CCM is a trainwreck!
March 31, 2009 at 3:20 pm | Posted in Christianity | 3 CommentsTags: Addison Road, ateasetees, Big Daddy Weave, breathless, Chris Tomlin, Christian, compromise, comtemporary, evangelism, God, hell, holy, hope, Jesus, joy, judgment, love, lover, Michael W. Smith, music, peace, pop, righteousness, salvation, Shai Linne, sin, truth, watered down, wrath
I’ll be honest… I don’t listen to much Contemporary Christian Music these days (gasp!). One of the reasons is because I like to hear the songs that I want to hear when I want to hear them. I can do that with a CD. But that’s not the main reason. The main reason that I don’t really listen to CCM much anymore is because of the direction that much of it seems to be going. It seems to be a growing trend in CCM to write songs that are “uplifting” but have little to do with anything that Christianity is about. If you didn’t know that it was a CCM song, you might think that it was a secular love song being sung by one lover to another. Others teach weak or aberrant theology and it seems to be ok because it’s got the word Christian in the title. Many also seem to speak for God, but are they saying what He said?
After awhile, it just gets sickening to hear a breathless man/woman sing to Jesus like He’s their lover. It also gets trying when you hear bad theology coming through Christian music. Whatever happened to Jesus being holy and righteous? What happened to respecting God for who He is? One of the saddest parts (aside from a seeming total disrespect for God’s character) is that the most popular “Christian” bands around sing many of these songs today. I guess that this shouldn’t surprise me though. Many churches don’t preach or teach theology anymore either. Generations of young people are growing up hearing songs that tell them very little about the truth of God just like their teachers and pastors are at church. Many of the songs talk about love, hope, and joy, but say nothing about the source of those things. Very few mention sin, hell, or judgment. A lot of the “Christian” songs don’t even mention Jesus! Does anyone else see something wrong with this? These are supposed to be CHRISTIAN songs!!! What is more important: Singing songs that a majority of people (Christian and non-Christian) will like (under the guise of “reaching out to the lost”) so that you can sell the most records; or, actually singing the truth of Christ and telling people about sin, hell, and judgment and THEN giving them the hope of the true Jesus? Granted, one of these two options will make you a lot more money than the other, but if your focus is on selling records and making money, then call yourself a secular singer and let Christians sing Christian music.
In an effort to show what I’m talking about, I got some of the lyrics of the top 20 CCM songs over the past couple months. Are these songs really glorifying Christ? Are they teaching correct theology?
I wish I was more of a man, have you ever felt that way?
And if I had to tell you the truth I’m afraid I’d have to say
That after all I’ve done and failed to do
I feel like less than I was meant to be
What if I could fix myself maybe then I could get free?
I could try to be somebody else who’s much better off than me
But I need to remember this
That it’s when I’m at my weakest I can clearly see
He made the lame walk and the dumb talk
And He opened blinded eyes to see
That the sun rises on His time
Yet He knows our deepest desperate need
And the world waits while His heart aches
To realize the dream
I wonder what life would be like
If we let Jesus live through you and me
– Excerpt from Big Daddy Weave’s “What Life Would Be Like”
Is this sound theology? Can we “fix” ourselves? What dream is the world waiting to see realized? Is it up to us to let Jesus live through us? I was under the understanding that we live through Him (1 John 4:9). I’ve always been taught that we can’t fix ourselves and that it’s Jesus who “fixes” us. Does scripture talk about a dream being realized? Is the salvation of the people across the world a dream? Does Jesus’ heart ache? I’m sure that it bothers Him when people reject salvation through Him, but wouldn’t offended be a more accurate word? When people die in their sins I’m sure that God doesn’t like it (2 Peter 3:9), and I know that Jesus healed the lame, dumb, and blind; but that’s all we seem to focus on nowadays.
Here’s another one:
He never thought he cared so much about the minute hand
Until he started praying for, a second chance
If he could only do it all again
He’d trade the long nights that he spent behind his desk
For all he missed
He tells his wife, “I wish that this moment in this room was not me dying, but just spending a little time with you.”
You only get just one time around
You only get one shot at this
One chance, to find out
The one thing that you don’t wanna miss
One day when it’s all said and done
I hope you see that it was enough, this
One ride, one try, one life…
To love….
– Excerpt from 33miles’ “One Life to Live”
Is this considered a Christian song because it has the word praying in the lyrics? Or is this a deeply veiled reference to Hebrews 9:27 (And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment)? Is all the syrupy, sentimental music necessary? How does this teach about Christianity at all? I even agree with the fact that you only get one chance, but is there a more scripturally sound way to say it?
Here’s one that sounds like a secular love song:
If everything comes down to love
Then just what am I afraid of
When I call out Your name
Something inside awakes in my soul
How quickly I forget I’m Yours
(PRE-CHORUS)
I’m not my own
I’ve been carried by You
All my life
(CHORUS)
Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free
– Excerpt from Addison Road’s “Hope Now”
Sure, the You and Yours are capitalized, but how many are going to see while listening to this? They don’t even mention the source of the love that “sets them free”! I really don’t see how this is Christian at all… Are we just supposed to assume that it is? If you didn’t know that this was a “Christian” band, would you be able to tell?
Ok, here’s one more and it’s one that really irks me:
Can you hear, there’s a new song
Breaking out from the children of freedom
Every race and every nation
Sing it out sing a new Hallelujah
Let us sing love the nations
Bringing hope of the grace that has freed us
Make Him known and make Him famous
Sing it out sing a new Hallelujah
Arise
let the church Arise
Let love reach to the other side
Alive come alive
Let the song Arise
Africa sings a new song
reaching out with the new Hallelujah
Every son and every daughter
everyone sing a new Hallelujah
– Excerpt from Michael W. Smith’s “A New Hallelujah”
This one gets up my nose because it says nothing about God (other than two pronouns – He and Him – with no indication of who they talk about) and yet it is from one of the most well known Christian artists! What does this song mean? Why would I want to sing a “new hallelujah”? Hallelujah means “praise ye Jah”. It is an adoring exclamation to God. Do we need a new one? Also, is it our purpose to make God “famous”? Is God worried about fame like Christian singers seem to be these days? It talks about hope and grace and joy and love, but what about the rest of the truth? What about the fact that those things can only come through an understanding of sin and repentance?
Before I go on, I should explain that I understand that not every song is going to be chock full of theology and loaded with scripture (why not?), but these songs are on the TOP 20 CCM songs list! These are the some of the most requested songs of today and hardly any of them talk about Christianity! Christianity isn’t just about hope, love, joy, peace, and a better life. It’s about sin, hell, judgment, righteousness, obedience, and wrath too but no one seems to want to even talk about this stuff. Like I said above, I understand that not every song is going to be brimming with theology, but shouldn’t that be our goal? As Christians, as the people ordained by God to share the truth of the gospel, shouldn’t we be using every chance we get to tell others the truth? Shouldn’t we be using our music to make sin apparent and warn people about the wrath to come so that they flee to the cross? Could the new crop of CCM coming out these days be an indicator that these kinds of things aren’t being emphasized at church? Could it be that these songs are just a reflection of the weak, diluted teachings of the modern church? I think that this is at least partly to blame.
I know that there are many songs that really do uplift the God of the Bible and His Son Jesus Christ and they make it very clear. They do talk about sin and hell and judgment, and there are even some on the Top 20 list. But, these songs are very much the minority. To give you an idea of the type of music that I’m talking about I’ll post some lyrics. One song is by Chris Tomlin It’s called “Jesus Messiah”:
He became sin
Who knew no sin
That we might become His Righteousness
He humbled himself and carried the cross
Love so amazing
Love so amazing
Chorus:
Jesus Messiah
Name above all names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of all
His body the bread
His blood the wine
Broken and poured out all for love
The whole earth trembled
And the veil was torn
Love so amazing
Love so amazing, yeah
– Excerpt from Chris Tomlin’s “Jesus Messiah”
This talks about sin in the very first line! It also talks about righteousness, redemption, and the sacrifice of Christ. Later in the song, it gives glory to God. Why aren’t most Christian songs like this? Is it that hard to write songs like this, or is it less appealing to “Christian” audiences that are looking and acting more like the world? There is one other artist that I would like to focus on. I had never heard of him until some of his music was played on Wretched Radio. The artist’s name is Shai Linne. He is a hip-hop artist from Philadelphia and, along with other artists at Lampmode records, writes lyrics like this:
Chorus
We’re cursed from our birth, sinning from the beginning
The womb to the tomb, depraved to the grave
Astray every day, every breath brings death
In Adam all die, In Adam all die
We’re rebels like the devil, scheming like demons
Prideful with our idols, disgusting with our lusting
Twisted and sin-sick, selfish and helpless
In Adam all die, In Adam all die
Verse 1
Everybody knows that they’re guilty
Our conscience condemns us, shows us we’re filthy
Truth be told, we really have no answers
For why we fall short of our own moral standards
The evidence for God is simply bountiful
And it’s illogical to think we won’t be held accountable
A universal day of judgment approaches
Any rational notion of justice would presuppose this
And deep down inside, everybody knows this
But we disregard it because our deeds are atrocious
We prefer the vicious, our words are malicious
Our slurs pernicious, we find the absurd delicious
Depraved in our appetites- the things we crave are lacking light
Because sin’s got us enslaved and shackled tight
And if we are to understand the fruit
We need to go back and examine the root
– Excerpt from Shai Linne’s “In Adam All Die”
Do you see the theology? Sinful man, guilty conscience, judgment day; it’s all here. This is another:
Chorus
It’s where we see Your holiness- at the cross
We see that You’re controlling this- at the cross
We see how You feel about sin- at the cross
Your unfathomable love for men- at the cross
It’s where we see Your sovereignty- at the cross
We see our idolatry- at the cross
We know that there’s a judgment day- from the cross
May we never take our eyes away- from the cross
Verse 2
We’re now in the realm of the sublime and profound
With God at the helm it’s about to go down
The Father’s wrath precise will blast and slice
The priceless Master Christ as a sacrifice
Willingly, He’s under the curse
To be treated as if the Son was the worst scum of the earth
The scene is the craziest
Jesus being treated as if He is the shadiest atheist
How is it the Messiah is in the fiery pit
As if He was a wicked liar with twisted desires?
The One who’s sinless and just
Punished as if He was promiscuous and mischievous with vicious lust
The source of all godly pleasure
Tormented as if He was a foul investor or child molestor
How could He be bruised like He was a goodie two-shoes
who doesn’t think that she needs the good news?
He’s perfect in love and wisdom
But He’s suffering as if He constructed the corrupt justice system
We should mourn at the backdrop
Jesus torn like He’s on the corner with crack rock with porn on His laptop
What is this, kid? His gifts are infinite
But He’s hit with licks for religious hypocrites
He’s the Light, but being treated like
He’s the seedy type who likes to beat His wife
He’s treated like a rapist, treated like a slanderer
Treated like a racist or maybe a philanderer
Jesus being penalized like He had sin inside
Filled with inner pride while committing genocide
I could write for a billion years and still can’t name
All of the sins placed on the Lamb slain
But know this: the main thing the cross demonstrated
The glory and the holiness of God vindicated
– Excerpt from Shai Linne’s “The Cross (3 Hours)”
This entire song is about the cross. Not only what it did, by why it happened and what it means to mankind in general. Why isn’t this the norm in Christian music? The last song I’m going to share from Shai Linne is called “Atonement Q and A”. This song alone should put most Christian artists to shame. Shai Linne has basically taken some of the most important theological words and defined them through rhyme:
Verse 1
Who is God? God is the universe’s Creator
And Sustainer plus the only Savior, there is no one greater
He triune, holy, omnipotent, omniscient, absolute
Loving, sovereign and righteous are a few of His attributes
How do we know this? Well, we know this from the Bible
Where God has revealed Himself- anything else is just an idol
What’s the Bible about? Man’s complete ruin in sin
And what God has done in Christ to bring us to Him again
What is sin? Sin is the breaking of God’s law
Plus our condition, which means from birth we all got flaws
What’s the result? The result is by nature we’re God’s enemies
And must pay the penalty unless God provides the remedy
What the remedy? The remedy is the cross of Christ
Where He suffered all the strikes for the lawless type
I’ve been rescued by the Lamb, I’m convinced that He’s risen
And blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven!
– Excerpt from Shai Linne’s “Atonement Q and A”
I’m not saying that Shai Linne has a corner on theologically sound songs. I’m not saying that there are no other artists that have God-glorifying songs. What I am saying is that these songs are in short supply and are being drowned out by thousands of songs that have nothing about the truth of God in them sung by “bubblegum Christian” bands who hope to cash in on the CCM fad. We don’t need pop-star Christians singing breathlessly about God. We don’t need hard rock bands posing as Christian bands to “reach a certain audience”. What we need are Christians who sing. We need people who are sound in their theology to write and sing songs. Singing songs is great, but it’s not going to save you or anyone else…
Get the Word out! 