Comments on: Faith vs. Art?

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:17:56 +0000

except for my hatred of Coldplay, i completely agree with you…

By: keith

keith — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:15:24 +0000

It’s unfortunate because good questions about art and ‘secular’ and ‘christian’ vs. ‘non-christian’ art don’t get asked and consequently don’t get answered. So kids are left with feeling guilty about liking a ‘secular’ song. Of course there is evil music or music that promotes darkness but there is music that is fine that doesn’t have a christian stamp on it. I mean, is Coldplay something that a pastor should feel scared about if his youth group kids are listening to it? Or enya? So kids never get forced to deal with things at a deeper level than ‘good’ vs. ‘bad’ music.

GNR? That’s funny dude.

I honestly feel sad for the late, talented, misguided and mistaken Bon Scott from AC/DC whenever I hear ‘Highway to Hell’, but I also TURN IT UP when it comes on the radio because you have to stick your head in the sand to deny it absolutely rocks

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:32:59 +0000

Point #1 hits the spot. As a former youth pastor I know exactly what you’re talking about. Except I was the guy being pressured to give out “safe” music. Of course, I was in my GNR phase then so I wasn’t going to pimp something I wouldn’t listen to…. I had many a heated discussion with fellow youth pastors about the topic.

And in the interest of full disclosure, I do occasionally get wrapped up in a “big chorus.”

By: keith

keith — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:05:27 +0000

I think that some of the sterile aspects are due to the fact that much of the straight up CCM stuff is produced in Nashville so you get alot of the same producers/engineers/mixers working on the same stuff so you get a certain ‘sound’ to it.

But I think much of it is due to two things: 1) It’s the cheerleading for God stuff that sells to the youth pastors who feel it is ‘safe’ to hand out to the kids so you get a vicious cycle going there. And 2) When you box yourself with the idea that you must write a certain way you stifle creativity and the results are usually less than stellar. Same thing happens when people try to write manufactured hits. They just sound blah although all the elements may be there – big chorus etc.

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:29:00 +0000

edit last sentence: “If our live are ***NOT*** utterly perfect…” Sorry!

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:28:05 +0000

I think the whole thing comes down to being authentic. Christianity is not a forumla, it’s LIFE. Well… it should be anyway. It’s about realizing the freedom, hope, joy, awe, passion, power, growth, challenge, pain, love etc etc etc of REAL, ABUNDANT LIFE! Christian artists are just like everyone else. They’re people with ebbs and flows of emotion and commitment and you’re absolutely right – you can just *feel it* when someone is going through the motions.

But you can also feel it when a pastor is faking it. Or when the person next to you is faking it.

But I always wonder why Christian music needs to be/seem so sterile. There’s no real representation of real life in the music. It’s all Pollyanna, good times in God stuff. And while God is absolutely good, life sucks sometimes. But there’s a weird, irrational fear -it seems- of authenticity. As if, if our lives are utterly perfect and contented that somehow Christ will become less appealing.

I don’t get it.

By: keith

keith — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:53:50 +0000

I think you’re right about the lyrics. The same kind over and over…you can’t be creative in a 1″ box. That’s why I mentioned Sufjan Stevens -I just recently discovered him but what I have heard so far is just simply…creative.

By: kenrick

kenrick — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:34:55 +0000

I was just having this conversation with my friend yesterday on a long road trip, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on why most mainstream christian music just flat out fails. Honesty. That seems to sum it up well. Are all the christian artists insincere or dishonest? I don’t think so necessarily, but maybe its just the feeling you get from hearing the same kind of lyrics over and over again. I think you can get the same feeling from pop songs, those lyrics tire out my brain just as easily. I mean who really talks or thinks that way in real life?