Music Mondays - Manufacturing Controversy over a "Baby"

The 80's and 90's were curious times in the Christian music world.  Legitimate stars were being made. Some were even gaining larger audiences, beyond just the Church.

Yet, for those first mega-stars of the CCM world, any hint of "going secular" was met with automatic backlash.  One of those trailblazers was the queen of CCM, Amy Grant. Looking back, it's apparent her albums were less and less overtly Christian but it was "Heart in Motion" that was her pop music breakthrough. And it was the the #1 single "Baby Baby" that catapulted her to superstardom and put a target on her back for some.

This song made her the first Christian artist to record number one hit on the US pop charts. But not only did she get flack for selling out to the world, her video received criticism because it showed her interacting with a guy who wasn't her husband. 
Despite her assertions that her newborn was the inspiration for the song, some Christians tuned her out and dismissed the idea that a Christian could make quality 'worldly' music without morally compromising.

I personally think she handled herself pretty well through it all. Yes, her personal story would include a divorce that brought out a lot of critics. And while some of these criticisms might be justifiable, for me, this is all about what happens when we put our Christian heroes on pedestals and expect perfection.

She might be a cautionary-tale, but she's definitely a trail-blazer and an artist who's established an excellent career - both in the secular and sacred music realms.

Music Mondays - Manufacturing Controversy

Several years ago, as an pastoral intern at my home church, I was witness to a brief encounter after a worship service that really made me cringe.

Our church music was a "blended" style mixing contemporary songs with traditional hymns. As part of the worship set, we sang "Create in Me A Clean Heart" which is based word for word on Psalm 51. 

I was near the stage at the end of the service when I noticed an older lady in our church approach the worship leader and associate pastor. She told him she objected to that song because it mentioned "taking the Holy Spirit" from the author/singing audience. That was just incorrect theology and we should not have sung it. 

Now the leader graciously received her input and agreed with her theologically. As I remember it, he also mentioned that we'd sung that a few months prior and had made comments of qualification before singing it then (I do remember this instance and it was clear and well-done). He apologized for not repeating that step this time and promised to do so in the future. 

Crisis averted. 

On the one hand, it's good that this person was thinking critically about her worship. 

But at the same time, I'm cringing watching that go on precisely because of the context. Our church was staunchly theologically conservative with clear statements about their beliefs about Holy Spirit written in it's constitution. And this pastor had previously made a recent extra effort to clearly explain the nuances of our NT position in Christ vs. the OT differences - that affect seven words of a beautiful song about confession and repentance. Side note, how many other worship songs are there about confession and repentance?

Again, I'm all for discernment and thinking through what we're singing in worship. I don't want to dismiss the idea that our worship should be theologically sound. I'm very much for that. 
Maybe it's the effect of modernity on our society or maybe it's a ripple effect of the Church's own "Worship Wars" over the past 30 years but I've observed a lot of manufactured controversy over various modern and traditional church music. 

This case wasn't "manufactured" exactly, but over the next month or so I'll be featuring cases where some within Christendom have stirred up controversy needlessly. 

They will run the spectrum of very recent to very old. But all will be cases where - in my opinion - some people are "straining gnats while swallowing camels".

And if you have some examples you can think of, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Music Mondays

Going with an older traditional hymn this week in memory of Gordon Rhodes, a 96 year old WWII veteran who recently passed away. I officiated his funeral over the weekend and it was truly an honor to pay tribute to a man who wasn't just a war hero but also a great man of faith. 

There were many songs included in the service, but this week's selection wasn't actually one of them. It's a personal choice of a song that always reminds me of our victory over death because of Christ. 

This version is the classic version. I'll also always remember this song for the sped up A Capella version my Greek prof led us in occasionally at the beginning of class.