Two of my favorite Christian music groups are Casting Crowns [“Who Am I”, “Voice of Truth”, “Lifesong”, “Set Me Free”, “Stained Glass Masquerade”] and MercyMe [“I Can Only Imagine”, “Word of God Speak”, “Homesick”]. I am not alone, as these are among the most popular Christian music groups today. Casting Crowns has sold 2.5 million records in less than 4 years, with both of their albums being certified Platinum (1 million CDs sold). MercyMe’s major record label debut Almost There is nearly a Triple Platinum, with one if not 2 other albums also being certified Platinum.
Recently, I purchased the special platinum edition of Almost There. The bonus disc contains an interview with Bart Millard the lead singer and songwriter for the group. I was fascinated by the story behind their hit “I Can Only Imagine” making it on secular radio. Two years or more after they released the song on Christian radio, a radio station in Dallas played their song after constant requests from a listener. The song was an instant hit and started spreading to other secular stations around the country. It peaked at #4 on the secular charts! Here is a retelling of the story I found from the time when it was just starting to gain momentum in the mainstream market. Here’s an industry report from Fall 2003 recounting the same thing.
What struck me the most in hearing Millard’s interview was his genuine Christian faith. He feels that the unlikely opportunity of his group consistently having songs played on secular stations is a calling from God to have a positive impact in mainstream music circles. Some criticize the group for “watering down” their lyrics, but I don’t think they are doing that. Millard says “…as long as the door to the mainstream market stays open, we wanna keep trying to walk thru it with messages that have a little more meaning than just a good pop hop hook or whatever.” And if you check out their CDs there are several overtly Christian (and more than that, meaningful and rich) songs. Rather than deviously trying to neuter their message to become popular, MercyMe is using the platform God gave them to proclaim Christ and the hope of the Gospel over secular airwaves. (Here is a recent online interview of Millard for further info.)
In researching this post, I was found out about Casting Crowns’ upcoming 3rd album to be released August 28. I am excited about that as their other two albums had such convicting and powerful messages. I’ve talked about the group’s amazing success before; and in a “sneak peek” video highlighting the upcoming album, I gained some more insight into the mission of Casting Crowns. As a group, they were content just targeting the youth in their home church and the local Atlanta region. But God called them into a more wide-reaching ministry, and now they are “singing to the Church”. Mark Hall, the lead singer and songwriter says they are not going to change much. They are speaking to the church, and so their songs are discipleship set to music. I’m sure you’ll be inspired and challenged by this video clip, and you’ll gain respect for Mark Hall and insight into his motivation for music ministry.
The point of this post is to highlight the motivations of popular Christian music groups. Many fundamentalists, even reforming fundamentalists, are uncomfortable with the rock style. Some fundamentalist leaders do their best to cast a shadow of suspicion on any, as they would say, “so-called” Christian Rock groups. I hope from what you’ve read above, that you will come to learn that these are distinctively Christian men who are ministering for God through music. This isn’t worthless “punk-rock”. This is extremely different from secular music. It may sound similar, but the message and the motivation are worlds apart. May God bless the ministry of these and other similar Christian music groups.
The spiritual quality of CCM/CWM today far surpasses what that genre of music represented a mere decade or more ago. Both Bob and I have the ability to listen to Northwestern College Radio (“LIFE FM”) both here in Sarasota, Florida and in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota area, and this is the kind of Christian music that is played on the radio. Thanks for the research on Casting Crowns and Mercy Me, and bringing this article to light!
As far as the debate within fundamentalism and some conservative evangelicals with regard to CCM/CWM, much heat has been generated rather than light. I can remember attending a fundamentalist college in the early 1990’s and being presented with the view that contemporary Christian music was wrong, immoral, and even ‘evil’. Some went as far as to say that one is not in correct fellowship with God (or, them!) if one listens to CCM/CWM, and such music was ‘banned’ from students while on campus. Thankfully some of this is changing, and for the better, at my alma mater. Hopefully the irrational fanatacism of anti-CCM/CWM advocates are being removed to the fringe of fundamentalism as being unneccessarily schismatic. Their polemics are causing hurt with their manipulative tactics and are defaming a medium of music that truly honors God.
So some people would claim a lot of bands are so-called “Christian” rock groups. And they’d be right.
Other people think bands like the ones you mentioned are so-called Christian “rock” groups. And they’d be right too.
I think as Christians we have to be careful that we strive for excellence in everything we do…I appreciate these bands hearts for ministry and it certainly seems like their focus is in the right place. However, there was a time when Christian artists were cutting-edge and trendsetting. Given the fact that we have the ultimate Creator as our inspiration to create art, shouldn’t our art be excellent? I’m not sure I would define either of these bands’ works as such. Sure, it’s good…it’s popular…but is it great? I enjoy reading http://www.dickstaub.com , he has some interesting thoughts along these lines.
To quote the great Hank Hill, “You aren’t making Christianity any better, you’re just making rock and roll worse!” 🙂
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Enjoy the blog, keep up the good work.
Joel,
Thanks for being crummy! Just kidding.
I agree with you to a point. Yes, Christian rock bands should strive to do everything to the best of their ability. This would include aesthetic excellence.
However, the very nature of aesthetics implies that there cannot be a definitive standard of excellence. These groups stand out among their peers as excellent and they produce great music. They may not be as innovative or original, or as avante garde as some might prefer. But the quality of what they produce is great, and it contributes to their overall emphasis on lyrical content.
And finally, we need to keep in mind the purpose and targeted focus of these groups. They are producing music that their targeted groups enjoy, and they are sticking to their purpose. Why the need to focus then on producing a “high art” version of rock?
Don’t get me wrong, being sloppy and just going with what’s groovy or popular at the time is not a good tactic. We as Christians should want to be producing the best art we can. We should be leading the way as we redeem various genres of music. However, I think we need to be careful in assuming certain groups are playing beneath their ability or producing inferior art. And with Christians, music often communicates more than it acts as art. It can do both, but majoring on communication has been the Christian thing to do.
I know I’m trying to have my cake and eat it too, but that’s my response!
Thanks for commenting.
Blessings in Christ,
Bob Hayton
Larry,
I would agree. From what I’ve listened to of older CCM music, the new stuff is much much better. Both in quality and message, actually.
Thanks for commenting, as always.
Bob
I love Casting Crowns´music. I don´t listen to a lot of CCM, I´m a cowboy and listen to country music, but the songs I´ve heard from Casting Crowns are full of truth and I love them!
As a person who hated CCM enough to feel immediately comfortable with a church that worships with acapella singing only, I can also tell you I love Casting Crowns’ songs. They are seriously about what being a Christian involves and the struggle we all have being what God intended.
While I would not be comfortable having Casting Crowns perform as part of our Sunday worship service, I believe that many songs, like “I Will Praise You in This Storm”, have powerful messages that God can use to encourage and edify us. It is not worship in and of itself, but it inspires worship in our hearts and minds. If only other “Christian” writers could do more than mimic the latest fads in music!
In an earlier article, you cited many notable opinions about CCM and this is my personal standard: If a non-Christian can’t tell that the song is about God and Jesus, mercy and forgiveness, faith and trust, then it’s not Christian music. Period. Anything that does less than glorify God’s grace and mercy, doesn’t bother mentioning His name or Jesus Christ’s, and doesn’t point the listener toward the Owner of all things is just entertainment.
Great stuff Bob!
Thanks, brother.
I definitely agree with this post. The argument that CCM groups are meaningless and that their songs are genre neutral as well as non-christian is outdated. Both of these groups have strong christian songs that are amazing, and no one can refute that. It’s not just praise and worship anymore, many groups now such as Casting Crowns speak strong truths throughout their music.
Thanks for the comment.