The Christian Imagination

Well, it’s been just over 10 years since Rich Mullins died in a car crash on a backroad in Illinois. I was attending a concert at Messiah College with Geoff Moore and the Distance about a week after the accident, and Geoff was telling stories about Rich, before shocking us all by telling us of his passing.

At the time, I wasn’t a fan of Rich Mullins, though I liked a few of his songs. It wasn’t until after he died that started to learn what he was about by visiting sites like Calling Out Your Name and eventually reading his biography. Though I had actually heard Brennan Manning before, it was Rich that really brought Manning to my attention. More recently, I have gotten into G.K. Chesteron, and now understand why Chersterton was one of Rich’s favorite authors.

Rich didn’t follow the crowd. He followed his heart, said what he thought, and really wanted to follow Jesus. He questioned, and wondered, and towards the end of his life, he was all about the love of God and loving others. And that is what I love about him.

If you’d like to read a great post that summarizes Rich’s life and beliefs really well, head on over to Relevant Magazine: Remembering Rich Mullins.

As I was preparing for Bible study tonight, I decided to get out my guitar and find some songs about community and loving each other. I have about 200 songs in my worship folder (choruses and camp songs mostly). Of those, only 1 song, Bind Us Together, was clearly about loving my neighbor. Two other songs, One Tin Soldier and Love the Lord mentioned it. That’s 3 out of 200. I then looked in my CCM binder, and while the ratio was better, it wasn’t that much better.

I’m reminded of a concert I attended by a Christian musician named Wayne Watson several years back. After he performed a love song he wrote for his wife, he told a story. At the end of a concert, he was approached by a gentleman. The guy said, “That one song, it sounded like a love song.” Wayne nodded yes. The guy then asked, in a low, firm voice, “What’s that have to do with God?” Wayne answered, “Everything.”

I briefly contemplated singing some mainstream (otherwise known as secular, but I hate the term) songs for worship, so we could sing about loving each other. Can loving my neighbor be an act of worship? Isn’t loving my neighbor one of the essentially ways I show love for God? How many non-Christians write songs about loving another person? How many Christians write songs about loving other people? And when I say that, I’m including songs of romance, but not limiting it that kind of love.

I briefly contemplated singing Hold my Hand by Hootie and the Blowfish as worship. Not to be relevant, but because I recall many years ago singing it at camp with a group of friends. And as I’m thinking about it tonight, it just strikes me as odd that we, as Christians, seem so uncomfortable with the idea of songs about loving each other. We seem more comfortable with the Song of Solomon as allegory. Somehow the idea of a guy speaking loving words about his wife, publicly, sensually, is just too much for us as Christians to accept. Or maybe I’m misreading the Song of Songs…

Did you know that ‘Christian’ music is the only modern music categorized by lyrical content rather than style? Did you know that most Christian music currently produced comes out of a business industry where most of the formerly independent Christian music companies have been acquired by large mainstream companies like Universal, Sony BMG, and others? Did you know that worship labels like Integrity Hosanna have sent cease and desist letters in the past to websites who published chords to worship songs?

Regarding the latter, they have the right, it’s copyrighted material, but it also underscores the fact it’s a business. CCM and Worship music are now on the music industry radar because they sell. In the early days of contemporary Christian music, many people, like Larry Norman, sang songs about Jesus because they wanted to, even if it meant no one listened. Soon after, many churches got on board with the idea of ‘doing something for the youth.’ Christian ‘rock’ and ‘Jesus’ music also gained favor under the notion that they were tools for evangelism. The reality is that most Christian music is consumed by Christians, and while there are certainly non-Christians who have been affected by Christian music, it is largely ineffective for evangelism.

The very nature of the industry is that it has a target market, Christians, and therefore must, as a whole, sell to that market. As such, there are certain limitations of image and content that go along with it. I once heard a Christian musician ask whether there were any unattractive musicians in the industry. Also, like the mainstream industry, it is a youth-dominated industry, mostly following trends of the mainstream industry. In terms of content, I once heard Charlie Peacock say that if he put Jesus in to song to please someone, he’s being unfaithful, and equally unfaithful if he doesn’t include Jesus to please someone. Part of the disconnect with contemporary Christian music is that it’s content is rather limited in scope, and this is partially because the Christian music industry is market-driven. That’s great for those musicians who genuinely want to write music on those themes, but it’s tragic that so many themes about life are missed in the industry as a whole. Based on that reason alone, it’s not surprising most non-Christians aren’t interested in ‘Christian’ music.

These trends have been changing the last few years because of drastic changes in music promotion and delivery because of the Internet. More musicians choose to go independent so they have more creative control of their music and careers, and that’s a good thing.

So, what is it that makes Christian music, well, Christian? Is it still Christian if the studio musicians or producer aren’t Christian? Odds are someone in the process of production, promotion, or delivery isn’t a Christian. What if a Christian sings a song written by a non-Christian? Or vice-versa? If a Christian writes songs without obvious Christian themes, is it Christian? Is there certain content that must exist for the lyrics to be Christian?

Tonight in our small group we began by reading Psalms for worship. Simply put, our worship time was a poetry reading.

There’s a lot of poetry in the Bible, and David wrote a good portion of it. David, a boy who didn’t have the look of a king, even to Samuel, but he had a heart, a heart for God. And what was his inroad to King Saul? He was a good musician. Later, we hear about David dancing. And we know that he was a poet, a songwriter. And a king, but perhaps not the leader people expect, even now. David wrote a lot of great poetry of praise and thanksgiving, but mostly, he lamenting, he complained, he poured out his heart honestly before God. I commented on Psalm 22 a few weeks ago. Take a look at Psalm 88. It is a lament almost despairing in tone, with no resolution.

It is okay to doubt God? Be mad at God? Is it okay to express words like ‘Why have you forsaken me?’ to God? Often, the answer seems to be no. We avoid saying things that imply doubt, and we pretend. We make ourselves believe, even when we really don’t, even when our life shows our lack of faith, we may still have trouble being honest. Yet, David is brutally honest. And in being honest, emotionally and intellectually, he is able to get it out of his system, to connect with God, and ultimately, to move towards God.