This got too long for a comment box, sorry. My husband would complain and say just “cut to the chase.”
Gina from Chats With “An Old Lady” left a comment on the post “Katie Perry aka Katie Hudson“.
I appreciate her thoughts and I totally agree with her conclusion:
We need to be careful not to follow anyone 100%…whether it be an author or a musician. No one will be 100% or without error. We need to sift. We need to teach our children to sift.
That is why I encourage everyone to be Berean and compare everything to the scriptures:
Acts 17:11 “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” NIV
I won’t say that all CCM artists are bad nor will I say all the songs are bad, but from what I have seen I would rather err on the side of caution than risk insulting my Lord.
I use the term CCM in the sense that the industry does, nothing derogatory is meant against those who are writing some beautiful hymns today.
I agree we need to teach our children to discern, but discernment requires making judgments. There is no way around it. The problem is that many of today’s parents are not using discernment and many parents are clueless about the supposedly “Christian” music their children are listening to on “Christian” radio and are being introduced to at church youth groups. Most of the parents I have known trust that if it says “Christian” it will be fine for their children. They have often told me, “At least it isn’t secular music!”
Steve Camp, previous CCM musician, has written The 107 THESES: reclaiming a reverence for God in ministry. In it, he expresses his concerns for the direction CCM music is going.
Recently, I researched the CCM industry and specifically the youth music for the families at our church. Over 90% of the parents had no clue who the children and youth were listening to – they had just accepted that it was “Christian”. Since the Youth leaders had no problem with the music, why should they question it?
Upon spending months researching, I was shocked by what I found. Many songs:
Glorified Death
Continually discuss Suicide
Have Jesus as my girlfriend style songs
Used New Age Terms such as “Rebirthing”
Nonsense terms and expressions (“This is my skizzle. For Izzle.”)
Derogatory remarks about parents
Glorify rebellion vs. submission
Misrepresent the character of Jesus – rebel, punk rocker, better than drugs
During concerts often perform music from secular groups.
Replace Jesus name with He, Him, etc., as if you can hear a song with the capital letters and be able to determine a difference.
Songs dwell on Satan and evil
No clear presentation of the gospel in the songs or the websites
Casual, familiar treatment of Jesus – no longer Lord, but your buddy, your homeboy
The over whelming recipient of CCM’s praise is “You”, which is probably more true than they would like to admit. Meaning that they do not sing about “Jesus” but instead sing about “You”.
The lifestyle of the artists:
Endorse and use alcohol
Curse words are common in many artist’s language
They listen to and style their music after secular groups.
Immodest attire and actions
Multiple Earrings and tattoos are commonplace
They say “we don’t preach” just want to have fun
All of that is bad enough but they are also teaching a different Jesus:
JR “Not A Slave” video – shows a spirit coming from a box
“Better than pot – Jesus rocks” & “Smoke on his love – believe” – Barren Cross
Rastafarianism – P.O.D.
This is long I know but truly most parents do not know this. There are many parents I know who are raising their grandchildren, for various reasons, and they just aren’t as able to do research about certain issues. I spent months researching this night and day in order to warn parents about a particular event. This post explains more about it.
Is Contemporary “Christian” Music Christian?
The fruit of that research is located at:
(warning it is long – 325 slides and just as many that weren’t even included)
It includes pictures and lyrics, but not one music piece. The focus was totally on the lyrics and lifestyles of the artists. Someone with a musical background will have to discuss the difference in music better. I can recognize it but not explain it. This piece covers some that issue.
Warning!!! The following is not for the weak of stomach or heart. This one video was the proverbial last straw. I include it for you to see how a teen has interpreted Skillet’s song “The Last Night”. Don’t watch it if you already understand the problems of what our children are listening to. It might give you nightmares.
Sorry the video is no longer available. However, the video showed a young teen girl regularly cutting herself due to the stress in her life.
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