See Monday and Wednesday for the first two days of discussion on this topic. First I established the idea of the Christian Marketplace as encompassing fiction and music with an evangelical audience in mind. The next post talked about the paradox that authors face in trying to meet the varied standards of the public. I left off introducing the same problem that Christian musicians have by ending with a quote from Bethany Dillon. (Poor Bethany didn’t know she was going to get dragged into this!)
But being attracted to someone and being wooed by someone and being affected by someone – those are so purposefully from the Lord to echo what He has for us. So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with enjoying a shadow of things, of the original. That makes me love the original better. So writing love songs and all those things, I put those on the record for that reason to give us a picture of what He’s doing. I think that’s an important thing to look at.
The controversy of a CCM artist discussing “wordly” subjects like love and relationships has been a problem in Christian music for a while. I remember the early 90’s, where there was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth with Amy Grant’s album Heart in Motion, which only had one song directly dealing with God, and most songs being nice pop love songs. After this Charlie Peacock released his album Love Life, which dealt with love both horizontal and vertical. He had a wonderful song called “Kiss Me Like a Woman”, with the provocative line “We can lie naked and unashamed/ Made one by divine connection” in describing the relationship between a husband and wife in a Christian context. I remember an interview he gave where he said he wanted his son’s idea of a love song to be “Kiss Me Like a Woman”, rather than “I Want to Sex You Up” by the group Color Me Badd (think Justin Timberlake nowadays).
I think it is getting better in the CCM realm. There are bands like Switchfoot, Relient K, and others that write about a variety of topics without having a “Jesus loves you” chorus in every song – although it is still remarkable enough for Variety Magazine to write about it (see this interesting article! – hat tip to Thunderstruck)
My pondering in all of this is: what is a Christian artist to do? In exploring the problem, is there a place to go with all of this?
There is a purpose to this discussion – I promise. I am coming to a head, most likely on Monday (ignoring the groans of everyone who just CAN’T wait :P). In the meantime, check out this little Mac vs PC parody.
See Monday and Wednesday for the first two days of discussion on this topic. First I established the idea of the Christian Marketplace as encompassing fiction and music with an evangelical audience in mind. The next post talked about the paradox that authors face in trying to meet the varied standards of the public. I left off introducing the same problem that Christian musicians have by ending with a quote from Bethany Dillon. (Poor Bethany didn’t know she was going to get dragged into this!)
But being attracted to someone and being wooed by someone and being affected by someone – those are so purposefully from the Lord to echo what He has for us. So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with enjoying a shadow of things, of the original. That makes me love the original better. So writing love songs and all those things, I put those on the record for that reason to give us a picture of what He’s doing. I think that’s an important thing to look at.
The controversy of a CCM artist discussing “wordly” subjects like love and relationships has been a problem in Christian music for a while. I remember the early 90’s, where there was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth with Amy Grant’s album Heart in Motion, which only had one song directly dealing with God, and most songs being nice pop love songs. After this Charlie Peacock released his album Love Life, which dealt with love both horizontal and vertical. He had a wonderful song called “Kiss Me Like a Woman”, with the provocative line “We can lie naked and unashamed/ Made one by divine connection” in describing the relationship between a husband and wife in a Christian context. I remember an interview he gave where he said he wanted his son’s idea of a love song to be “Kiss Me Like a Woman”, rather than “I Want to Sex You Up” by the group Color Me Badd (think Justin Timberlake nowadays).
I think it is getting better in the CCM realm. There are bands like Switchfoot, Relient K, and others that write about a variety of topics without having a “Jesus loves you” chorus in every song – although it is still remarkable enough for Variety Magazine to write about it (see this interesting article! – hat tip to Thunderstruck)
My pondering in all of this is: what is a Christian artist to do? In exploring the problem, is there a place to go with all of this?
There is a purpose to this discussion – I promise. I am coming to a head, most likely on Monday (ignoring the groans of everyone who just CAN’T wait :P). In the meantime, check out this little Mac vs PC parody.
On Monday I introduced the idea of the Christian Marketplace, dealing with art and entertainment, specifically the pop culture elements of fiction and music. What was my prompting?
During the last fantasy blog tour, I came across this review of The Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock. Here’s a snippet:
It was a little hard to follow, but had a decent plot and likeable characters. About halfway through, my opinion of this book steeply declined. The reason? A bedroom scene. Ms. Hancock aptly incorporates a highly descriptive scene where the main character sleeps (and does a few other things!) with the girl he likes. I’m usually not one to be revolted by mild sensuality; the only other book I’ve stopped reading because of the sex was a Robert Ludlum novel. This, however, was just too much. I would expect this from a secular novel, but it was disappointing in a book that billed itself as “Christian.”
First of all, the reviewer is wrong, or at best misleading. The scene was written in such a way that the reader knew what the character was dealing with, without crossing into unneeded voyeurism.
However, this example highlights a problem with the Christian marketplace – the reviewer felt a need to make a judgment on an artistic work based off of spiritual standards. Actually, that’s something we all do to a degree: do we accept the worldview and particulars presented to us in entertainment? Many Christians like the movie Braveheart due to the ideas of sacrifice and freedom, but some couldn’t (legitimately) get past the nudity or violence.
But Christian artists live under a pressure to create with expectations. I don’t mind that this reviewer felt the scene in Eidon was too much for her sensibilities. I don’t think it was even wrong to put a review saying, “Hey, y’all might want to watch out for [x] or [y].” I get disconcerted when she challenges an author’s walk with God and quotes Philippians 4:8 as a condemnation for those who might actually read (uh-oh) and enjoy (gasp!) this book.
Don’t get me wrong. We need to judge what we can handle or not handle. And we shouldn’t end up with reading Christian “porn” or erotica. But can you see the dilemma for the Christian artist? You may write a scene that you think is needed for the artistic integrity of the story, and that you’ve done it in a creative way that is within reason. All it takes is one offended individual to post something on Amazon, and you lose potential readers.
This problem doesn’t just exist for Christian fiction. Infuze has an interview with 18 year old singer/songwriter Bethany Dillon. I really haven’t listened to her, but have heard good reviews about her work. In the interview she has to defend herself from writing love songs!
I’m very much a girl and feel that the feminine soul is made to be completely distracted by a story like that. I mean, probably the masculine soul as well, but seeing as how I only have my experience… [Laughs] But I think that you’re so right. There are things – not as an accusation – but I think the American church especially seeks to control and pacify so many things that it shuts down anything that could be slightly messy or that could have a couple mistakes. We have an obsession with very controllable things.
Where do we go from here? I’ll take this up soon (either before or after a review of Chris Well’s new book).
On Monday I introduced the idea of the Christian Marketplace, dealing with art and entertainment, specifically the pop culture elements of fiction and music. What was my prompting?
During the last fantasy blog tour, I came across this review of The Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock. Here’s a snippet:
It was a little hard to follow, but had a decent plot and likeable characters. About halfway through, my opinion of this book steeply declined. The reason? A bedroom scene. Ms. Hancock aptly incorporates a highly descriptive scene where the main character sleeps (and does a few other things!) with the girl he likes. I’m usually not one to be revolted by mild sensuality; the only other book I’ve stopped reading because of the sex was a Robert Ludlum novel. This, however, was just too much. I would expect this from a secular novel, but it was disappointing in a book that billed itself as “Christian.”
First of all, the reviewer is wrong, or at best misleading. The scene was written in such a way that the reader knew what the character was dealing with, without crossing into unneeded voyeurism.
However, this example highlights a problem with the Christian marketplace – the reviewer felt a need to make a judgment on an artistic work based off of spiritual standards. Actually, that’s something we all do to a degree: do we accept the worldview and particulars presented to us in entertainment? Many Christians like the movie Braveheart due to the ideas of sacrifice and freedom, but some couldn’t (legitimately) get past the nudity or violence.
But Christian artists live under a pressure to create with expectations. I don’t mind that this reviewer felt the scene in Eidon was too much for her sensibilities. I don’t think it was even wrong to put a review saying, “Hey, y’all might want to watch out for [x] or [y].” I get disconcerted when she challenges an author’s walk with God and quotes Philippians 4:8 as a condemnation for those who might actually read (uh-oh) and enjoy (gasp!) this book.
Don’t get me wrong. We need to judge what we can handle or not handle. And we shouldn’t end up with reading Christian “porn” or erotica. But can you see the dilemma for the Christian artist? You may write a scene that you think is needed for the artistic integrity of the story, and that you’ve done it in a creative way that is within reason. All it takes is one offended individual to post something on Amazon, and you lose potential readers.
This problem doesn’t just exist for Christian fiction. Infuze has an interview with 18 year old singer/songwriter Bethany Dillon. I really haven’t listened to her, but have heard good reviews about her work. In the interview she has to defend herself from writing love songs!
I’m very much a girl and feel that the feminine soul is made to be completely distracted by a story like that. I mean, probably the masculine soul as well, but seeing as how I only have my experience… [Laughs] But I think that you’re so right. There are things – not as an accusation – but I think the American church especially seeks to control and pacify so many things that it shuts down anything that could be slightly messy or that could have a couple mistakes. We have an obsession with very controllable things.
Where do we go from here? I’ll take this up soon (either before or after a review of Chris Well’s new book).
