the Christian
market is used. There is a common belief among
fundamentalist / legalist Christians that any kind of music outside of the
Christian market belongs to Satan and should be avoided at all costs. So if you liked N.W.A., you would need
to listen to some watered down “ghetto-Christian” rap from a Christian
label. If you liked Def Leppard,
then you would need to listen to Petra.
If you liked Guttermouth, then you would need to listen to The Crucified. The Christian market was basically
saying that in order to maintain your salvation, you would have to listen to
Christian music from Christian labels.
Can we be honest for a moment?
There isn’t a single Christian rock band that compares to AC/DC. Not even close.
The Christian market, to include consumers and record
labels, treat their bands terribly (this is not the case for all labels). I can remember when MxPx released “Life
in General.” Although they were on
a Christian label at the time, Christian book stores refused to carry the
record because the message wasn’t strong enough. Many Christian bands experienced this type of exclusion from the Christian marketplace and do to this day. The guys spoke of relationships, school, and popular culture
issues that were relevant to their time (in a very tame way). There was a lot of hurtful backlash from the
Christian market and numerous bands distanced themselves from the Christian
scene as a result.
Thank God!
As my musical tastes have become finely honed over the
years I have learned a very important lesson. The bands who carry the strongest and most relevant
Christian messages cannot be found on Christian bookstore shelves. Many of these artists prefer to call
themselves “Christians in a band.”
They change lives on a daily basis. Their message is far more believable than what we will ever
hear on Christian radio. Why? Because they relate to people! They aren’t stuck inside that airtight
Christian market box with a label that says “This Is What God Would Listen To.” These bands represent Jesus to the
core. They are out in the secular
market making friends and bringing the Good News to the street urchins and the
“worst” of sinners. They aren’t
playing a safe show in a church filled with safe, healed people. They are on the streets getting dirty.
Finally, there is my perspective as a musician. To me, Christian music is a mass
produced copy of an original painting done by someone else who was way
better. It sounds completely
inauthentic, as if it was all pieced together by a bunch of paid songwriters
sitting around a table at the label.
All of these songs are played by bands containing musicians who do
nothing but walk through a revolving door. While numerous amazing (secular) bands have been together
for over decade, many of the players within the Christian market are lucky to
make it to the second tour.
And although the lyrics glorify God, I find no sincerity
in most of what I hear. Any
songwriter can vouch for what I am saying. Writing lyrics to a song is hard. When the lyricist is genuine, the song turns into a
masterpiece because the listener can feel the emotion driving the song. When the lyricist is simply trying to
make something that sounds good (and rhymes), it turns into a piece of painted
plastic, devoid of anything one could call real.
The best example of a true Christian artist is Dustin Kensrue of Thrice. Kensrue’s lyrics are
deeply spiritual and his band, Thrice, draws massive crowds whenever they
play. Kensrue indicated in this interview that he has had numerous conversations about his faith with people
that agree, and disagree (with his stance) over the course of his career. In my humble opinion, this is what it’s all about. I wanted to leave you with a small sample from an
interview with Dustin Kensrue:
"There’s some disingenuineness or inauthenticity when you
see or hear a piece of art or music that you feel like has an agenda. It
becomes a commercial in a sense. You don’t want to hear or feel that way, so
I’ve never done that. I’ve just tried to write about what’s going on. Sometimes
that’s a little more revealed, sometimes that’s a little more hidden, but I try
to write in a way that people from multiple backgrounds can engage with at
least, even if they don’t agree with it, and that it will make them think, it
will make them feel. I can’t control it after it’s out of my hands. I guess my
hope is always that it wouldn’t leave someone unmoved in some way, that they
would have to wrestle with it, that it would affect them in some way." - Dustin Kensrue (Interviewed by: Jonathan
Bautts)
