Oh, no. Not again.
I saw it sitting there, its gold and white eyes boring into me, taunting me: "I'm back. You can't escape me. I am Contemporary Christian Music."
I perused the black and white cover: '30 Landmark Christian Songs of the 70's, 80's, and 90's.' "They've finally done it," I thought, as a chill ran down my spine. "The best of Christian music sold by Christian companies to a Christian audience." I envisioned two possible meanings of this flagrant use of the word "Christian": 1.) The word "Christian" has become a demographic term rather than a solemn reminder of the power of Christ dwelling in persons. 2.) The word "Christian" has become an archaic term for a bizarre group of people who removed themselves from contact with anyone outside their esoteric circle because a man claiming to be God lived 2000 years ago and told the poor, rejected, and unclean that they were loved and could be forgiven.
Okay, so maybe I'm a little apocalyptic. But after 21 years of bombardment from Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye, who can blame me? But what better chance than a WoW collection of WoW songs to reflect on what's so WoW-ingly Christian about "Christian music"?
The 2-CD album (one CD leans toward rock, the other leans toward inspirational) purports to be the "definitive collection" of Christian music over the last thirty years. But what is it that makes this music Christian? Does it mean that other music is not Christian? It can't be that this is the best music by Christians, or the music that most glorifies God, or the most artistic expressions of searching for God. You will not hear U2, Van Morrison, or Aretha Franklin on a WoW collection, because they are not part of this "Christian music" genre. Neither will you hear songs by the innovative artists on labels like Squint and Tooth and Nail--only on the Big Three conglomerate of Word, EMI, and Provident.
Maybe Christian music needs to stop growing commercially and start growing artistically. (What if all Christian artists agreed to take a one-year sabbatical from performing and producing to seek God in earnest, devotional prayer and reading?) Maybe Christian music is not as Christian as we think. (And secular music is not as secular as we think.) Maybe Christian music needs to be less inspirational and more confrontational, less enjoyable and more edifying, less profitable and more prophetic. Maybe, just maybe, a person out there will be inspired by an artist like Larry Norman or a song like 'What If I Stumble?' and will someday be an artistic prophet in the wilderness or a prophetic artist for the Christian community.
At some point the Christian community became a Christian culture, and our music reflects that. Fortunately we have a God of second chances.
Besides the problems inherent in a Christian music genre, what exactly is it about WoW Gold that frightens me so? A three-way tie:
1) A purported collection of the best Christian music in the last thirty years includes a Carman song. I don't know whether to be upset or just ashamed.
2) You can now own, on 1 (one) CD: 'Friends,' 'Butterfly Kisses,' and 'Thank You.' Do not run another sappy slideshow until you own this CD.
3) This is the first volume in an interminable series of must-own collections. Question: Can I lose my salvation if I don't own every WoW CD?
All together, the WoW albums "have sold in excess of $100,000,000" according to the press release. I believe it was the Gospel of Matthew that records the Great Commission: "Go ye into all the world and make money in all nations." But things may be changing. A portion of the 2-CD WoW Gold profits will go to flood relief efforts in Mozambique. Hopefully this signals a change in Christian music from CD and t-shirt costs being determined by market forces and the classic supply-demand curve to a reinvestment of earnings into the outcast people whom God loves as much as the persons wealthy enough to own a CD player or walkman.
I must let you in on a secret I've been harboring throughout this (misdirected?) tirade: I am glad to have a copy of this CD. Not because I am particularly interested in owning it, but because I know people who would love to have it. This is the great secret of the WoW CDs: they are best used when given away. If the idea is to expose more and more people to talented Christian artists--and many (but certainly not all) of the musicians, singers, and songwriters featured on this collection qualify as "talented Christian artists"--then no one should own a WoW CD for long. Buy it, listen to it, give it to a friend. Music is a gift of God, and, like his love and his mercy and his forgiveness, it is fully received only when it is given to another. Maybe then it becomes "Christian music."
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Zik JacksonFor those fans of Christian music who have not begun collecting it until recently, the first release in the new WoW Gold series makes a great addition. For those avid fans who have been buying the top releases of the last ten or more years, you probably already have all of the albums from which this collection is derived. WoW Gold is as it claims, "30 landmark Christian songs of the 70's, 80's,…
