Copyright by Shea Oakley
All rights reserved.
Many of us who became Christians later in life share this story. In the weeks or months following our conversion we began to think that most, if not all, of the secular music we grew up listening to was “of the Devil.”What followed might be described as “The Cleansing of the Music Collection.” In my case dozens of albums were consigned to the garbage can. Around the same time I attended my first Christian Contemporary Music (CCM) concert and realized that there was more to sacred music than musty old hymns played on decrepit church organs. Soon my racks were full of pop music with Christian lyrics. Surely it was the best of both worlds.
Or was it?
In the 15 or so years that followed my CCM collection grew until about two out of every three CD’s ( I know…dating myself) that were on my shelf were by Christian artists. The problem was that I found myself spending an awful lot of time listening to that other one out of three. I must also admit to buying back a number of the secular albums that were so zealously disposed of many years before. Why?
Maybe it is because, when placed side by side with the CCM, quite a bit of secular music is simply better music.
I remember when a local FM station became the first in the New York area to play Christian music around the clock. At first I was happy to see this happen. We had enough talk radio and the kind of music that appealed to my generation (I was in my thirties) simply could not be found on the Christian dial. So the station got programmed into my car stereo and every day my commute was filled with the latest in “Christian Top 40.” After several days, though, I began to feel like I needed an insulin shot if I was going to keep listening to it. To me the bulk of the songs were what can only be described as sickly sweet, a cross between bubblegum music and bad TV commercial jingles. The lyrics were simplistic and sometimes not even theologically sound. Oh, and one more thing, most of it was so overproduced as to make one wonder if the stuff was made by real musicians or by Disney “Audio-Animatronic” replicas. These days you will almost never find me pushing the button that calls up that particular frequency on my radio.
Some readers are now probably asking what could possibly make “worldly” music a better choice than that which is said to be dedicated to the glory of God. Well, I happen to believe that one of the things God likes to see in people, especially His people, is excellence. I think another is depth. Too much CCM has neither. A song is not necessarily excellent, or thought provoking, or moving just because Jesus’s name shows up every third line. In fact the repetition of “Christianese” cliches mixed with His name can make a believer who loves intrinsically rich and compelling music start to twitch after a while. C.S. Lewis once referred to the Christian music of his day as “fifth rate poems set to sixth rate music.” While I would not go quite that far I frankly do not think the proportion today is all that much better.
Then, too, for me there are those occasional secular songs that, without even mentioning that name, can better communicate the truth and reality of God, and our hunger for Him, than a dozen CCM songs. Think of “Love, Rain O’er Me” by the Who or “Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel. Are these people Christian? Based on their lifestyle it is fair to say no. Does the Spirit of God use them anyway? I happen to think so. And the music itself usually has so much more character.
Ok, so you may be willing to concede that perhaps some secular music is of better quality than the bulk of what makes up what’s currently on the Christian charts. What can be done about it? For starters we could get some believing music reviewers who are not afraid to call bad music bad music. A local Christian newspaper in my community used to carry regular monthly reviews of the latest releases in CCM. I read them for years and never saw one album get panned. Now, it is true that believers are to encourage and build up one another. This is certainly the case and a vicious review has no place in any Christian publication, but what about constructive criticism? Can’t we call “a spade a spade” if we do so in love? I once belonged to a writer’s group that critiqued some of my material. Sometimes it was hard to accept when a fellow writer was honest about where he or she thought my writing was weak. Without that honesty, though, I might not have grown as a craftsman of words, and neither will a craftsman of music.
I will continue to listen to secular music that is not clearly ungodly. However, it would be nice if someday I could enjoy more of the Christian albums in my possession with as much enthusiasm as those written with just the common grace exhibited by so many secular artists. I suspect that a little less “pop-religiosity” in the Christian music world, along with a lot more intentionality in regards to craft, is the only way that is going to happen.