it's the end of the world as we know it

Okay, so somebody forwarded me an article from christianitytoday.com and it kind of ticked me off, so I wrote a response to the article that i've posted below. To read the original article, click here:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/commentaries/crossoverartists.html

First I would like to say that I understand the point that Mr. Pruitt is making, but a distinction should be made within “Christian” and “secular” artists to more understand the purpose of the artist and the art.

The only mistake that I believe Mr. Pruitt made in his argument is to not take it far enough. Instead of only breaking down musicians into two groups, Christian and secular, both of those groups need to be broken down further into artists that are making music in the hopes of it changing someone’s lives and artists that are making music in the hopes of changing their tax bracket.

I cannot disagree that there are many musicians on Christian record labels that “cross over” onto the secular charts in an effort to gain fame or fortune. There are, however, just as many artists who make music that is more implicit than explicit in its Christian themes in order to make these themes relevant and accessible to non-believers. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that “…Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hell-bent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense.” If a musician’s focus is to bring the message of Christ to non-believers, it is counter-productive to make music that speaks only in Christian verbiage.

But just as there are Christian artists who cross over into the secular market, there are secular artists who release their music as “Christian” for the one thing that the world does not provide: a captive audience. Many Christians have made a decision to engulf themselves in Christian media: books, magazines, music, and television. While all of these are good in themselves, they have also become a lucrative industry. If the Christian music industry was not a money-making one, would Warner Music Group spend marketing dollars on Word Records? Word is one of the largest CCM labels, yet the money that Christians spend on CDs by Word-produced musicians is put in the same bank account as the money earned on Puff Daddy albums. Big Idea Productions is also a part of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment, yet Christians who speak on the evil of the Harry Potter movies will gladly pay for a Veggietales video distributed by the same company.

If any of us were to go to church on Sunday to find an usher at the door collecting a $5 cover charge, what would our reaction be? Martin Luther’s 95 Theses deal significantly with the Indulgences, fees that were paid for confession or to “buy” relatives out of purgatory and into heaven. He preached that the message of Christ is free. If the message is truly free, then why is a CCM CD $17.98 at your local Christian bookstore (more expensive than the same CD at Target)? Why is the Christian bookstore’s price sticker on the book in my hand conveniently placed over the publisher’s barcode and MSRP (which is usually less than what I am paying)?

To judge the true motivations behind any artist, be it secular or Christian, you must first look in their wallet. Is this person truly dedicated to making their music heard by the masses? Or are they simply trying to find a way to make a (often very) comfortable living that doesn’t involve sitting behind a desk or working a cash register.

CCM artists that cross over into the pop music charts really don’t bother me. I feel pretty neutral about it, because in the grand scheme of things they’re all making music to pay big corporations anyway. However, an artist such as Sufjan Stevens’s crossing over into the college music scene with a message that begs to be heard is exactly the kind of ‘cross-over” artist we need. People that listen to independent artists will do so because they know that the music has a message and they are interested in finding out what any given artist’s message is.

I frequently purchase albums by artists such as Ani DiFranco, Damien Rice, Talib Kweli, Common - not because I necessarily agree with the message, but because I appreciate their honesty and vulnerability. If “Christian” musicians adopted the same mentality about making honest, transparent music about their faith (and occasional lack thereof), then the independent music community would embrace them as they have Stevens and Pedro the Lion, a Christian band that was listed on Spin Magazine’s “50 Best Bands You’ve Never Heard Of”. The “secular” community supports and accepts these musicians and their faith-based music not because they agree, but because they want to be around someone who honestly believes what they say, and they aren’t afraid to say it around people who don’t always agree.

Mr. Pruitt made the statement that one of the only scriptural references he sees mentioned in regard to crossover music is the instance of Jesus eating with the sinners, but what could be more important than the next verse, when Jesus tells us that he has come to save the sinners, not the righteous? If given the choice, I would less like to see the latest Third Day CD break into the Billboard Top 100 than to see Sufjan Stevens singing his song Seven Swans in a crowded bar or college lecture hall, ending with the lines “He will take you. If you run, He will chase you. He is Lord.”