What we need in Christian Music
I like Christian music. Its an important part of my life and without Christian music my life would not be the same. Having said that, I think there is room for growth and change.
I’d like to see a new category of Christian music emerge. We have our praise songs, worship, gospel, etc… Each of them has their place and I put great value in them. The other missing piece is music that is about life from a Christian perspective. You can look at Switchfoot as a leader in this area.
It’s ok to sing a song that doesn’t say Jesus’ name in it. It’s ok for Christians to make music that isn’t praise music. The problem we have is that many groups think that their music can’t be called Christian unless every song is about God, Jesus, or is a worship song.
We as Christians need more from our music than strictly praise and worship. We need music that we can play in our car, at a BBQ, with coworkers and friends. We need music we can listen to in casual situations.
I want to be always worshiping The Lord in everything that I do. I believe we can do that with songs about life that are not praise and worship. I hope that more musicians will start writing songs for more than Worship.
Thank you to all the artist who are already starting to do this. If you know of any, please feel free to comment below.
I agree and don’t at the same time, how is that for a comment?!
There are other bands that I feel are also in that group that you are talking about such as: Red, The Fray, Lifehouse, Ryan Cabrera, P.O.D., Fireflight, Flyleaf, MuteMath, Daughtry and I could go on and on.
Now the question I have is, if a band does not appear to be Christian but the words are still “safe” why not listen? As a musician I try to stay open to various bands/artists. As a Christian and someone that plays in a worship band I try to be careful of what I listen to, but still go back to, we need to understand the culture if we are going to reach people. I did a post in relation to that on my site: http://tackelbox.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/christians-cant-ignore-culture/
I am with you too a point, I like having Christian bands that sound like other popular bands but as a musician that bugs me, a band should be creative and not always labeled as “The Christian version of ____” They need to start standing out on their own merits as artists.
I hope that all made sense, as you can tell I am passionate about music and have a bunch of opinions I can throw out there!
How long have you been listening to “Christian” music? I’m sure that the backlog of what was formerly known as “Christian Contemporary Music” that began with Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, Petra in the 70s and expanded dramatically in the 80s & 90s (Amy Grant, DeGarmo & Key, Kathy Tricolli, Rebecca St. James, First Call) contains the type of ‘lifestyle’ music you are looking for to expand your listening options. (Remember that Amy Grant was skewered for doing this type of ‘crossover’ approach in the early 90s.)
While the specific artists/bands may seem dated, the message is clear. Church music is cyclical, and the “worship” music is coming to the end of its predominance. Good music and lyrics will find a way of getting set into whatever popular music style is generating sales. Find an artist you want to support, and you will find them moving in new directions as the Spirit leads.
I work at a Christian Music video channel, and I don’t really know how to answer your request. I am surrounded my music just like you describe. Is there a certain sound you are looking for, that isn’t in the Christian marketplace? Where I work, we are evangelical focused. We program to attract unsaved men 16-24. Bebo Norman and Natalie Grant isn’t going to work for us, musically or lyrically. Check our radio feed at radiou.com.
If you like Switchfoot, don’t miss the lead singer, Jon Foreman’s solo albums.
Great blog. Being an artist who leads and writes worship songs myself, I have to say that I lean towards those songs which spring from life’s experiences. I love to hear honesty in lyrics and think that there are more artists in the secular market who are making more challenging moral insights on our respective cultures than most of us christian artists are. Some of the best music has always come out of a reaction to the dominant genre of the day and today will be no exception.
Unfortunately worship music is being driven more by the music industry now, which is why we are bombarded by so much of it and why churches are coming under immense pressure to try and keep up with the latest trends in worship – which is never a good thing.
Randy’s entirely right – it’s all goes in a cycle and the artists that he’s listed from past decades were the very one’s who influenced me the most.
Love your passion about music and worship. I am a worship leader and guitarists who teaches guitar and coaches Worship Teams…please keep up the sharing from a passionate standpoint!
I am not sure if I believe there such a thing as Christian Music. I tend to think that people write out of life experience, and followers of Christ write from their personal life-lenses.
If the music itself were ”Christian” it would have a desired effect even if those who are not following Him performed it – which I don’t see much evidence of…just a thought…
It would be great to have Christian music that we could use in every aspect of our lives. Unfortunately, many Christian artists are ridiculed when they don’t include the words “Jesus” or “God” in their lyrics.
I have another artist to suggest: Will Gray. http://www.willgraymusic.com Enjoy!
Agreed,
this is exactly what Frank Bradford does!
FrankBradfordMusic.com
If I was asked what we need in Christian music, I would give a different view point. Having been on tour with Bands like MWS,THIRD DAY, DCTALK, SF, SCC, and so many more, I would say that we should not look at music as just a form of intertainment, but as a expression of our desire to Glorify God. As John Piper says , ” We exist to Glorify God” So first I would ask you if what you are wanting is something that totally hides the One whom it is meant to glorify ? Are we a people that are loosing our savor? Not that all the songs we write need to be about salvation, but in our lives, and clearly in our song, we need to see what is overflowing ! so often what frustrates me, is how many of our Christian artits, are first looking at themselves as being an “Artist ” This is where we go wrong. We are first a Servant of a living God, who should passionately overflow with a love for the lost, and a sincire desire to see the Lost come to Christ ! May God use both our song and our lives, as a instrument in His hand to both lead the saved, and seek out the Lost.
I understand what you are saying, but it can be hard not to go with only praise music. If you were a Christian singer, wouldn’t you want to proclaim your faith by singing directly about the Lord instead of yourself?
There is a song that came to mind when I read this: Deathbed by Relient K. It’s an excellent song.
It talks about how this man went through so much and still God loved him on his deathbed. It’s not totally what I think you are talking about though, but that is what I thought of when I read this.
I will even make it easy for you to hear:
http://foreverchristianblog.com/2009/04/20/deathbed-a-work-of-art/
@Garret – It is ok to sing about something other than God. I feel certain that God is not displeased when someone sings about something other than Him.
The only people that sing songs that are not about God are non Christians. That doesn’t make sense to me.
Again, its ok to sing a song that is not about God. Only legalism can disagree with that.
This is very true! There are few bands that are Christian and play songs from that other side of life perspective. I have listened to Switchfoot for years now and i think they are one of the bast christian bands out there. They set a great example for other bands to follow. I hope other bands follow soon!
peter
leadercast.com
Jars of Clay and The Seventy-Sevens put out some great music with spiritual messages that aren’t all God this and Jesus that.
A lot of great comments here on this thread..i want to throw in my 2 cents worth…I am pretty much in agreeance with all the comments here…my take on christian music is that christian music should definetly worship our Lord, but that can also be of issues that we as human deal with, we cant forget that just because we are christians, we are not human beings and that deal with many issues in life. I enjoy today’s christian artist, but i’m really stuck in the 80′s early 90′s christian music.
Have you heard of Paper Tongues? They are an amazing new band. I saw them on tour with Flyleaf. Check out their stuff:
http://papertongues.ning.com/