The Genuiness of Christians and Christian Music

Have you ever noticed how most Christian music tends to sound the same?  I can listen to my daughter’s iTunes mix and almost immediately tell if it’s a Christian band or not.  I mean there is something that I can’t quite put my finger on that makes it discernible.  Michael Gungor wrote recently about a game their band plays to identify between Christian and secular music – Zombies, Wine, and Christian Music.  Here are some of his observations on the subject.

There’s just something more believable about the whispery sexy voice that is singing about sex on the mainstream radio station than the voice that copies that style of singing while putting lyrics in about being in the arms of Jesus. And it’s really not even the style or the lyric that is the problem to me, it’s the fact that I don’t believe that the singer is feeling the kind of emotions in singing that lyric that would lead to that style of singing. It’s that same kind of creep out that you feel when somebody gives a really loud fake laugh. It’s just weird and uncomfortable feeling.

So when you remove the soul from music and transplant the body parts (chord changes, instrumentation, dress, lights, and everything but the soul…) and parade it around with some more “positive” lyrics posing as Christian music, then what you have is a musical zombie.

We call it Christian, but it’s certainly not based in Christianity. It is based on marketing.

One might argue that Christian music should stand out and be identifiable because we as Christians should stand out and be identifiable. Which gives more credibility to Gungor’s comments about trying to fit Christian lyrics into all music types with a disingenuous result.

We shouldn’t blend in with everything else, even though some think that is necessary to reach the world.  Scripture is clear that we are to be different and set apart.  BUT our set apart-ness should be sincere, genuine, and heart-felt in a way that draws people, not turns them off.

Related articles

• Gungor, Music, Worship (josephyoo.com)
• You Make Beautiful Things (scottcouey.wordpress.com)
• Gungor declares “The Earth is Yours” (stevecullum.com)