Dear Christian music scene:
First of all, I honestly appreciate and value the music you produce that has influenced my life and given me stepping stones to the feet of Jesus.
That being said, I have a few semi-qualified opinions as a fellow musician and worshiper who dreams of music created for a higher purpose than ambient noise. You know what has really bugged me lately?
Seeing the majority of Christian artists fill up half of their CD’s with covers of already popular worship songs.
Why? Do they feel as though they could produce a better ‘product’ than their comrades? Forgive me for the shallow insight, but are they trying to capitalize off of the gift God gave to their brother or sister in Christ? Did they run out of fresh material, but really wanted to get the album out before Christmas, so they pumped up the latest Matt Redman single with a few extra cellos? Or is there some Nashville rule about songs being played on the radio 5.2 billion times before a new one can be released?
Whatever the reasoning, it frustrates me. With all of the resources [time, money, spiritual gifting, etc] that go into these albums, why aren’t artists treating their ministry platforms like precious opportunities to teach people the knowledge of who Jesus is?
It’s as if the Nashville world of pseudo-Christian pop is really just a Facebook “Top Friends” application, where musicians record and donate songs to one another just to pass the time – a sort of high-five in the public eye.
Please forgive the subtle rage behind my rant. Let’s just call it passion. My beehive of opinions has been a bit provoked by David Crowder’s recent release of “How He Loves Us”, the worshipful ‘opus’ of John Mark McMillan [Go compare the two versions, tell me what you think.] If you aren’t familiar with John Mark, go listen to him. Right now. I can’t really see any reason behind Crowder’s covering it, making it more “seeker-sensitive” by changing a few lyrics, and probably making lots of money from it. Oops, did I just say that?
Sorry, Crowder. I love your music, really. But don’t fix it if it’s not broken.
————————
Another point that I forgot to make earlier has to do with Keith Green. Just about every Christian artist I know holds Keith in such high esteem, yet this whole system is exactly what he preached against. He would scream at people when they clapped for him and refused to put a price tag on albums and concerts. His music was theological steak because it came directly from the Word of God [vs. some of today's songs where you can hardly tell if the young tenor's wafty lyrics are about Jesus or his codependent relationship with a girl.]
Here are links to a few of Keith’s teachings from www.KeithGreen.com in regards to music and ministry:
“The Lord commands you, “Deny yourself take up your cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). My piano is not my cross, it is my tool. I’d never play it again if God would show me a more effective tool in my life for proclaiming His Gospel.”
“It isn’t the beat that offends me, nor the volume – It’s the spirit. It’s the “Look at me!” attitude I have seen in concert after concert, and the “Can’t you see we’re as good as the world?” syndrome I have heard on record after record. Jesus doesn’t want us to be as good as the world, He wants us to be better! And that doesn’t mean excelling them in sound, style, or talent – it means surpassing them in value – in our motives for being up there on stage, in our reasons for singing our songs, and especially in who we’re singing for! If there’s anything wrong or worldly at all about so-called “Christian rock,” it’s the self-exalting spirit and attitude that comes across so loud and clear in many of the records and concerts today.”
8 Comments
July 3, 2009 at 11:31 am
LOL!! You go girl! I COULDN’T agree more!!! Love you!!!!
July 3, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Finally someone gets it. Thank-you! This is a tear I’ve been on (at times seemingly by myself) for years! And, for the record, Kim Walker’s version puts both of those to shame. :-)
July 3, 2009 at 11:56 pm
I was curious to see what your response would be RG ;)
I could only hope that some of this stuff would look better from the inside, but the cynic in me doubts it.
Oh, and Kim’s great too.
PS I’m adding more to this post right now if you’re interested…
July 11, 2009 at 5:01 am
I think if you listen to Mark story of the song and his dream of getting big and reaching people, it’s pretty darn cool that it would get picked up by one of CCM biggest and most talented and creative bands…at least it wasn’t Mercy Me or Casting Crown!
There is nothing wrong with changing a few lyrics and i don’t think it has anything with “fixing what is broken”…it’s kind of a cool line “a sloppy wet kiss”, but as a worship leader in a very non-traditional church up in Toronto…it’s just a weird line. As Mark said himself, the song was not written as a worship song so to adapt or change a few lyrics in order to make known such a great song is an awesome thing…glass half full sister!!
cheers from Canada eh?
July 11, 2009 at 10:46 am
Canadian Mat,
Your optimistic glass is appreciated =) The purpose of my post was not to victimize John Mark. I have yet to read his story, but he obviously agreed with the release of the song and probably has many good reasons behind wanting to get it out there. I confess, it is not very fair of me to make assumptions about either party’s motivations. For me the frustration is much more with the general representation of Christian music. How come we hear all of the Casting Crowns and Mercy Me’s and all of the Linkin Park-sounding muck, while original artists like John Mark McMillan appear to be overlooked?
I remember being taken back by the “sloppy wet kiss” when I first heard the song. Honestly, it made me uncomfortable because it didn’t seem to match up with who I knew the Lord to be. It gave me this image of Him being a big Italian grandpa that holds you close despite your kicking and squirming and loves on you as you try to escape…Turns out that was a side of God I needed to meet =)
July 11, 2009 at 1:21 pm
for the same reason that we see more Burger kings and Mcdonald’s than sushi and Shwarma places! A quick fix is always easier to find but always leaves us wanting more…yet we always go back.
I think secular or CCM, the level of crap…pardon my french-(i’m actually french:)) is pretty incredible. I guess that the reality of this consumer driven world we live in.
i still like “unforseen kiss better”!
Cheers,
mat
August 15, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Excellent. All I can say is thank you.
Excellent thoughts, powerful heart, may your tribe increase!
:-)
September 14, 2009 at 11:04 am
I stumbled upon a recent blog post by John Mark about this very topic…
http://johnmarkmcmillan.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-he-loves-david-crowder-and-sloppy.html
I love his explanation behind the “sloppy wet kiss” & am glad to hear that he has received an abundance of acclamation and credit as a songwriter.