Music.
Actually a very controversial word. People have very staunch opinions on their music. Narrow it down to one genre and the audience gets much smaller, but the opinions are just as strong. Christian music is a much smaller, yet growing, genre of music. Throw in the term “worship” and the people go nuts. Here we go… the whole hymns vs. choruses/contemporary music debate. No, not today. But why do we get so defensive about our music? Why is it so controversial? I think it’s because it’s so personal to us. We can identify with it and it begins to define who we are. For me personally, music is “like a symphony, all around me, running through me” and I can relate to that. Switchfoot realizes that, too, and compares this feeling to God’s love in Your Love is a Song which, in turn, I can also relate to.
There’s the camp out there with the opinion that if Jesus isn’t the center of each song, it’s not worthy. Basically Jesus has to be mentioned (by name, or one of his names) and held up for it to be good. But others believe that music that is completely Jesus focused isn’t popular because it speaks nothing of human experience and people can’t identify with it because it’s not real. Still others think vague lyrics water down their listening experience. What I know is that with music, you’re not going to make everyone happy. But what is grating is the thought that “if it isn’t our message delivered our way, it’s bad”… or worse is really what they mean. So when I find lyrics in pop music that minister to me, what am I supposed to do with that? Look at these lyric from my newest favorite song (I have roughly 60-70 favorite songs… it’s like a Lay’s chip, I can’t have just one)…
Pretty, pretty please, don’t you ever, ever feel like you are less than, less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel like you’re nothing, you are perfect to me.
I can hear Jesus saying these very same lyrics to me every time I listen to this song. It still about reduces me to tears every time I hear it. It’s not “Christian” and it wasn’t intended to evoke these emotions from me. (By the way, this is the clean version of P!nk’s Perfect.) So what do we do with a song that speaks to us in a way that it wasn’t intended to? Is it rubbish? Does it matter? Does it really matter what brings us closer to Jesus? That’s not much different than bickering over denominations or even different religions… if whatever you practice and believe brings you into a closer relationship with the real Jesus Christ spoken of in the Bible, what does it matter what we call it? But that’s a-whole-nother topic for another day. But it is a similar thought process to this music idea. Does it matter what music brings you closer to Jesus? And does all music have to be about Jesus and “family friendly” to be “good”? I have Perfect on my iPod and so do my daughters ages 13, 11, and 10. Does that make me a bad mom? And, what would you think if our favorite Christian music station (like The House FM) starting playing P!nk’s newest single? Could you let it minister to you, or would you immediately see it as heresy? Just a thought.
Actually a very controversial word. People have very staunch opinions on their music. Narrow it down to one genre and the audience gets much smaller, but the opinions are just as strong. Christian music is a much smaller, yet growing, genre of music. Throw in the term “worship” and the people go nuts. Here we go… the whole hymns vs. choruses/contemporary music debate. No, not today. But why do we get so defensive about our music? Why is it so controversial? I think it’s because it’s so personal to us. We can identify with it and it begins to define who we are. For me personally, music is “like a symphony, all around me, running through me” and I can relate to that. Switchfoot realizes that, too, and compares this feeling to God’s love in Your Love is a Song which, in turn, I can also relate to.
There’s the camp out there with the opinion that if Jesus isn’t the center of each song, it’s not worthy. Basically Jesus has to be mentioned (by name, or one of his names) and held up for it to be good. But others believe that music that is completely Jesus focused isn’t popular because it speaks nothing of human experience and people can’t identify with it because it’s not real. Still others think vague lyrics water down their listening experience. What I know is that with music, you’re not going to make everyone happy. But what is grating is the thought that “if it isn’t our message delivered our way, it’s bad”… or worse is really what they mean. So when I find lyrics in pop music that minister to me, what am I supposed to do with that? Look at these lyric from my newest favorite song (I have roughly 60-70 favorite songs… it’s like a Lay’s chip, I can’t have just one)…
Pretty, pretty please, don’t you ever, ever feel like you are less than, less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel like you’re nothing, you are perfect to me.
I can hear Jesus saying these very same lyrics to me every time I listen to this song. It still about reduces me to tears every time I hear it. It’s not “Christian” and it wasn’t intended to evoke these emotions from me. (By the way, this is the clean version of P!nk’s Perfect.) So what do we do with a song that speaks to us in a way that it wasn’t intended to? Is it rubbish? Does it matter? Does it really matter what brings us closer to Jesus? That’s not much different than bickering over denominations or even different religions… if whatever you practice and believe brings you into a closer relationship with the real Jesus Christ spoken of in the Bible, what does it matter what we call it? But that’s a-whole-nother topic for another day. But it is a similar thought process to this music idea. Does it matter what music brings you closer to Jesus? And does all music have to be about Jesus and “family friendly” to be “good”? I have Perfect on my iPod and so do my daughters ages 13, 11, and 10. Does that make me a bad mom? And, what would you think if our favorite Christian music station (like The House FM) starting playing P!nk’s newest single? Could you let it minister to you, or would you immediately see it as heresy? Just a thought.
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| Video still of "Perfect"... go watch it. It's powerful stuff. Look for the clean version. |
I love that you challenge the norms. :) We grew up only being allowed to listen to "Christian" music. If non-Christian cd's were found in our house they were confiscated. I'm pretty sure there has to be a middle ground, musically, because there are some great songs out there that you can't find on a Christian radio station or buy in a Christian store. So many people miss out on that by limiting themselves. And what makes me snicker is that they are the same people who listen as someone sings "Jesus Take The Wheel" as a special song in church and then tell them how much they liked it after the service. If only they knew...
ReplyDeleteI believe worship comes from the heart and I've worshiped while singing songs that I'm sure weren't meant to be sung to God, but they fit so much better that way. I also believe doubt and despair and rebellion can be soaked in by listening to music, and they are as powerful in the other direction...it still pays to watch what you fill your mind with. Having said that, I feel that the kind of songs we listen to are a matter of: training, cultural pressure, and simple tastes. My standard is:"Does it glorify God...either explicitly or implicitly by revealing what is best in his creation and harmony", "Does it inspire me or depress me?" and "Do I like it?"
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