In the mid to late 1960s, when Christian Rock came into being, through the 1970s is the first wave. Christian rock was an oxymoron to most people and the traditionalists fought it like it was Satan, himself. The bands which gave birth to Christian rock comprised the first wave.
The second wave was through the 1980s when Christian rock was accepted by many, and demonstrated that it would survive. The first wave gave birth and the second made sure it stayed alive.
The 1990s was the third wave when Christian rock reached young adulthood. It's fairly well accepted (with only a few still trying to kill it) and developing a strong voice in the Christian community, and reaching out into the mainstream community. I used present tense there, because I don't (at the time of this writing -Sep, 2002) believe the 21st Century to be old enough to claim an identity separate from the 1990s.
Christian rock saw growth in musical quality and in marketing. This growth caused a few disagreements, and I'll briefly introduce some of them.
Is Christian rock ministry or money-making industry? To be anything more than a campfire acoustic singer or amateur garage band, music has to be a full-time job. That necessitates making money at it. That raises another question. Should a Christian get rich through his or her ministry? Usually, the better bands make more money, but also reach more people. I think whether the money-making is "Christian" or not depends on how it's invested. Reaching people with God's word is what ministry is all about.
Whom should a rock ministry reach, and how? As, hopefully, I've made clear in previous articles, we have two audiences to consider --the Christian sub-culture and the mainstream. Some claim Christian rock to be merely entertainment for Christians. Mainstream record companies, for the most part, adopt that view. If music is called "Christian" it's unlikely it'll be bought by mainstream audiences. Since money, and not ministry, drives mainstream companies, they don't want to waste their time on stuff which has earned the Christian label, unless it's extremely good.
If an artist is outwardly Christian, he or she is usually only heard by the Christian community. The music is marketed by Christian music labels and is frequently distributed only to Christian outlets. This can be very frustrating for a motivated band which is called to reach more people than just the Christian sub-culture.
