1st Anniversary of Christian Rock
The definition of music is really too subject to personal tastes to define, so Paul Wright points out many examples where music can be found: in a bird's whistle; from a blaring radio; a neighbor learning to play the drums; funerals; weddings; birthday parties; church services; basketball games; movies; schools; mothers with babies. Paul says, "We communicate, enjoy, and live in the beauty of musical expression."
Music is all around us, but it really doesn't have the ability to be Christian (any more or less than it can be satanic). Music can't believe in Jesus. So the Christianity is in our perception of what's Christian. When people try to determine what's Christian, too often they look at the Christian, and not to Christ. Christians are imperfect humans. Only Christ was perfect!
One trouble Christian rockers have, is making the standards. Mainstream rockers have it easier in this respect. All they have to do is to sell enough to motivate themselves to keep going. It doesn't matter what their music does, as long as it sells. Christian rockers have to sell to keep themselves in their ministry, but they must also meet content and lifestyle standards set by too many different people. The mainstream market has had higher standards of quality in music. In the past, Christian music might have been a way for mediocre artists to make their break. Christians were willing to settle for less polished music, because there just wasn't enough. That's not really the case now, but it's a hard image to shake. There are now some high quality bands doing only Christian stuff.
The Christian Message is, perhaps, the most controversial aspect of Christian music. Yeah, I know, some readers might say it's the beat of rock music, or the instruments. I firmly believe that's only a last ditch effort to discredit something they just don't like. They just don't have anything more substantive than that. It'd be the same as me condemning Southern Gospel as satanic just because I don't like the stereotypical drinking and loose-morals of lots of Country music. That'd force me to come up with evidence, real or made up, to support my claim. I could maybe convincingly say something like, "The banjo was originally invented for demon-summoning by Appalachian pagan priests." Without conclusive evidence to support claims, they're only claims.
The Apostle Paul spoke almost directly about Christian rock music. Read 1 Corinthians, chapter
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