Back before Christmas I was in a bookstore trying to convince a friend to buy a copy of Eragon and read it before the movie came out. As I walked down the aisles looking for the fantasy section, I noticed the entire section (a 6' x 6' bookshelf) devoted to "Christian Fiction", and I suddenly wished there was no such thing. This was a secular store, not a Lifeway or other such bookstore, and so the selection was thus smaller and contained much of the better works to come out of Christian publishing houses in the past few years. I saw several books a trusted bibliophile has reviewed or even interviewed the authors of; yet I was still struck by how worthless, or simply copycat-ish, a good number of the books on that shelf were and it made me sad. I am sick an tired of the word ‘Christian’ being used as an adjective; as a brand name, as a marketing tool used to make sure every possible corner of the business market is catered to and exploited.
Let us start at the beginning, which, as some one far wiser than I once said, is always a good place to start. To understand the relationship between the current culture and us, and particularly to understand our “Christian” sub-culture let’s look at the Jesus movement in the 70s. With Crusade for Christ, Billy Graham Youth Ministries, and other such organizations working across the country, small meaningful bible studies sprung everywhere. At these hippies with guitars, my mom included (she’s written some pretty cool scripture-put-to-music songs), started cranking out songs of “love ‘n peace” with the Christ as the source of that hope for man kind. Praise and worship music was born, and as was “Christian contemporary music” not an organization but just as a ‘genre’.
Soon people began to realize that the devil really did have all the good music and that there was no need for that. People like Mark Heard, Don Francisco, Randy Stonehill, Keith Green, the three siblings (names fail me) of Second Chapter of Acts, and others began to produce music of a quality, musically and lyrically, that anyone in their day, and even people, could enjoy it. Their music carried profound messages about the human condition and God’s provision of salvation through His son Jesus in a eloquent and real way that went straight to the heart of the listener. Being human they also wrote love songs, and songs for their children, and included them on the albums making it obvious to the world that they were real people who really believed this stuff and really cared about the spiritual condition of their listeners. Their music was a ministry of encouragement to believers and an effective outreach to those who were lost. They provided a much need escape for Christians from the constant brain washing of the culture’s music, while being musically skilled enough to be respected and listened to by non-believing musicians and listeners. We should all be eternally thankful to them for breaking the mold and paving the way for the many artists who follow in their footsteps.
Now I can hear the screams in the minds of my readers “But Christian music sucks!” and I will be the first to admit that there is some music put out by Christians that is not really all that great. But let us concede three points:
1) There are about a zillion different styles of music from all different eras including our own and just because you don’t like a particular genre that doesn’t mean it actually sucks, or that the musicians have no talent.
2) Half your problem, and mine as well some times, is just simply bad attitude: you can learn to appreciate and even enjoy other types of music if you will simply try, I know this from personal experience.
I have spent my entire summer, every summer since I was twelve, on construction sites listening to sheet-rockers and electricians who can’t sing for their lives scream along with their favorite country or classic rock songs. Despite the workers’ inability to carry a tune, the difference in preferred style, and the terrible worldly messages imbedded in such music I find myself actually enjoying the once hated music and sometimes having to force myself not to sing the lyrics that glorify living in the flesh.
This process is true for Christian music as well: thanks to my parents and grandparents I love the old hymns, thanks to my parents and brothers, I know and enjoy the modern Christian music from its birth in the 70s all the way up to present. Similarly when I was younger I hated musicals; yes, I even found The Sound of Music annoying (it was Marry Poppins that made me hate them so). But thanks to my mom and friends like Katrina, I know love such Broad Way stuff as The Phantom of the Opera, Oklahoma (that’s Hugh Jackman got his start as a big actor), and The King and I and others. I think I’ve given enough examples to make my point.
3) We are blessed that there are a lot of musicians, who are talented in the modern styles enjoyed by the masses, producing music that has excellent lyrics; though one can certainly hope that some of these artists, in their search for excellence, will soon be the ones pushing the envelope exploring new styles of music rather than always providing an alternative to the popular secular bands.
This brings of to the other area of contention/misunderstanding when it comes to Christian music, or “Christian” anything else. The difference is in where the artists see their calling or ministry: in providing music (or books) specifically for Christians as opposed to providing music (or books) that are meant to reach out to non-believers. This is a very big area of misunderstanding for many people I have talked to. Many Christians when complaining about contemporary Christian music fuss about the fact that it’s all in “Christian-ease” and that no non-believer would ever want or be able to listen to it. While on the hand I’ve had friends complain of just the opposite, that they feel they are being minister too and that everything they hear is meant to reach the unsaved. This difference in calling carries over to every other realm of the humanities as well.
In film we see that the vision to use film to spread the gospel and engage the culture was seen and to an extent realized in the past through such films as The Ten Commandments and The Robe, both movies that were incredible movies that told a great story, and while preaching full throttle they didn’t come off as “preachy”. While Billy Graham’s evangelistic films were a bit more “preachy” they were still decent movies that fulfilled their intended goal by bringing thousands to the Lord. Recent attempts by Christians to make movies have not been nearly as successful but, as demonstrated by One Night with the King, we are learning to convey Truth* through a story beautifully told in the medium of film, without come off as “preachy” and thus scaring away our audience before we start. (If you've actualy read all this please mention rice crispy cake in your comment.)
This is seen particularly in Christian books stores. I understand that such stores came about because it was hard for Christians to find books, music, videos that were safe for their kids or informative for them and so some one rightly had the idea to minister to that need by opening a store that would cater to Christians. That’s great, but now we have a brand name. By putting the word “Christian” as an adjective before bookstore, music, movie, etc. we exclude all nonbelievers; we make ourselves and our works inaccessible.
In the article(1) about Switchfoot I referenced in an earlier post John Foreman, lead singer/songwriter for the band, stated that they as a band did not set out to make “Christian music” they simply make music that conveys to whoever that listener may, be saved or not, their love of their God and the work He has done in their lives. God made them musicians, and just like every other musician, writer, and film maker in existence their beliefs, experiences, and religion informed and shaped what that music would be and say. This is what C.S. Lewis meant when he said, “We need more writers that are Christians and less Christians that are writers.”
I strongly identify with that quote and Foreman’s statement. When I started writing my yet to be finished novel Aclion didn’t set out to write a “Christian” book, I simply wrote because that is a part of who God made me to be. Even after I realized that this was a big story and I needed to get intentional about the storyline, content, and message, I still didn’t say, “I want to write a book for Christians.” or “I want to write a book to reach non-Christians.” I simply said that I wanted to write a book that conveys Truth about life, our world, and our God to whoever might pick it up.
This is not to say that I believe making a movie, or music, or a book, specifically for Christians, or to reach non-believers, is wrong. Writing bible study books, books about Christian marriage, how to raise kids, whatever, with Christians as the intended audience is great, but the fact that a non-believer believer may pick up the work must be carefully considered, especially when writing fiction, making movies or music.
Instead of having a “Christian bookstore”, why not have a bookstore that sells Christian stuff but also the works of others that are well worth reading? Why do Barnes & Noble get to be the only ones to sell such amazing works as A Tale of Two Cities, Swiss Family Robinson, or Ben Hur which were all written by Christians? Or sell such classics as The Count of Monte Cristo, Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and others? Why do we have to publish poor stories by bad writers simply because “it has a good message” and comes for a “Christian" publisher?
I understand the entirely good intentions, of the authors of these books, but the fact is that you will never reach the lost if you can’t come to their level, and speak in a convincing manner that they understand. Paul shows us the perfect example of this on Mars Hill in the book of Acts. Why can’t we follow his example?
If we want to effectively engage our culture and win this “war” by bring people to the Truth then we are going to have to, and that means changing the way we do business.
Notes:
* When I use “Truth” I mean God’s ultimate, transcendent truth that is true for all people and should dictate the way in which we live.
1) In a very recent CCM Magazine (the issue is on the left when you follow the link).
Let us start at the beginning, which, as some one far wiser than I once said, is always a good place to start. To understand the relationship between the current culture and us, and particularly to understand our “Christian” sub-culture let’s look at the Jesus movement in the 70s. With Crusade for Christ, Billy Graham Youth Ministries, and other such organizations working across the country, small meaningful bible studies sprung everywhere. At these hippies with guitars, my mom included (she’s written some pretty cool scripture-put-to-music songs), started cranking out songs of “love ‘n peace” with the Christ as the source of that hope for man kind. Praise and worship music was born, and as was “Christian contemporary music” not an organization but just as a ‘genre’.
Soon people began to realize that the devil really did have all the good music and that there was no need for that. People like Mark Heard, Don Francisco, Randy Stonehill, Keith Green, the three siblings (names fail me) of Second Chapter of Acts, and others began to produce music of a quality, musically and lyrically, that anyone in their day, and even people, could enjoy it. Their music carried profound messages about the human condition and God’s provision of salvation through His son Jesus in a eloquent and real way that went straight to the heart of the listener. Being human they also wrote love songs, and songs for their children, and included them on the albums making it obvious to the world that they were real people who really believed this stuff and really cared about the spiritual condition of their listeners. Their music was a ministry of encouragement to believers and an effective outreach to those who were lost. They provided a much need escape for Christians from the constant brain washing of the culture’s music, while being musically skilled enough to be respected and listened to by non-believing musicians and listeners. We should all be eternally thankful to them for breaking the mold and paving the way for the many artists who follow in their footsteps.
Now I can hear the screams in the minds of my readers “But Christian music sucks!” and I will be the first to admit that there is some music put out by Christians that is not really all that great. But let us concede three points:
1) There are about a zillion different styles of music from all different eras including our own and just because you don’t like a particular genre that doesn’t mean it actually sucks, or that the musicians have no talent.
2) Half your problem, and mine as well some times, is just simply bad attitude: you can learn to appreciate and even enjoy other types of music if you will simply try, I know this from personal experience.
I have spent my entire summer, every summer since I was twelve, on construction sites listening to sheet-rockers and electricians who can’t sing for their lives scream along with their favorite country or classic rock songs. Despite the workers’ inability to carry a tune, the difference in preferred style, and the terrible worldly messages imbedded in such music I find myself actually enjoying the once hated music and sometimes having to force myself not to sing the lyrics that glorify living in the flesh.
This process is true for Christian music as well: thanks to my parents and grandparents I love the old hymns, thanks to my parents and brothers, I know and enjoy the modern Christian music from its birth in the 70s all the way up to present. Similarly when I was younger I hated musicals; yes, I even found The Sound of Music annoying (it was Marry Poppins that made me hate them so). But thanks to my mom and friends like Katrina, I know love such Broad Way stuff as The Phantom of the Opera, Oklahoma (that’s Hugh Jackman got his start as a big actor), and The King and I and others. I think I’ve given enough examples to make my point.
3) We are blessed that there are a lot of musicians, who are talented in the modern styles enjoyed by the masses, producing music that has excellent lyrics; though one can certainly hope that some of these artists, in their search for excellence, will soon be the ones pushing the envelope exploring new styles of music rather than always providing an alternative to the popular secular bands.
This brings of to the other area of contention/misunderstanding when it comes to Christian music, or “Christian” anything else. The difference is in where the artists see their calling or ministry: in providing music (or books) specifically for Christians as opposed to providing music (or books) that are meant to reach out to non-believers. This is a very big area of misunderstanding for many people I have talked to. Many Christians when complaining about contemporary Christian music fuss about the fact that it’s all in “Christian-ease” and that no non-believer would ever want or be able to listen to it. While on the hand I’ve had friends complain of just the opposite, that they feel they are being minister too and that everything they hear is meant to reach the unsaved. This difference in calling carries over to every other realm of the humanities as well.
In film we see that the vision to use film to spread the gospel and engage the culture was seen and to an extent realized in the past through such films as The Ten Commandments and The Robe, both movies that were incredible movies that told a great story, and while preaching full throttle they didn’t come off as “preachy”. While Billy Graham’s evangelistic films were a bit more “preachy” they were still decent movies that fulfilled their intended goal by bringing thousands to the Lord. Recent attempts by Christians to make movies have not been nearly as successful but, as demonstrated by One Night with the King, we are learning to convey Truth* through a story beautifully told in the medium of film, without come off as “preachy” and thus scaring away our audience before we start. (If you've actualy read all this please mention rice crispy cake in your comment.)
This is seen particularly in Christian books stores. I understand that such stores came about because it was hard for Christians to find books, music, videos that were safe for their kids or informative for them and so some one rightly had the idea to minister to that need by opening a store that would cater to Christians. That’s great, but now we have a brand name. By putting the word “Christian” as an adjective before bookstore, music, movie, etc. we exclude all nonbelievers; we make ourselves and our works inaccessible.
In the article(1) about Switchfoot I referenced in an earlier post John Foreman, lead singer/songwriter for the band, stated that they as a band did not set out to make “Christian music” they simply make music that conveys to whoever that listener may, be saved or not, their love of their God and the work He has done in their lives. God made them musicians, and just like every other musician, writer, and film maker in existence their beliefs, experiences, and religion informed and shaped what that music would be and say. This is what C.S. Lewis meant when he said, “We need more writers that are Christians and less Christians that are writers.”
I strongly identify with that quote and Foreman’s statement. When I started writing my yet to be finished novel Aclion didn’t set out to write a “Christian” book, I simply wrote because that is a part of who God made me to be. Even after I realized that this was a big story and I needed to get intentional about the storyline, content, and message, I still didn’t say, “I want to write a book for Christians.” or “I want to write a book to reach non-Christians.” I simply said that I wanted to write a book that conveys Truth about life, our world, and our God to whoever might pick it up.
This is not to say that I believe making a movie, or music, or a book, specifically for Christians, or to reach non-believers, is wrong. Writing bible study books, books about Christian marriage, how to raise kids, whatever, with Christians as the intended audience is great, but the fact that a non-believer believer may pick up the work must be carefully considered, especially when writing fiction, making movies or music.
Instead of having a “Christian bookstore”, why not have a bookstore that sells Christian stuff but also the works of others that are well worth reading? Why do Barnes & Noble get to be the only ones to sell such amazing works as A Tale of Two Cities, Swiss Family Robinson, or Ben Hur which were all written by Christians? Or sell such classics as The Count of Monte Cristo, Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and others? Why do we have to publish poor stories by bad writers simply because “it has a good message” and comes for a “Christian" publisher?
I understand the entirely good intentions, of the authors of these books, but the fact is that you will never reach the lost if you can’t come to their level, and speak in a convincing manner that they understand. Paul shows us the perfect example of this on Mars Hill in the book of Acts. Why can’t we follow his example?
If we want to effectively engage our culture and win this “war” by bring people to the Truth then we are going to have to, and that means changing the way we do business.
Notes:
* When I use “Truth” I mean God’s ultimate, transcendent truth that is true for all people and should dictate the way in which we live.
1) In a very recent CCM Magazine (the issue is on the left when you follow the link).
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