Break Out of the Box

Break Out of the Box: A Call to Christian Musicians

When I researched Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), the results were staggering. For the past thirteen years (2003-2014) the Billboard Charts have been dominated by the same eight artists year after year with little to no exceptions. The pattern I saw while analyzing the data was that the number of artists that made the chart increased; in 2011 and 2012, there were ten artists that made the charts each year. However, there were two years in particular which seemed like CCM was having a dry spell. In 2003 there were three artists that made the list, while now, in 2014, there is only one artist. Are we now witnessing the death of CCM?  The death of genres is not a new thing; especially in the realm of Christian Music. The important thing for musicians to understand is that their audience changes, at the very least, once every decade, sometimes more. Musicians should not allow their creativity to be put in a box dictated by tradition or fear of controversy for trying something new. Most of all, Christian musicians need to realize that God is not going to strike them down for finding a new way to worship Him.

In 1956, Larry Norman became a legend in Christian Music. He burst his way into a brand new genre; Christian Rock Music. That is when controversy arose. Norman is quoted as saying, at Creation Fest in 1999, “A lot of white people found it hard to believe that I was a Christian if I was singing these songs because they thought this kind of sound was satanic.” In response he wrote the lyrics to “Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?” (Tashet, 2008) Shortly after the composition of this song, a new Christian generation arose, known as The Jesus Movement of the 60s and 70s. Tradition would tell us that we should stick to the hymns and psalms of the bible, however, with this example alone, it can be concluded that writing music outside the norms set for us by traditionalists, we can kick start revolutions in Christian thinking.

The 1960s was an interesting era to live in. The dream of integration of blacks into white society was new. The world was witnessing a rise in progressive thinking; of course secular music would follow suit. Sadly, Christian music, is still segregated into two groups; Contemporary Christian (White) and Gospel (Black). (Lamont, 2010) It would be thought that, with so much forward thinking, we would know better by now. More and more people are realizing that this is not right. Since Segregation ended, over time we have seen a rise in inter-racial marriages and children. Our current generation is fused. Most people can no longer classify themselves as just white or black. When writing music there needs to be a consideration of this fact. As a Christian musician, the goal of writing is not only to worship the God we love, but to communicate the good news of our savior. If we are only writing for one demographic, we are not doing our job.

Many Christian Musicians may be afraid to try something new, because they are afraid to come up against controversy surrounding the idea, and with good reason. Martin Luther tried something new. He decided to translate the bible from Latin to English so that the common person could read the Bible on their own. Doing this, Martin Luther came into direct opposition with the Catholic Church. In the view of the Catholic Church, this would mean that their power over the people would be greatly diminished. The Clergy wanted him dead. Rather than fear the outcome of his actions, he continued to translate the bible. As a result of this, we all (at least in the U.S.A.), are free to read the bible and come to our own conclusions about what we read.

As a Christian musician, I am all too familiar with each of these issues. Let’s not be discouraged by the trends that we are seeing within our genre. If it is fear of God being upset for your creative worship you are experiencing, meditate on this verse: “So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27 English Standard Version) Dear brother or sister in Christ, our God is a creative God and He created us in His image. God will not be offended if you find a new creative way to worship and give glory to Him. There is nothing to fear. In the words of Christian Musician, Chris Tomlin, “...if our God is with us, then what could stand against?” (2010)

References:

Billboard. (2014). Billboard Chart Archive. Years 2003-2014. Retrieved from

http://www.billboard.com/archive/charts/2014/christian-songs

Lamont, M. (2010). Lip-synch gospel: Christian music and the ethnopoetics of identity in Kenya. Africa

(Edinburgh University Press), 80(3), 473-496. doi:10.3366/afr.2010.0006. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete.

Moberg, M. (2011). The 'double controversy' of Christian metal. Popular Music History, 6(1/2), 85-99.

doi:10.1558/pomh.v6i1/2.85. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete.

Tashet. (2008). Larry Norman - Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music?. Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQfJoyrsccM.

Tomlin, C. (2010). Our God. Retrieved from https://worshipartistry.com/songs/chris-tomlin/passion-

awakening/our-god