I discovered Life FM when I was fifteen. My Christian journey was starting to cement itself in the Jesus sub-culture; bible-reading, prayer and finally music. I had joined the God squad. It was exciting times - I did the Parachute thing and my brain became a neurological Ipod of worship songs and Christian rock.
Teenage enthusiasm doesn't stay long. The Christian music scene was getting dreary. My vigour for the 'Mumsdollars' and 'Hillsongs' declined as I realised Christian music can actually be quite crap. I started listening to The Rock and sure enough found the same to be true - but this was a different galaxy. The lyrics were raunchy, the emotions were raw and the suffering was real. We say we're to be honest and genuine as Christians. Our music should reflect this, so why are we still paraphrasing King David?
We're missing a crucial opportunity to connect with the world. Sometimes I look at the songs Christian (especially worship) bands write - and I've seen them a thousand times before. They use the same cliches, the same jargon we've whispered to God for thousands of years. Worship is an expression of love to God, but it seems we've limited what worship is allowed to be.
Something that continues to perplex me - is why we don't sing about sex. Ancient Greek writers were into it like swimwear and Songs of Solomon makes no apologies. Surely the most intimate act a person can engage in - created by God for a beautiful purpose deserves to be celebrated in another beautiful form of expression. It doesn't have to be rude, it doesn't have to be explicit. I've seen it done before. Why aren't we getting creative with our lyrics? Why aren't we exploring new and hard territory? I long for the day when Christians create their own Shit Town or Lightning Crashes.
Singing of a woman dying in child birth, her lost dreams, the baby's future. Doesn't that already honour God? Is that not close to His heart? There are so many harsh realities in life, so many things that aren't fair. So why don't we sing? Why does the secular scene do it so much better than us?
Perhaps it's because we try provide resolution when there isn't always. We give hope, saying God will pull through, that He's sovereign. God's truth is comforting, but it shouldn't be the way we tackle everything. Not every situation brings closure, nor should we. Sometimes grief and suffering need to be embraced, our emotions explored and life's problems acknowledged:
The inequity on this planet is overwhelming. In a perfect world there would be no poverty, women wouldn't need to sell their bodies, fathers wouldn't need to steal, orphanages wouldn't need to exist. In a perfect world I would be able to sing about these, but I can't, so I write instead.
The keyword in this article has been 'we'. I use it loosely as I'm not even a musician. Harping on about Christian music fells unfair when there's scarcely a thing I can do about it - but it's not just music. Our lives should reflect this kind of transparency and consideration to life and injustice - showing a people who engage with the crappy times.
I'm being mean - there are great Christian artists out there who already do this. Quite often it's ersatz, but when it's done right; the cadence is irresistible:
Nice thoughts bro diggin what you're saying. There is definitely a supply and demand issue here though. So much of the music we hear on LifeFM and through "Christian" avenues is driven by song votes, requests and the 'general christian public' lovin on it.
ReplyDeletePeople often say they want original, raw, unique christian songwriting but there are still strong undercurrents of wanting the rock stars, the lookers, the personalities in quite a similar way we treat modern day preachers and theologians.
That demand changes when people desire meat rather than milk. When they experience something deeper of God and in return want that reflected in the kind of music they hear at Christian festivals, on christian radio and in their churches on Sunday.
I'm not saying this is the issue as opposed to what you've written here (cause i'm all on board with you brother!) but there are certainly two very important strands in this argument. Artists that don't have the courage to be unique and take risks, and listeners that at the end of the day just want a christian version of whatever they hear/see on TV.
More articles like yours circulating around certainly help make the difference, so cheers.
I agree with you Ben. I can't cope with all the songs going on about how wonderful God is and praising and worshiping him all the time because life isn't always like that, and I don't always feel like that. There are times when life is harsh and cruel and I question if there is a God out there. Pretending I think God is awesome when I feel more like punching him or don't believe in him, isn't real and I can't do it. I prefer something with guts, someone singing who I can identify with. Someone with the guts to admit they are not perfect, don't have all the answers, questions God also and gets just as angry, frustrated, lost, hurt and confused as I do. There are many times I turn to deep, angry dark music because that's how I feel.
ReplyDeleteWithout a doubt the best songwriters are the people who have experienced great pain and are expressing this through their music.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion christian music is more about praise and worship, its about celebrating what God has done in lives. it wouldn't be so acceptable if it was about someone struggling, lost and alone, hurting and in pain because thats not what christianity in general wants to hear. it wants to hear that God is awesome and people are saved. It doesnt want to hear that people feel desperate and are suffering, it wants to hear the success stories of how great God is and how he changes lives. It only wants to hear from people who have overcome their troubles and who praise God for helping them. It's not really interested in hearing from people why they are still down and hurting as they don't reflect faith and success.
It's all about praise and worship.
Just my humble opinion
So you're saying Christian music should be relegated just to praise music? Or are saying that's what you see in the industry?
ReplyDelete