I’ve always been a pop and love-song fanatic. In junior high and high school I mostly just listened to the radio—the “Top 40” stations (back then Z-104 and 102.7—I know my D.C.–area natives know:)). I also loved the still-existent Soft Rock-97.1/WASH FM. Freshman and sophomore year of high school I’d have sleepovers where friends and I would call in to the now-defunct “After Hours with Glenn Hollis,” a 7pm-to-midnight showcase of “love songs and dedications.” We knew that to have our requests aired, they usually had to be somewhat elaborate. I’d choose tributes to my “new fiancée,” who had always recently proposed in a park, and I was always “still crying over how beautiful it was.” Something about the fake dedications made with my high pitched, tween-age voice resonated with Glenn; I had the record among friends for most calls played on air, along with the most poems read to me. I usually requested ballads by Mariah, Celine, or Whitney, which we’d dubbed the “True Love-Song Trio.” Despite the fact that I still treasure these songs, since college I have listened mostly to Christian music. And the change has had an incredible impact on my relationship with God.
Like many, I used to think that “Christian” Music only encompassed a few types: in my case, the only I’d heard— gospel, rock worship songs and selections from the Hymnal. Although I now actually listen to all these genres, growing up they didn’t really gel with this pop princess. I needed something that sounded like Christina, Mya, the BackStreet Boys or Lauren Hill. Enter Out of Eden, the first Christian group I fell in love with.
I first heard this eclectic trio of sisters (who have been compared to TLC and SWV, among others) as a high-school freshman at D.C. ’97, a conference for teens held every three years in both D.C. and Los Angles. It was the first of four summers I spent on missions trips where only Christian music was allowed (a rule I broke often). I liked the group because their souly pop sounds were unlike the so-called “head banger” Christian music my teammates chose to listen to on our ten-hour plus drives in 15-passenger Ford vans. I guess I did come to like other Christian artists during high school, but none I actually purchased.
But then when I started college, as I’ve shared before, I went through a period where my relationship with God, which I’d technically had since late pre-school/early kindergarten, had hit a wall. It’s the quintessential end-of-the -coming-of-age story, when you finally reach adulthood and have to choose whether you’re still going to live the way you’ve grown up despite the fact that parents aren’t in sight (at least they weren’t during the day; I was a commuter:)). I’m happy to say I chose God’s way.
But breaking the ceiling on my relationship with God required some habit changes. I remember rummaging through my glove compartment one day freshman year in search of what little Christian music I owned. I pulled out a couple Out of Eden tapes given to me by my youth pastor, who got all the Christian music he wanted for free because of his title. I started listening to them on my way to class each morning. I also threw in another tape he’d given me, an album by the four-female group Point of Grace, whose harmonious sounds could probably be compared to Wilson Phillips sometimes and the Dixie Chicks at other (or perhaps not—I can’t really box them in…). Anyway, once I started listening, I saw a profound change in my focus. Although these artists were still playing the same genres of music I always loved, their words had so much more…"Kingdom" value. Out of Eden had a way of incorporating their love for Hip Hop with words that honored God. One song from their second album, “More Than You Know,” called “Giving My All,” became my theme song. I loved how they added a pop twinge with the synthesizer as they expressed their desire to “give God ‘soul’ control.” As I went through my day, both the great beats—and the great words—filled my mind. Before long, I had purchased all of Out of Eden’s CDs recorded at the time.
I didn’t stop with Out of Eden. In search of a Christian Christina Aguilera, I was referred to Rachel Lampa, an artist I’d heard over the years but hadn’t paid much attention to. I’ve since bought all her CDs to date. Her beautiful ballad expressing her love for God, “No Other One,” from her CD titled “Rachel Lampa,” would become my cell phone ring tone (although sadly I no longer hear the moving words each time my phone rings, since my fairly new Blackberry is always on vibrate :(). By that point, my style had moved beyond just pop and r&b. I needed more types of music—gospel artists such as Smokie Norful, who sing melodies steeped in scripture; and even groups like Mercy Me, an alternative/rock band with some of the most spiritually moving lyrics I’ve ever heard. And I still like artists such as Surel, who’d attract Erykah Badu fans after just a few notes.
Why go on about my journey to Christian-music enthusiast? In a verse: Colossians 3:2-“Set your mind on things that are above, not on earthly things.” Whether we like to admit it, music is a form of meditation. Even if we “just like the beat” and “not the words,” whenever we listen to music, we take in the words, too- be it consciously, subconsciously or unconsciously. With Christian music now spanning every genre imaginable—from mellow jazz to thumping reggae—there’s plenty to choose from. Why not listen to music that not only has beats we like, but also words that get us meditating on scripture—with a value not just for this life, but the one to come (1 Timothy 4:8)?
This is not to say that all “secular” (aka non-Christian) music is evil. I personally still listen to music that isn’t Christian, I just don’t do so for extended periods of time because it doesn’t have the same life-changing value that Christian music has in getting me to focus on God more. I also know Christians’ views on Christian music run the gamut—with some saying the contemporary Christian music I can’t live without is “irreverent” and “pandering to a materialistic society trying to secularize God and dilute scripture,” and, on the other end of the spectrum, those who say that the hymns put together over centuries are “no longer relevant to our society.” I personally fall somewhere in the middle. Sometimes I do listen to “It Is Well With My Soul” and the like because the words are, as I’ve said, so rich and taken almost verbatim from scripture, but sometimes I want to get my praise on with spirit-filled songs that also have loud, infectious beats. The thinking that it’s “hymns only” or “contemporary Christian music only” ignores the fact that we’re just not always in the mood to hear the same type of music all the time—and that we all just have different tastes. If we have to pick one or the other, we probably wouldn’t make meditating on God’s Word through song a part of our routines; it would instead be relegated to moments when we were “in the mood” for a particular type of music. In my opinion, we’d miss out on great, biblically based messages heard through all kinds of song.
Another related criticism I hear a lot is that not all Christian music is particularly “spiritual,” and not all “secular” songs are particularly un-spiritual; hence, there’s no real need to listen to mostly Christian music when there are “just as spiritual songs” in secular music. Although artists on both sides do have works that cross over to the other, most Christian songs do in fact have a biblical message, because they’re based on God’s Word. By contrast, most secular songs, even if they have a “good” message, will most likely not have a biblical message because the artists are not claiming to make Christian songs. I like to use the “dollar store” analogy: you may go into the dollar store and find that there are some items that are, gasp, more than one dollar. And there may even be a few of them. However, this doesn’t mean it’s not a dollar store, just that owners sometimes reach beyond their “dollar” label to market other products. Likewise, Christian or secular artists making a few songs that differ from their norm does not change their labels. As a result, if you’re looking for “Christian” music, you’re mostly likely to find it from artists who call themselves Christian-music artists.
A final relevant issue is that people are not always trained to understand that Christian music takes so many forms. If the only Christian songs you’ve heard sound like the “Doxology” you sing every week in church, you too may be thrown off guard by something like Christian rock. As a result, you won’t even try to understand the words—they may sound too “secularized” to be any different from the pop stations. But the truth is that many contemporary songs are inspired by God’s Word but brought to life by everyday experiences—aka “testimonies”—kind of like the ones people share in church about how they came to know Christ or got through a difficult life situation, though they’re set to music, and put in lay person’s terms (ironically, so were at least some popular centuries-old hymns, at the time they were written). And these real-life experiences found in contemporary Christian music can actually be just as—and sometimes more—uplifting than traditional worship songs. And if you open up a Contemporary Christian music CD case, you’ll often find artists include the Bible verses that inspire each song. When you read the verses and then listen to the song, the scriptural message becomes even clearer (Great example: the recently released “True Beauty” by Mandisa from American idol—as I keep saying; it’s a great CD!).
My point? If we claim to know Christ—have asked him to forgive us from our sins and are now trying to live for Him—be his “disciples,” we have to do whatever we can to put away our old natures—the ones we had before we decided to follow God—and walk as He did (I John 2: 5-6). What we think about—mediate on—is a big part of that. And if I can pump a tune AND praise Him—I’m more likely think about Him any time.
What I’m playing now? Group 1 Crew, a Christian Hip-Hop group. Their hit “Forgive Me” was clearly inspired by Psalm 23. Also, here’s a chart including Christian music alternatives to secular music: http://www.extreme-youth.com/Christian_music_comparison.html And share your favorites; I’m always looking for new Kingdom artists—of all kinds…
