while reading this, i found myself shouting in agreement at least every few sentences.
first of all, yes! "christian music" is so easily recognizable on the radio to me, and i could never really find words to explain why it was so easy be flipping through stations, recognize the "christian music" and then inadvertently roll my eyes or feel embarrassed. this blog post by michael gungor of gungor (check their music out!) put words to what i was feeling. christian "artists" are making cheap and cheesy "art" and it all seems the same, and it all seems shallow...the opposite of what it should be. christians are called to be deeply creative; we have been created by a Creator who made us all ridiculously unique and deep and complicated in our own ways. i also agree with the article in that their are SOME christian artists who are making real art, real music from the depths of their humanity...but there are so many songs on the radio created to make sad christians feel happy, rather than to portray the depths of the human soul and point other deep human souls to Jesus, the only one who can give them real, meaningful peace (which, by the way, does not mean you pretend to be happy and nonchalant all the time). it's a matter of these "christian artists" choosing sentimentality over honesty and truthfulness, i think.
ahem. next, the alcohol issue. ALCOHOL IS NOT SINFUL. Jesus drank alcohol=God drank alcohol. Jesus made alcohol=God made alcohol. Alcohol is not sinful. It is not sinful to go out for a glass of wine with friends, in fact, i think it's a beautiful thing to spend time with friends drinking glasses of wine and talking about life and loving each other. GO OUT FOR A GLASS OF WINE PEOPLE. obviously, there is a point when you can be drinking too much alcohol. and an alcoholic person probably should not even touch alcohol, and their friends should love them enough to refrain from drinking in their presence. but the same goes for other things...food. there is a point when you eat too much food, or when you demand delicacy (read the screwtape letters by c.s. lewis, i think its chapter 6 or something in there...such a good depiction of the gluttony of delicacy). reading books at the library (this one's for the book nerds like myself). there is a point when you're reading so many books that you lose touch with reality or you neglect reading God's word. and the list goes on. the point is, anything can be taken too far, and alcohol is just another thing that gets taken too far sometimes. but that doesn't make it inherently evil or sinful to drink it.
anyway, here's the actual post, you should read it. let us all know what you think:
Zombies, Wine, and Christian Music
P.S. I would like to give a warm welcome to all of you from Russia who keep reading this blog, according to the stats. Привет!
Hey Amanda, I totally agree with you about christian music haha I have reserved a lot of criticisms for those christian artists who make "cheesy" music! I also share your embarrassment!
ReplyDeleteSometimes what bothers me about the so-called christian songs is the lyric. I feel like many of them are similar to one another, talking about the same things or sometimes even whiny. I understand that we need to rely on God and completely depend on Him, but we are also His soldiers. We're always in a battle. I think that deserves a good song that can lift up our spirits (and also remind us that we are in a battle)! Maybe because a lot of Christians are not aware of spiritual battle (or haven't been able to bring themselves to believing it) they don't think or talk about it a lot so the songs also reflect this state of mind?
That may have something to do with the worldview issue, I think. The pervasiveness of naturalism makes many people find it hard to believe that there are evil spirits and they are assigned to bring us down. Maybe in another blog we can talk more about spiritual warfare :)
About alcohol, I think we share the same view again :) I don't even know why people think drinking alcohol is a sin. Many times it's good for us, especially when you live in a very cold place since alcohol has an effect that warms the body. It's better to have some alcohol than dying in the cold. Even Paul told Timothy to have some wine for his health (I don't remember where to find it, but sure enough it's in the Bible).
Same thing about gambling, there is no verse in the Bible that forbids us to gamble. I myself don't gamble because I already know that I have the worst luck and I don't need a machine or anyone to convince me further. But I refrain from it not because I think it's a sin.
I had some of Gungor's music, I had one of his old albums and recently I've been hooked to his latest album. I read his blog, it's interesting. I actually thought of calling those music "unoriginal" and I did feel the "false emotion" in it, as Gungor put it, but since I don't listen to radio, I have nothing to compare :) Well, that "false emotion" thing might have something to do with me not listening to any christian radio too haha
Great topic! I feel the same way about the Christian side of alcohol. The other day a friend told me she was waitressing and a group of priests walked into the restaurant and each of them ordered a glass of wine or a beer, and my friend said she was confused, since she thought they weren't allowed to drink. But it's not true! It's absolutely fine in moderation, like you said :) It's interesting how many people have the misconception that being Christian means you can never have alcohol. That being said, I don't drink, but not because of my religion :)
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ReplyDelete@yuke- spiritual warfare is so huge. it's so real, but it's often times forgotten, especially in american culture i think. like you said, the naturalist worldview has seeped its way into general american thinking, and that doesn't leave a lot of room for angels and demons. i think that demons are very aware that most americans don't need to have a visual encounter with a demon in order to be won over, in fact, it is usually much more beneficial for the demon not to show himself but instead instill some idea into the person's head and call it an "american value" or the "american dream." i know in many other cultures that are attuned to the spiritual world, spirits are more likely to show themselves in order to try to control a person. but YES, that can be a whole other topic for a later blog post :)
ReplyDelete@kelsey- i'm so glad the priests were out enjoying some drinks, in public, and showing that alcohol can be used responsibly even by "men of religion" haha. and its totally okay to NOT drink alcohol. its really all about motive, and if your motive for drinking is sinful, then the act of drinking is sinful; i.e you drink to escape from dealing with the death of a loved one, a breakup, or whatever. if your motive for NOT drinking is sinful, i.e. you don't drink because you want to appear superior to others who are drinking, then i believe that your not drinking is leading to pridefulness, therefore your not drinking is what is sinful. again, its not the alcohol that's the problem. it's the sinful human being and what he or she does with it (or anything!) that is the problem.
Hopefully all I've written is making sense, I have been working nonstop this weekend it feels like, and am soooo tired. haha.
Hello, random passerby here.
ReplyDeleteI read something recently that said that all music is inherently Christian. Lyrics can be offensive to God, but music itself is a form of worship...and I just thought that was a beautiful thought!
I don't like most contemporary christian music either...