A Bias Against...Music Packed with Truth?

(Slight intro: Because it's a fifth week, we are doing a few more posts then usual. The theme is contemporary music, which we'll be looking at through a lot of different lenses over the course of the next 4 days. Now the post: )

If a middle aged man walked up to you one day, out of the blue, declaring that your hair was just to simple. Those short brown curls were doing nothing for him. Where is the variety? Where is the style? Where’s the creativity? You probably didn’t even touch your hair from when you woke up to this afternoon besides washing it. You didn’t style it, you didn’t brush it, you didn’t use a blow drier, you didn’t even add gel. What kind of person in their right mind would even enjoy that bland…plain…stale…boring hair? He stomps off in a huff, barely even giving you a chance to say a word. Although…as he walks off, you can’t help notice his hair…or rather not notice it, because there is none. This guy is bald.

Well, that is a slightly odd story, but it’s happened to many times to me, and many other Christian teens of today. Almost every single kid I know over the age of fifteen claims that Christian music is bland, plain and stale, and, well…just more and more and more and more of the same. The instrumentals aspect of it all involves no creativity, no Christian Contemporary song uses more then 4 chords (either it’s the C-F-C-G pattern or the C-Amin-F-G, or a combination of the four chords in some other order) and the vocalists are nothing special. Christian music stinks.

Yes, that’s all I’ve heard from kids I know, and yes, they are Christians. Yet they choose to stuff their faces with the love-songs of today. Constantly. Over and Over. What’s wrong with this picture?

You know that old saying, jumping from the frying pan to the fire? Well, that’s what kids are doing when they deny Christian music and say secular music is so much way more like betterer and only dolts and old fogeys listen to Christian Music. Honestly, I can enjoy Christian music…and I’m certainly what you would call a ‘musical person.’ Some of my favorite bands to listen to are Leeland, Mat Kearney, Jason Gray, the New Frontiers, Lecrae, Chris Tomlin, Switchfoot, Sara Groves, Brandon Heath, and many others. Now, there’s a lot of different styles embedded in all the bands/artists I just mentioned, however, according to the kids I know, every single one of those bands is extremely low quality. Why? I really don’t even know. All of them (you might be able to pick a bone with me about Chris Tomlin, but honestly, I need that kind of music, often. What is so bad about praise to God lifted up to the same level as the other music you listen to?) use more then four chords in every song. I love their voices, more then a lot of secular artists (and a lot of Christian artists too, I’m not saying all of CCM is angelic, of course) and their music is very creative, to say the least. I’m really underplaying these people’s quality.

Now, let’s take a look at some non-Christian music. Just for kicks, I turned a secular station on that that plays a lot of hit songs of many different genres but mostly rock, Pop and a little Hip Hop (that rhymed :D ) The first song that came on? Broken – Lifehouse. I like this guys voice, though on the gravely side. Musicality? About as creative as your average Philips Craig and Dean song. Melody? Well, there are all of….3 chords in that song. Guess what. Chris Tomlin’s recent hit, “God Almighty” has 5. Oh, and the words are a lot better in the latter, let me tell you. A few hip hop songs played, and if anyone would like to contest Christian Rap’s quality, I have about a kajillion artists I would like you to take a listen to.

I really am not sure why so many Christian kids today are so eager to grab the closest O.A.R. album over the closest Jars of Clay CD, Caedmon’s Call or Clear. Truly, the quality difference is not even existent. Every Christian artist you call junky or bland, there is an equally junky/bland secular artist to pair up with it. Why are we so biased against the music singing God’s Word?