Contemporary Christian Music...WinterJam2010

I am not a big supporter of contemporary Christian music. I think too often the popular Christian bands compromise musicality and their lyrics are shallow at best. Music is too often focused on "me" and "I" and a lot of the lyrics aren't based in scripture. I mainly listen to Brooklyn Tabernacle or to old music that my husband likes.

Add to that the ever changing scene of bands breaking up, struggling with their own sin and addictions and it just isn't worth it to me...I gave up on Christian music before I was even fifteen. Haven't followed it much since.

I have been thinking about it though. The teens I work with all listen to really bad mainstream music. The lyrics, the violence, the message is just not healthy. Most of them are already struggling with depression, anger, eating disorders, the need to fit in and the need to be wanted. But what do I have to give them to listen to instead? Mediocre Christian rock bands with shallow theology in their lyrics? Is there any good Christian hip-hop around? What about a decent Christian band that makes young people think and not just feel good?

I'm stuck. We did talk about our church's hymnal and some of the beautiful treasures it contains--but that goes the other way--it's too deep for them right now. We spent like fifteen minutes explaining what "a bulwark never failing" means. That's only the first song in the book!

I tried to give Christian music another try at WinterJam here in Atlanta. Due to another church event this past weekend we couldn't bring our young people with us so we went--just the two of us. Complete with sandwich board guys out front (my favorite being "God loves" and "God hates" as it inaccurately judged homosexuals), youth groups, church vans, lots of Baptist people, and lots of middle class white people... Welcome to "mainstream" Christianity in the US.



It was loud. I felt old. Newsong is getting really old, but they are so gifted. Andy's highlight of the night was when they sang "Arise." I thoroughly enjoyed Third Day. Newsboys have gone through a lot of changes. They've added Michael Tait (the black guy from DC Talk) and sang "Jesus Freak" last night. They were alright, but nothing spectacular. There were only four of them in the band last night.

The Arena was sold out. They turned a little over 3,000 people away at the door. The concert was riddled with advertisements, buy this, donate to that, watch the video for this, etc..which has me thinking....is Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) popular because it's the "cool" thing to do as a young Christian?

When did Christianty cease being the unpopular thing to do? The thing that meant something because you had to sacrifice your all to Jesus? Something that meant you had to struggle to fit in with society because your life was something different (Romans 12:1-3)?

This is my prayer:

1 John 2:15-17

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.



Good thing it's all about love, about your heart, and not just about the music.