Lately, there’s been a spate of high profile worship leaders turning away from the Christian faith. Marty Sampson of Hillsong and Jon Steingard of Hawk Neslon to name two current examples at the time of writing, and people are asking “What’s going on?”
I’ve watched a couple of youtube videos featuring talking heads, or the artists themselves, and read the comments underneath. Lots of stuff about the Great Falling Away, and suchlike, which may or may not be true, but God has been busy in secular music lately.
You may not know, and I was surprised when I found out, that Alice Cooper is a born again Christian and God has been using him. Both the singer and bassist in thrash band Megadeth are now born again, one of whom is now ordained, because of God’s influence through his servant Alice. And it’s not just them, there are now quite a few born again Christians in secular musical culture. Mind-bendingly, the infamous shock rocker Blackie Lawless has also turned to Christ, which I could barely believe if it wasn’t for seeing the song “Golgotha“.
Having listened to Golgotha just now, it strikes me, (not for the first time), how visceral and moving music can be. I guess this might be what some people call “Authentic”. It certainly seems to be sung from the heart, and this somewhat crystalises what I feel about a lot of modern mainstream Christian music, that it lacks a certain kind of honest emotion. Singing happy clappy praise songs on a Sunday morning is one thing, but most of us do not spend the majority of our time in blessed bliss. Looking further back, some of Charles Wesley’s greatest hymns express some of the wretchedness and pain found in life, perhaps that is one reason why they are still so popular today – people feel their relevance.
People also listen to music throughout the week, from tunes on the radio in the office to a favourite CD in the car or on their mobile, and very often these tracks form part of their life. They pick music to have their first dance to on their wedding night, women pick songs to give birth to, or sometimes it triggers memories of people and times past and the associated feelings. It helps express emotion, both good and bad and brings meaning to them. And this is my next point.
Music is powerful, and people will often latch on to a favoured artist and their music. The music becomes part of their life, and by extension, they will also identify with the artist themselves too; frequently taking onboard views or ideologies a well liked artist espouses with less critical thought than they may otherwise extend to someone they feel less connection with. Fandom can turn into a kind of worship. For Christian artists, this obviously brings several responsibilities to the fore that secular artists rarely have to contend with in the same manner.
On the one hand I don’t object to large gatherings of people coming together to sing and play, or Christian music festivals and gigs, but it looks remarkably easy to fall foul of fan adoration, and I imagine very hard to keep your feet on the ground. This is probably why many secular artists go on to develop drug and alcohol addictions. However, Christian artists also have the moral responsibility to try and ensure their public behaviour and speech sets a theologically sound and Godly example that reflects their faith, showing leadership while at the same time keeping their humility intact as Godly servants to others. Hmm, that’s a toughie!
I would also argue that a worship artist also needs to bring their genuine selves into their art, warts and all. Worship isn’t just praise, it is so much more:
Romans 12v1:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship.
I believe people would be better served if as well as praise, worship bands also wrote more about their personal life experiences and in a much more frank way. We all know people in churches who seem to be some kind of breed apart. They appear to have such a wonderful christian life, and take everything thrown at them in their stride. Even when they do deal with difficult issues, it somehow seems to be more galant when they do it. It can be very disheartening to others, so opening up about doubts and questions can bring reassurance of not being alone and a way to open up conversation about such things.
What do you think?
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