Lent has begun, people are hungry for chocolate and thirsty for alcohol and coffee, and a distressing slew of new facebook groups have cropped up.
It seems that, over the last couple of years, Lent has been a time for Christians to rally together online and campaign for one cause or another. The vast majority of these groups are totally harmless and often admirable, but this year there has been a new development. It seems that the Christians of the UK are determined to get “Christian Music” - to press, the music of ‘Delirious?’ - to top the charts over Easter.1
I should say straight away that I have no objection to the charts being full of “Christian Music” (the term itself is questionable, hence the quotation marks), but there are some serious problems with the attitudes of the people behind these groups.
To begin, we need to look at what is meant by “Christian Music”. Does the term refer exclusively to songs about God? Is it reserved for music written and performed by Christians? Can we use it to describe songs that promote Christian ideals and values?
Typically, it’s a term used when referring to music written about God, by Christians. There is a sizable ‘Christian Music’ scene in the UK, and there are a number of artists who make careers out of becoming part of it. Indeed, it is possible to live off the income of your Christian band and never once see mainstream chart success. See www.crossrhythms.co.uk for a catalogue of artists who do just this.
The problem with reserving the “Christian Music” labels for these artists is that it totally ignores those Christians who are seeing mainstream chart success with the songs they’re writing and performing. If the songs they’re singing aren’t about God, or aren’t positively evangelistic in their message, do they deserve to be considered? It’s an important question, and one to which my answer (feel free to disagree) is categorically ‘Yes’.
Christians believe that creativity is a huge part of God’s character: whether they believe God made the universe in six days or billions of years, all Christians believe that he did it. A greater act of creativity would be hard to find. Christians also believe that we’re made in the image of God, and, as such, each of us has the capacity to create and enjoy art, music and literature, as well as many other creative pursuits. If the life of a Christian is an act of worship, and that Christian is creating music in the knowledge that all their passion and creative ability comes from God, is that music worship? Is it Christian music? Absolutely.
With this in mind, we see that Christian music is already topping the charts. Indeed, Owl City’s ‘Fireflies’ was the UK number 1 for three consecutive weeks, and currently sits and number 3. Adam Young - who is ‘Owl City’ - is a both a devout Christian and a talented songwriter. There are plenty of Christian artists who have enjoyed varying degrees of mainstream success simply by engaging with the culture that surrounds them, engaging with the creative nature of the God they serve, and then making really good music.
Love them or hate them, Switchfoot have enjoyed success in the USA for writing lyrically and musically interesting songs that, whilst not explicitly about God, often explore meaningful themes. Frontman Jon Foreman is himself dubious about the label of ‘Christian Music’:
"For us, it's a faith, not a genre. We've always been very open and honest about where the songs are coming from. For us, these songs are for everyone. Calling us 'Christian rock' tends to be a box that closes some people out and excludes them. And that's not what we're trying to do. Music has always opened my mind—and that's what we want".
What about Athlete? All were committed Christians when they found mainstream success, and yet, whilst there’s no particularly obvious ‘Christian’ material on any of their albums, their honest lyrics and creative approach to music - particularly on ‘Vehicles and Animals’ is, to me, more worshipful than much of the Delirious output. Listen to ‘Beautiful’ and try to tell me it’s not about God. More than that, if you’re a Christian, take yourself off into the hills in summer, take in the view, pop the song on your iPod and the song takes on incredible meaning. We should sing it in church, really.
The most obvious example, and my favourite, is the work of Mumford and Sons. I don’t know whether or not they’re Christian, but their debut album is certainly riddled with religious imagery. It’s only the chorus of ‘Little Lion Man’ that leaves me in any doubt. Listen to it and you’ll get what I mean. Listen to ‘Sigh No More’, though, and you’ll hear a more vivid, more powerful description of what it means to be a Christian than any song I’ve heard on a Sunday morning.
“Love that will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be.
There is a design,
An alignment to cry,
At my heart you see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be”
That’s what it’s all about. The album of the same name peaked at number 7 when it was released in October last year, and is most definitely worth a listen.
For what it’s worth, Delirious have had a crack at the charts, with their best effort peaking at number 16. Not a bad go, but the band failed to develop or maintain any mainstream success because, arguably, the music they wrote for the ‘secular’ market was, fundamentally, not very good. Argue with me if you like, but it’s true. Other musicians - Christian or not - are exploring big themes. Robbie Williams has made a career out of introspective explorations of life’s meaning and purpose. Athlete, Owl City, Mumford and Sons, U2 and many others, whether or not you like them, have achieved success through honestly and creatively reflecting the character of God in their music.
I love seeing Christian music top the charts. But let’s not impose Christian culture on the music industry through sheer brute force, and let’s certainly not do it with Delirious. I want to see the very best music topping the charts, and, bearing in mind the God we serve, Christians have no excuse for not creating the very best music. That’s how I want to see it done: Christians passionately and creatively making the very best music, because the God whose image we’re made in is passionate, is creative, and deserves the best.
1 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=297890032548
http://www.facebook.com/invadetheairwaves?ref=search&sid=1625070039.756408457..1
