Hell's Bells in 18 Parts
Well, the premise of this video was to show us how dangerous rock and roll music was. That if I listened to enough Fleetwood Mac and Journey, I WILL kill my parents and devour my neighbors cat. It was just inevitable. Not having a taste for cats, this scared the crud out of 6th grade Carlos. My brothers and I used dad's magnetic eraser (yes we still used tapes back then) to erase all of our tapes: Beastie Boys, Heart, Run DMC.... all gone.
Well, a teen's got to listen to music, right? Especially me!! I NEEDED music, because I NEEDED to sing. so I turned to this guy:
Yes, that's right folks, this is what I listened to for the next few years. And look, I've got nothing against Carman...its just a time in my life where I was so into myself and being the good, super-christian youth that only listened to Carman was the persona..the..umm....let's just say it was the mask I wore. So I can't really look at him without remembering what that felt like.
Here's my point: my roommate played a couple songs for me last week from a "Christian" rapper named Lecrae and two schools of thought popped into my head:
1) "Christian" music bothers me. The label...as if music can be saved or can save bothers me a little bit but I get over it. Mostly, the music is just terrible. I'm not talking about worship music. The reason worship music is so good is the same reason that mainstream Christian music is so bad. Worship music isn't trying to copy anyone or mimick a style... its just singing to God. Period. Why are Christian artists trying to be secular artists? I mean trying to BE THEM!! In the last month I've heard an artist that sounded exactly like Dave Matthews, one that sounded like the Nickelback frontman... and I kid you not: A band that sounded EXACTLY like Metallica. So what the crap are we doing? Trying to "trick" kids into thinking they're actually listening death metal and slip Jesus somewhere in the lyrics?!? Look, I listened to Lecrae. I actually like his songs, here's the "Listnin' to that Jesus music" song that was the blog title:
Lecrae - That Jesus Muzik
2) The second school of thought is for me to get over myself. God obviously gave these people wonderful musical gifts, and I'm giving them grief over using that gift to sing about Jesus?!? God gives us all gifts that we can use to honor and glorify him. And so as an example I also present the rapper Lecrae again... this is a guy who doesn't just rap non-alcohol non-sex stuff. He preaches in his raps!! I heard some pretty serious theological truths in his lyrics, he cites verses, invokes Paul... very impressive.
So this post may not make sense. Am I saying that it is OK for kids to listen to what they're listening to? Not exactly. I know for a fact that I wouldn't want my teen son or especially daughter to go around singing "I'm in love with a stripper." And I know for a fact that the junk we put into our minds will affect us. But can we fight the darkness of this world without trying to look like darkness ourselves?!? And can we please make Christian music that isn't trying to copy anyone? Am I crazy? Is this a stupid thing to get worked up about? What do you think?
2 comments:
Haha - we totally had CD sacrifices...
I agree with you on the music thing. And - you sound very Matt Chandler-esque. I know you're flattered!
You know, he's used that Hell's Bells thing in a couple sermons. Made me laugh every time, because I knew what he was talking about. And yes, totally flattered.
Post a Comment