PART ONE: WHY?
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Imagine with me: The apostle Paul, John the Baptist, the prophet Isaiah, St. Augustine, Martin Luther, and Hudson Taylor all sitting in a room together. The year is 2012, and they’re listening to a mainstream christian radio station. After listening for an hour, someone finally speaks up:
Isaiah: um….
Paul: wow.
Luther: THIS IS CHRISTIAN?!?!
Augustine: Did that song just say ‘God you are super neat’?!?
Taylor: Haven’t heard a song about the cross yet.
John: This is embarrassing. (bites into a bug)
As you might have gleaned from the title, what will follow will be a hard, honest, word of rebuke. I have no idea if anything I say in these posts will mean anything for the sake of change, but someone has to say it: Mainstream christian radio is altogether banal and shallow in both a musical sense and a spiritual sense. The songs are man-centered and the DJ’s and radio programmers are man-pleasers…..they play the songs that will attract the most listeners to their station, period. Christian radio is like Joel Osteen in musical form….safe, happy, and untruthful. It is the TBN of music…a large-scale, embarrassing presentation of Christianity to the world. Now, before I continue, I would like to make some clarifying statements:
1. All in all, my appeal is positive, not negative. I’m not writing these posts for shock-value, or to simply complain about the way things are. Anyone can complain about what’s wrong. I’m writing this because I want for christian radio to be christian. I’m writing because I care about the things that have Jesus’ name tacked on them….I’m writing because I care about people and the huge forming and informing effect music has on them. I not here to just say what’s wrong…I’m here to say what’s RIGHT (and missing), namely, Christian radio playing songs that are Biblical, theologically accurate, Christ-exalting, gospel-proclaiming, artistically meaningful, and truly encouraging.
2. To be fair, not ALL songs that are played on mainstream Christian radio are trite. Just most of them.
3. I am thankful for those few DJ’s out there who play Jesus-exalting, Bible-saturated songs, and I hope these posts are an encouragement for them to continue doing so.
4. I don’t think that EVERY SONG played on christian radio should be a John Piper sermon set to music. I’m just calling for SOME level of weight in what is labeled “christian” radio.
5. Several of MY songs have gotten airplay on some major networks, which has been a tremendous blessing to our ministry and for which I am very thankful.
6. By writing these posts, I am not saying that all christian ARTISTS who get played on christian radio are compromising, sell-outs. Some definitely are, but I personally know many who are very genuine. In theses posts, I am simply saying that the system is broken….and that radio in large-part “forces” christian artists to succumb to compromise. MANY bands/artists whore themselves and their Lord all for the sake of getting a song on the radio, i.e. “making it”.
7. Some might say that to do what I’m doing here is career suicide….if a christian radio network reads these posts (which I hope they will) they’ll never play my music again. That may be true. However (and I’m not trying to be overly spiritual when I say this), my goal isn’t to build a career, it’s to build a kingdom. I care too much about this issue to remain silent. Plus, I might be one of the few people who are currently in the “industry”, have some wherewithal, AND are crazy enough to say something.
So here we go! I hope you’ll join me in what I hope is a great blessing to the body of Christ, and a conversation that will at least stir up some awareness and discussion.
Writing, jealous for His Name-
Matt
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