I was sure that I had done something wrong. Please God, I prayed, let me have made a mistake. To be sure, this isn’t a normal Christian prayer, but these were extreme circumstances.
I was listening to the radio while driving to work when a boy band from the nineties came across the airwaves. This particular group has seen a recent resurgence in their popularity, but let me assure you it is in one very narrow demographic to which I DO NOT belong. Suddenly feeling an overwhelming surge of spiritual maturity, I switched my car’s radio to the local Christian station.
I could have sworn the same band was playing there as well. I started to sweat. I got the shakes. Maybe the world had ended, and I was left behind. Or worse yet, I was in hell where a bunch of squeaky-voiced posers played over the loudspeakers, time without end. The only difference between the two songs was the lyrics. ‘Rock yer something’ was replaced by half baked, tired Christian platitudes.
‘Git yer soouuulllll saved…”
‘Poooot yer hands in da aaiiirrrr, oooo yaaa!”
It appears, friends, that I have reached the age where I begin to disparage the younger generation’s choice of music. The date on my driver’s license has apparently given me permission to become close-minded and cynical.
Maybe.
Or maybe the Christian music industry’s primary concern is making money, and they know that the average consumer will buy watered down clichés that take no effort to produce as long as they mimic their more successful secular counterparts.(The author concedes that it may be a combination of these and other factors, which cause his fits of hysteria).
Thankfully, there are exceptions. I would like to recommend to you Picking Violets- a country/pop duo interested in more than just going platinum. (Full disclosure: I sponsor a child from Sierra Leone through their organization The Raining Season).
Can you recommend some music that won’t go stale faster than bubbliscious? It doesn't have to be Christian, per se, but let it have a message that is worth hearing. Let me know!
