Drunken Mystic

A friend from Korea asked me about some resources that support CCM. I sent her a couple links and then wrote my own diatribe on the subject. I thought some of you might enjoy reading it:

Since I am old, I was there during a lot of the “controversy” surrounding Christian rock and other music back in the day.

Most of the rock/pop music was seen by many in Christian circles as rebellious and sexually suggestive, encouraging things like drug use, anger, madness and atheism. Hence the phrase, sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The style of music was connected with a certain lifestyle.

So when a couple pioneer Christian rockers hit the scene in the early to mid 70′s (they were fairly tame, by the way), the music, drug and sex scene of the 60′s and early 70′s played heavily in the minds of Christian leaders, thereby condemning the whole movement.

The heart of the early Christian rock movement was not to be worldly, however. To use a modern buzz word, Christianity had become “irrelevant.” In other words, when young people thought about Christianity, they thought about a building, people in suits, condemnation, and “boring music.” Christian rockers decided to go out into the world and proclaim the gospel in a very unique way, using the style of music but changing the message.

It wasn’t that unique, actually. Martin Luther did much the same. As his message of salvation by faith alone separated him and others from the Roman authorities, he decided that a new music needed to become a part of this new thing. He would go into bars on Saturday night (he was German, you know), learn the local drinking songs, and change the words. Many liturgical and conservative congregations still sing those songs.

Every movement produces its own music, and moves of God are no different. Every revival period has produced a litany of work in the modern voice, using modern music styles, that were generally condemned by the Christian establishment. Beethoven used minor keys and heard it from the establishment, as well. Now you can buy his awesome music in the cheap bin at Best Buy.

I believe the beginning of the Christian music movement was an attempt to give the gospel a voice in the modern world, using the language that people understood and going out to where the young people were. So many of those artists were concerned with evangelistic concerns. Most of their songs were expressions of the gospel and saving grace of Christ on some level. They also tackled issues such as abortion and abstinence before marriage with these young audiences.

Much of the Christian rock movement through the late 70′s and 80′s challenged things that should have been challenged. Should Christianity really be associated with an extremely conservative American cultural social class? Is it really hair length and fashion sense that we need to be discussing?

But the cloud moves on. What was once a necessary movement has become shrinkwrapped and over organized. It is another business more than another ministry. CCM has become the new liturgy in certain circles. Believe it or not, there is a growing attraction to older songs and hymns that people have not heard in a while. Why? Because God is about singing Him a new song, whether it is a recycled psalm or hymn or a blasting heavy metal dirge. It is about creative expression from the heart. God is a creative God and wants His people to be creative and not settle for yesterday’s manna.

To some degree, CCM is becoming yesterday’s manna. It is losing its spiritual relevance due to its inclusion in the establishment. It used to be outside the box. Now it is the box.

Peace.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 at 7:51 am and is filed under misc messages. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.