CCM often feels perfectly packaged. Artists need to fit a certain image and sing about certain topics in order to maximize their popularity. This is probably true of the entire music industry, but when your audience is Christian you are dealing with a whole different set of expectations and standards.
Maybe sprinkle in a little bit of honesty and transparency about the difficulties of life but not too much. CCM often drift towards that safe space and really always has.
Every once in a while though, someone breaks the mold. The first major exception like this that I can remember was this song:
"What If I Stumble?" was the track after dc Talk's megahit "Jesus Freak" on the album of the same name and the contrast of tones what startling and made me and many like me sit up and take notice. dc Talk was hugely popular in Christian circles before this album but their fame hit another stratosphere after it. And in the middle of all of this, they had the temerity/vision/arrogance/humility to include a song about doubt, vulnerability, and frailty.
Self-awareness, transparency, and weakness are not common subjects in CCM. "What If I Stumble?" broke the mold. And that's what the songs in this series are all about.
I fully realize it is Wednesday and also it's been almost an exact month since I last posted for Music Monday or anything. But here we are.
I was listening to a podcast earlier this summer that takes a look back at various pieces of Christian culture. This particular episode was analyzing the Newsboys album "Step up to the Microphone". For me, it was a trip back through memory lane to my later high school years of the late 90's.
There were a number of radio hits from that CD, but the song that I most appreciated remembering was one not featured as a single - the last track, "Always".
That song had always resonated with me, probably because of it's chorus highlighting God being our "Father in my fatherless days". This song reflects a story of fatherly abandonment and finding God's healing help in the aftermath of that. My story is about a father who died - so it is different, but the truth still resounds in a powerful way.
So for the next few weeks, I'll be highlighting songs that tackled serious subjects. CCM often retreats into clichés and bland theology, that while usually true, doesn't connect to real life. But every so often, an artist or artists will break the mold and venture into the challenges of reality. And as we'll see, the result is often some of the best work they do, even if it's not the most popular.
When you've been labeled a certain way, it gets hard to shed that reputation. Sometimes those are earned. But I've recently been thinking about how many times in my life I believed something about someone based on no evidence at all and/or because all my peers did. This has all been provoked by my current sermon series on misunderstood women of Scripture. All of these characters have been unfairly maligned to one extent or another, but this past week when we looked at Mary Magdalene was a doozy. She's been cast as a everything from a reformed prostitute to Jesus' secret wife. None of these theories are rooted in Scripture though. Luke 8 mentions her as a close follower of Jesus who had been delivered from demonic possession. But there's nothing about sexual immorality or anything of that kind in any of the Gospel accounts which never hold back on people's sin. In reality, she demonstrates a high-level of devotion both as a student and a supporter of Jesus. Her life was a dramatic witness to Jesus' divine power and she was undoubtedly a key source for the Gospel writers as they compiled their accounts of Jesus' life. She's an example of how God can transform us, just not in the scandalous way we've been led to believe. And she's also an example of how we can faithfully follow Jesus as disciples.
Renaissance artists helped perpetuate these myths about Mary Magdalene, portraying her in a penitent-but-sensual light.
FWIW, this all started (probably), with a sermon Pope Gregory gave in AD 591. He confused and conflated a couple different stories of a couple different women (Luke 7, 8, John 12) and made them all about Mary M.
Bats aren't actually blind. Some can see better than humans.
Napoleon was above-average in height for his day.
We don't have five senses, we have closer to twenty.
The woman Jesus interacts with at a well in Samaria was a promiscuous relationship-addict who went from one man to another looking for the right guy.
If I haven't made it obvious, it is the last bullet point. Don't believe me about the first three facts? I refer you to this resource. Don't believe me about the last one regarding the story from John 4? Let me refer you to this article (and/or the Sandra Glahn-edited book "Vindicating the Vixens" which features that same article as one of it's chapters).
The article makes a compelling case that when we study the marriage practices of the Biblical world, we'll see this woman in a very different light.
During her famous discussion with Jesus, he reveals that he supernaturally knows she has been married five times and is living with a man who isn't her sixth husband. It doesn't indicate she was divorced that many times - which would be unheard of when we compare it to other ANE (Ancient Near East) records we have. And even if she had five divorces on her marital resume, in their world, it was rare for a woman to divorce her husband. Women had next to no legal rights and would have to find a male advocate to initiate these proceedings. Men on the other hand could find lots of excuses to divorce their wives. Though they would suffer dowry loss for any reason other than adultery. A dowry was the material wealth a woman brought into the marriage. It was the only lifeline a woman had to protect her if her husband decided to abuse the system.
So that brings us to this woman in John 4. which is more plausible? That she was the town tramp who hopped from bed to bed looking for love in all the wrong places? Or that she had husbands who died and/or husbands who had divorced her? That her current living situation was one of illicitly co-habiting or one where culturally they were seen as married? Or maybe it was a situation of bigamy, where she was like Hagar, essentially a second (class) wife. Her townspeople receive her testimony without reservation when she tells them of her interactions with Jesus. The eager reception and the lack of skepticism or hesitancy help convince me that she wasn't wearing some 'scarlet letter' in their minds.
John 4 is a lot less scandalous when we understand the historical context. Her theological curiosity and insight rise to the surface upon deeper reflection too. Maybe she wasn't thirsty for love but rather thirsty for healing and the truth.
What is also unmistakable is the fact that Jesus satisfies her longings. She didn't even fully understand what she was searching for, but Jesus provided it in abundance. He reached across social barriers and sidestepped needlessly distracting controversies. And he did it all to bring salvation to that woman and her town.
The beautiful thing is, that previous paragraph also applies to you and me. He quenches our thirst and he compels us to disregard the barriers and reach out to those around us with the offer of living water found only in Christ.
5. Napoleon Dynamite, "The Promise", When in Rome A sweet, quirky, funny movie stumbles into a pitch perfect song to end the story. "The Promise"is a quintessential 80's song and Napoleon Dynamite takes place in a world seemingly stuck in the 80's. Both the story and song have a lot of heart though.
4. Stand by Me, "Stand By Me", Ben E. King
This is a quintessential "coming of age" movie and the ending hits you right in the gut. Clearly they had no other choice to play this song at the end. But they certainly earned it. 3. Lone Survivor, "Heroes", Peter Gabriel Another ending that hits you right in the feels. Lone Survivor is a harrowing account of a Special Forces operation in Afghanistan. When Gabriel's version accompanies pictures and videos of the soldiers portrayed in the movie, the gravity of the movie becomes all the more real.
2. Fight Club, "Where is My Mind?", The Pixies Fight Club is a crazy movie with an all-time twist ending. So how do you go out with a bang? Go with The Pixies' haunting and lyrically-nonsensical "Where is My Mind?" A match made in metaphor heaven.
1. The Breakfast Club, "Don't You (Forget About Me)", Simple Minds Is there a more iconic closing frame than Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club? John Hughes had a knack for blending the right songs with his great stories. This is the best movie-ending song ever. There's a reason a music-centered movie like Pitch Perfect makes a whole thing of it.
I believe it was watching the end of Stranger Things season 3 that inspired me to figure out my top 10 favorite songs that come up at the end of movies. Admittedly this is a bit obscure but again, Stranger Things' finale had a powerful moment with Peter Gabriel's "Hero" and it got my mind wandering down this rabbit hole. My evaluation is based off how well the song fits with the overall tenor of the movie. A fun movie ought to have a memorably fun song. A dramatic movie should have a powerfully evocative number to punctuate the finale. This week, I'll cover songs 10-6 and finish it off next week. By the way, a lot of the videos I'm including have spoilers...so you've been properly alerted. 10. Edge of Tomorrow, "Love Me Again", John Newman.
Ok, I'm going to cheat on #9-10 because these songs technically play right as the credits roll. But especially in this case, it's a fun song that matches what was a surprisingly great movie. I first liked the song because of it's original music video which is an homage to Romeo and Juliet. And while this movie really doesn't have any romance, the song just fits the energy of the Tom Cruise pic.
9. Oceans 11/ The Bourne Identity - "69 Police" David Holmes, "Extreme Ways" Moby.
Up until I fact-checked this five minutes ago, I was under the impression that Moby wrote both of these songs. Whatever genre it is, you can inject it straight into my veins at the end of these movies because they just ooze "cool".
8. The Graduate - "The Sound of Silence", Simon and Garfunkel
This is a classic final scene well staged and well acted. And the cherry on top is Simon and Garfunkel's classic ballad.
7. Heat - "God moving over the face of the waters" - Moby
This is one of my all-time favorite movies (don't watch the first five minutes of the video below if you don't want it spoiled though). There's something gratifying, honorable, and powerful about this instrumental by Moby. The movie earned this ending and this ending earns this song...if that makes any sense.
6. Drive - "A Real Hero", College Electric Youth
Drive is an unique movie to say the least. But it's really more stylish than strange because of it's soundtrack. It's capped off perfectly by this song. I don't know who College Electric Youth are or where they are from, but it feels like this song was created to play during this exact scene and at the conclusion of this particular movie.
Thank you for indulging me in this little vanity project. More to come next week!
We just returned from our Brethren Church National Conference which was held at the beautiful and spacious Ridgecrest Conference Center outside of Ashville, North Carolina. It was a busy week so we took our time coming back this weekend and made it a mini-vacation which was a good decision. Having some time to reflect on the conversations, meetings, and sessions I thought I'd share some of the key quotes I am taking away from this year's gathering. It turns out all of these are from our main speaker, Karl Vaters, who is an author, pastor, and expert on small churches. He proved to be a perfect fit for who we are and where we are at as a denomination. A little background, The Brethren Church traces its roots back to 1700's Germany when a movement was birthed out Anabaptism and Radical Pietism. Fleeing hardship and persecution, these original Brethren moved to the American colonies and continued many aspects of their spiritual and social lifestyle including being agrarian (farming) people and remaining German-speaking for many years. These preferences led them to starting churches in rural areas to begin with. And while various groups have splintered off and no longer maintain this path, it still provided the foundation for where we began and where our churches were planted. Because our specific denomination did not dramatically change course we remain in mostly rural areas with mostly smaller churches (50-150).
And here is where the Conference's themes and Vater's expertise comes in to play:
"Small is not a problem, virtue, or an excuse."
IKEA and Starbucks are both wildly successful businesses with vastly different business models (h/t to Vaters for this genius analogy). We don't have to compare ourselves with bigger ministries and we don't have to arrogantly believe we're better because we "provide a better personal touch."
"A healthy church will not necessarily experience numerical growth."
Numbers may accompany healthy ministry, but not always. We need to divorce ourselves from the assumption that numbers equal health and health equals numbers. More quotes to come, after the break...
