|
| Home | About | Reviews | News | Commentary | CCM | The Plan | Links | Store | Search | RSS Feed  |
Nothing Sacred: Part II
A Look Behind the Curtain of the “Crossover” Phenomena
(7/20/2005)
I was surprised and a little frightened when Christianity Today requested to post my response to their article “Secular, Sacred, or Both?” on their website. Surprised because I thought that with the current mindset within CCM, my e-mail would probably be written off as just another “judgmental, legalistic, throwback who can’t see the value of what God is doing today.” Frightened because I anticipated an onslaught of vehement responses telling me how wrong I was. However, there have been surprisingly few.
You can read my unedited original response “Nothing Sacred” here.
I noticed on the Christianity Today Music Connection e-mail newsletter that the primary topic was once again the secular / sacred divide (or lack thereof). Russ Breimeier (Online Associate Editor) had some interesting observations. One key statement was that “neither side is more right, and each side is usually wrong about the other." He further states that there are “crossover” groups that “are still making a positive impact for Christ's kingdom in a different market. It's also a little naïve to believe that there aren't some in the Christian music industry with equally misguided motives.” He goes on to warn us against judging others saying “Christians should know better than to judge someone they don't even know by assuming their motives.”
I understand the desire to not alienate either group of readers. However, his key statement sounds very much like the same reasoning we hear from the world concerning Christianity compared to other religions. “No one really knows the truth so we need to just tolerate each other, do what seems right to you, and don’t judge anyone else.” It appears that everything outside the death and resurrection of Christ are “relative” doctrines which we can either choose to obey or discard. In fact, I wrote an article addressing the issue some time ago entitled “Are The Scriptures Ambiguous?”
What exactly does “making a positive impact for Christ’s kingdom” mean? Does that mean that non-Christians are being led by the music of these bands to repent of their sins, confess Jesus as Lord of every area of their life, and deny themselves as they take up their cross and follow Him? Or are they just becoming part of the popular Christian culture which surrounds real Christianity? Does it justify doing what it took to get the music played on secular radio?
Are there musicians on Christian labels which are in it for the wrong motives? Undoubtedly. Does that justify the practice of dumping “the Christian label” (both literally and figuratively) and going secular? No!
Judgment
There’s a pervasive belief within Christianity today which comes right out of our “tolerance is the highest virtue” society that warns us never to judge whether someone is wrong or right. The result is the current state of CCM (and the church) today. As we gradually discard key doctrines and principles in favor of more inclusiveness, we drift further and further from being what God intended. And as long as no one is willing to stand up and reprove the errors (providing a sound scriptural basis) then these problems will grow and multiply.
It’s amazing that people who have never even picked up a Bible can quote Matthew 7:1 “Judge not lest ye be judged.” They completely miss the point of the passage which is talking about hypocrisy. It is NOT a call for us to refrain from using Biblical principles to determine whether something is right or wrong! In fact, the scriptures command us to do just the opposite:
Luke 12:56,57 “You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time? And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?”
1 Corinthians 5:12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?
Titus 1:12-14 One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. For this reason REPROVE THEM SEVERELY so that they may be sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.
2 Timothy 4:1-4 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; REPROVE, REBUKE, EXHORT, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
Luke 17:3 "Be on your guard! If your brother sins, REBUKE HIM; and if he repents, forgive him.”
1 Timothy 5:20,21 Those who continue in sin, REBUKE IN THE PRESENCE OF ALL, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.
We in CCM have continued in the sins of narcissism and compromise for far too long. To not publicly address the need for repentance would be sin itself.
Behind The Curtain
To further understand the “crossover” phenomena, let’s take a look behind the curtain of how it actually happens. How is it that Christian artists can sometimes get airplay on secular radio stations and wind-up on secular tours?
The generally accepted myth is that Christians bombard the DJs until they choose to start playing Christian music due to the public demand. But that’s not how it happens. It all has to do with (wait for it)…money.
Let’s take the example of one of the most famous crossover hits “I Can Only Imagine” by MercyMe. By the way, I love the song and have used it in my private worship on many occasions. Here’s how a song recorded in 2001 by a Christian artist on a Christian label two years later went to #19 on the Top 20 Mainstream Adult Contemporary secular charts:
A caller to a secular FM station in Dallas kept calling in and requesting the song by the Texas band. The Program Manager (Todd Sheppard) was a seminary student and finally put the song on the air. It soon became their most requested song. When MercyMe heard about it, they arranged to come and actually play “live” on their morning show. And that’s where it would have ended if not for a concerted marketing campaign.
A lot of the appeal had to do with the huge sense of loss we all felt in wake of 9/11. The song’s author said “I just kept seeing all these people holding picture frames that are empty because we all carry these people with us in some way. I've had so many people after a show pull out a picture of someone they've lost. These people embrace these photos and I just thought how can we tap into that?"
MercyMe’s label INO Records decided to partner with Curb Records (a predominantly country secular label with artists such as LeAnn Rimes and Tim McGraw) who had the contacts and the clout with secular radio to “push” the song to secular stations across the country. Roughly translated, that means that the Christian label paid the secular label to help them get airplay on the secular stations. And THAT’S when the song shot up to #19.
Bart Millard was quoted: “When people first started talking about working it to pop radio, I thought, ‘This song is so blatantly Christian, why bother?’ But the response has been overwhelming.”
References:
http://www.integritymusic.com/worship/artist/0603.html
http://www.higherpraise.com/worship/worship_songstory-icanonlyimagine.htm
http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/lwc_cda_article/0,1643,A%253D153804%2526X%253D1%2526M%253D50088,00.html
Does anyone see a problem with this besides me?
So that’s the way songs get airplay (with the exception of small and independent radio stations). Major stations are usually one station in a network of stations owned by large corporations. The way they make money is through advertising. The more listeners they have, the more they can charge for advertising and the more companies that want to advertise with them. So when a Program Director (or their corporate management) considers who gets airplay, they take into account the clout and track record of the label, the PR budget for the particular project, and how many people the artist is playing to in their area. The reason for this is that if they know that the label is putting out the kind of money it takes to garner a significant market share of their audience, then they can feel relatively confident that if they play their music it will be something their listeners want to hear. The more happy listeners you have, the more money you make through your advertising.
The reason that CCM artists are now getting occasional airplay on secular stations is because they are now either on a label that is owned by a secular label or their label is willing to partner with a secular label. Either way, getting airplay on the major radio networks requires us to partner with the same secular corporations that promote secular artists who represent everything which we as Christians should be against…ego, idolatry, greed, and lust. It’s all the same to the radio networks. Christ, Satan...doesn’t matter as long as you’re willing to spend the bucks to make sure we maximize our advertising rates. “Crossover” isn’t happening because God is breaking down the barriers to the secular world to get His message out, it’s happening because we finally are willing to compromise and partner with the world to get airplay on secular stations.
Now, does anyone see anything wrong with this?
2 Corinthians 6:13,14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
In our rush to jump on the “crossover” gravy train, many Christian artists are going to all sorts of extremes: dropping the term “Christian” from their descriptions; signing with secular labels, managers, or booking agencies; playing tours with secular artists who promote every sin imaginable; and most frequently watering down the Gospel to avoid offending anyone.
Rationalization
The rationale goes like this: “Christian” labels are all owned by secular corporations anyway. And they’re all a bunch of hypocrites who try and limit my creativity. I (emphasis on the “I”) want to reach the world with MY (emphasis on the “MY”) music and they can’t promote me to the “real” world (just the Christian “ghetto”). If I sign with this secular label, then not only will Christians have the opportunity to buy my music, but the rest of the world! They can get me airplay on secular radio stations! I’ll be able to reach the world for Jesus! And, of course, the money and the fame won’t hurt either! Uh, well, I’ll keep the message positive and everything…I don’t want to offend or judge anybody…none of that stuff about God’s judgment, repentance, or Hell. They just need to know that Jesus loves them.
And that’s how we rationalize it. The money and the fame are things we don’t like to think about. We don’t want to think about the INTEGRITY of the Gospel. We just want to reach more people, right? But reach them with what? And what will we have to compromise to do it?
“Hey, if I don’t sign or partner with a secular label then I won’t get airplay and I won’t make enough money!” Then the RIGHT answer is then you won’t get airplay and you may have to work another job.
“If I don’t accept corporate sponsorship then I won’t be able to play the big arenas!” Then the RIGHT answer is you may have to play small venues and churches.
Do we really think that God would ask us to compromise the principles clearly stated in His Word concerning:
- Holiness (1 Peter 1:16)
- Loving the things of the world (1 John 2:15)
- Serving two masters (Matthew 6:24)
- Partnering with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14,15)
- Declaring the whole Gospel (Acts 20:27)
Talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water! We see hypocrisy in our Christian institutions so instead of calling for repentance and doing something about it, we just abandon it and go completely with the world! For Christian artists to give up on the idea of reaching the world with the whole Gospel using Christian methods, management, and labels is simply sin! Do you really think the world will help you reach the unsaved with the Gospel?! Do you really think the Kingdom of God is served by such compromise?
It’s like a Christian girl who grows weary of going out with Christian boys because they always seem to want to seduce her after they spend money on her. So she decides on giving up on dating Christian boys and decides to just become a prostitute because the Johns won’t be so hypocritical and she can make a lot of money as well. It just doesn’t make sense!
The Answer
The answer, my brothers and sisters, is not to go secular because Christian labels are owned by secular corporations to try and reach the secular world. The answer is to seek out and find those Christian labels and management companies that are run by Christians using Biblical principles. Don’t partner with the world to get on their radio stations but find other ways of reaching the world. Don’t water down the gospel to attract listeners but maintain the integrity of the Gospel wherever you go. Don’t seek to glorify yourself but seek to glorify Him. Don’t allow the preaching of your message to be used to sell the products of the world by taking corporate sponsorships. If that means that you don’t make enough money at it to do it fulltime then get a job and do it part-time. It’s all about your integrity before God and the integrity of the Gospel that He has entrusted you with. It may not be as glamorous and it may be a lot more work, but is it God’s approval that you’re seeking or mans?