W
ith nearly a billion dollars in annual album sales and millions of tickets sold for concerts and festivals, the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) industry makes a ton of money. Millions of Christians—including Lutherans—ensure that the industry is rolling in cash. But how profitable is the music spiritually?
While not every song can proclaim the fullness of the Gospel as well as a great Lutheran hymn does, all Christian songs should be faithful to Scripture and use rich Biblical imagery. A good text should not simply jumble a bunch of thoughts together, but rather be easy to understand and have a common theme. Words should not be added only to make the text rhyme or have the right number of syllables. The very popular band Switchfoot scored a 2005 hit with their song,“This is Your Life.”The song hit the top of the Christian hit radio charts. But is it worth listening to? Let’s look at a sample of their lyrics. Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead Yesterday is a promise that you’ve broken Don’t close your eyes, don’t close your eyes This is your life and today is all you’ve got now Yeah, and today is all you’ll ever have Don’t close your eyes
H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 22
While the musical quality of the song is slightly above much of what plays on Christian radio, there is literally nothing Biblical about this song.There is no mention of the Triune God or any person of the Trinity.There is no mention of Christ’s work on the cross. One would be hard-pressed to explain why this song is even considered Christian. And Switchfoot is not alone. CCM was born thirty years ago when some Christian musicians produced albums of pop music with Christian lyrics.The lyrics were the focus of the song and the music copied whatever was popular at the time. Within a few years, however, explicit references to Jesus were replaced with generic titles. Unfortunately, vague lyrics are still a hallmark of the genre. Another top Christian band is MercyMe. They scored a Christian radio hit last year with their song,“Here with Me.” Let’s imagine who the song is being addressed to.
By Mollie Ziegler
I long for your embrace Every single day To meet you in this place And see you face to face Another verse continues the theme: And I can feel your presence here with me Suddenly I’m lost within your beauty Caught up in the wonder of your touch Here in this moment I surrender to your love Doesn’t this song sound like it’s being addressed to a romantic love interest? The Triune God is not mentioned in the song— which is not all that unusual in much of CCM.But romantic love is not a good way to describe how we feel about God. In fact, too many CCM songs describe how the lyricist feels about God rather than what God has done for us. Our Christian faith is not primarily a religion about emotions or feeling but a religion based on God’s unchanging truth. Many CCM songs shy away from specifically mentioning Jesus’name.And rather than focusing on the cross of Christ, the lyrics focus on how God makes us feel.The result is that most of the songs could be sung by anyone to any god.A Muslim or any other spiritual person could sing MercyMe’s song. In today’s world where all religions are considered to be equally valid, Christians must name Him who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and specifically confess the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We are Christians—not Unitarians who believe in a nameless, vague god in whom we have romantic feelings. If we are going to perform and listen to Christian music, that music should tell the world what Jesus has done for us! Christians need to make sure their musical diet is balanced and full of nutritious doctrine. Of course, not every song or hymn will contain the whole counsel of God. Many hymns do not specifically name the Persons of the Trinity. However, hymns are sung within the larger context of the Divine Service, where the Invocation, prayers, and the Benediction clearly proclaim that we worship Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Music is a gift from God and a songwriter does not need to fill a “Jesus quota” in order for us to listen his song. In fact, much music that is not considered Christian is beautiful and worth listening to. But music that is clear and well done with no pretension of being Christian is far better than “Christian” music that doesn’t proclaim Christ. Mollie Ziegler is a member of the Higher Things board of directors. She lives in Washington, D.C. and attends Immanuel Lutheran Church in Alexandria,Virginia. You can contact her at mollieziegler@gmail.com.
Switchfoot concert photos copyright 2005 switchfoot.com. MercyMe photos by Jeremy Cowart
Love Songs forJesus?
