Unhelpful Classifications

It's like my mama always said, Christian music is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get.

Ok, so she never said that, but the fact is that the "Christian" genre of music is about the least helpful classification I've ever heard of. I was thinking about this on my way home from school today. You know, right after class, when my head ought to be full of important thoughts about how to apply lofty theoretical knowledge to challenging clinical situations.

But instead I was listening to "Wow 1996" and reflecting a bit on Christian music: its roots, its quality, how far it has come since 1996 (amen?).

Seriously? Do we think it's helpful to label something as Christian music? Since when do we label a genre of music based on its content rather than on qualities of beat, melody, and style? Do you ever sit down and think to yourself "boy, I could go for some Christian music"....I sure don't. I think to myself, hmm, how about something bluesy, or funky, or poppy (is that a word?). If I want something that's bluesy and Christian, well, let me know if you've got a good search engine for that.

On a more thoughtful note (no pun intended), it's interesting to reflect on why we label Christian music as such. Obviously we want to denote music that has a certain content to its lyrics, music that adheres to certain moral and (at times) theological standards. This music reflects a distinctively Christian worldview, right? So in an attempt to help Christians find music appropriate for their homeschoolers and to warn non-Christians away from music that might accidentally convert them, we label it all as 'Christian' or, more laughably, 'Gospel'. I love when Chris Rice is labeled as 'Gospel', (hello white boy) which is actually a real genre of music but whose label is often given to any music that mentions Jesus. But I digress...

This Christian label is a problem, and one that has at least two logically following questions: what would happen if we labeled all music according to its content and the worldview expressed therein, and what would happen if we scrutinized 'Christian' music for explicit statements of a gospel-centered worldview?

Wouldn't that be a trip? To generalize the Christian music idea, music should really be labeled based on the worldview of the artist/composer, right? You could walk down the 'Christian' aisle until you got to the 'Muslim' section, and then hang a right at 'Post-modern'. All carefully labeled for the thoughtful consumer. No longer would Jesus music be the only genre hailed as promoting a religion. Finally the truth would be known, that values and worldviews are inherent in all music, indeed in all that man creates as art (and science, but that's another soapbox altogether). Nothing is really secular, if by secular one means free of values...free of beneficial values, maybe, or of true ones, but there is no such thing as neutral. (And to emphasize my earlier point, we would still have no idea what the music actually sounds like!)

But what about the second question - what if we were to examine 'Christian' music to see if it really holds up to the litmus test of Christianity? I can't tell you how many songs I've heard on K-Love or even in passing on "secular" radio stations, songs released by Christian artists, songs which never mention Jesus and some which don't even allude to God. Case in point: Point of Grace's newish song called "How You Live". This song could not be further. from. the. gospel.

This gem exhorts the listener to use the good dishes, wear the red dress, turn up the music and suck the very marrow out of life (Dead Poet's Society, anyone?). It's a carpe diem kind of message. My favorite line: Don't run from the truth 'cause you can't get away, no/ Face it and you'll be okay".

I'm sorry, which truth is that?

This is the gospel of Joel Osteen and others like him. But it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ! It is tragic to me that the Christian genre of music (and books, churches, teachers...) has become so diluted that it is sometimes impossible to distinguish the Christian from the non-Christian. And when that happens, I would suggest that there is no distinction because it is all, in fact, non-Christian.

I don't know what my point is in all this, at least with regard to the music. But I do challenge you to be discerning and not swallow something simply because it says "Christian" on the bottle. The "Christian Living" section of Barnes & Noble, even Christian bookstores sell A LOT of garbage these days. If it is not full of the truth of your sin and God's grace, then it is not Christian. That's a wide-sweeping statement, I know. There are lots of things written for many different purposes. But don't believe anything that tries to convince you that you'll be ok with anything short of Christ's atoning work on the cross.

There is so much I could say on the subject, but this is long enough already and I'm grateful you've read even this far. Just consider this: is your Christianity the real deal, or is it Christianity Lite - half the real truth, half the real joy (and none of the salvation)? More importantly, when you face the truth, will you be ok?