Guest writer Kevin Janes, booker for Sojourn’s music venue, “The 930 Listening Room,” on the subject of music and the Church:

Understanding Music by Kevin Janes

Art never responds to the wish to make it democratic; it is not for everybody; it is only for those who are willing to undergo the effort needed to understand it.
- Flannery O’Conner

Here We Are Now, Entertain Us
“Here we are now, entertain us.” In 1991, a young man from Seattle named Kurt wrote these harrowing, profound words. In the Nirvana song “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” the lyrics were provocatively sung with angst, vitriol dripping from every word. What was he so angry about? Perhaps he was simply a confused, tortured soul, expressing his dissatisfaction through distortion pedals and Marshall stacks. But perhaps he was onto something bigger about the dumbing down of music, reducing it to mere ear candy, background noise for parties, restaurants and shopping malls, or a vehicle merely for vicarious thrills in a live setting. Ironically, the album Nevermind went on to sell millions, wooing crowds and making record label and advertising execs everywhere swoon. Copycat bands popped up all over America and signed huge record deals, peddling the new rage that was grunge rock. The public was entertained for sure. And then it all died, giving way to the next hip thing.

Such is the state of music these days. Our culture today is obsessed with sound-byte living. We want what we want and we want it now. We uphold fast paths to fame and fortune, but ignore hard work. We use music to sell products and entertain the masses seeking escape. There are notable exceptions in the mainstream, not to mention the scores of artists working independently, trying to create meaningful art that resonates with an array of emotions, ideologies, thought processes and ideas of beauty.

In short, music is an artistic medium, given to us by God, designed for expressing the world in a way that resonates with the listener. Instruments, sung voice, lyrics, notes, time signatures; all of these things mysteriously have the ability to piece together a final work that can inspire, enlighten, teach, admonish, rebuke, and yes, even entertain. But entertainment is not the sole purpose as major record labels, advertisers or American Idol would have us believe.

Looking for a Testament to Truth in Verse
Let us consider for a moment the music of the Bible. Turn to the Psalms and you’ll find many themes at work. There’s praise and worship obviously, but music does not stop there as the church has often, and unfortunately, assumed for years. The psalms also reveal truth about God, His many awesome attributes, the work of His hands, the love He showers on those who love Him and the punishment He issues on those who do not. But the psalms go further still. Consider the psalms of lament, psalms that reveal truth about the world, its ugliness and its beauty. Psalms about the evil hearts of men, psalms of joy and celebration, psalms of anticipation; the list continues.

We are all created in God’s image; therefore, we are inherently creative people. God first loved us; therefore, we can love others. We are told in 1 Timothy 4:4-5 that “everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” We are reminded in James 1:17 that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, sent down from the Father of heavenly lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” In Matthew 5:13 Jesus calls us the “salt of the earth,” called to preserve that which is good, that which is beautiful and to uphold truth wherever it reveals itself.

A strange thing has happened in the church over the centuries regarding music and art in general. We’ve compartmentalized and labeled all things as either “sacred” or “secular.” To be fair, there are obvious distinctions between music intended to praise the Lord and music intended to denounce the Giver of life. But what about everything else? It seems that this so-called “sacred” vs. “secular” dichotomy is not only false, but has been magnified in our current era of recorded music, whereby music is often viewed as a packaged, marketable product. We have “Christian” record labels that serve more as marketing schemes than havens for thoughtful art making, thereby mimicking their “secular” counterparts. The church has all too often, and not so subtly, given its stamp of approval on “Christian” music and denounced everything else, as if it were beyond the scope and control of God.

Are goodness, beauty and truth limited to those who are Christians? Is not all truth God’s truth? Does not everything good come from above? We know from Scripture that God has famously used non-believers and the work of their hands to reveal Himself and our stature before Him. Consider how one of Tom Waits’ devious characters written into a song can often reveal the evil intent of our own hearts. Meditate upon how a beautiful Wilco melody often diverges into a cacophony of distortion and “noise,” suggesting that life is often simultaneously peaceful and chaotic. Think back on one of Bob Dylan’s great protest songs and the injustices unveiled pertaining to civil rights or war. Or simply consider the joy of knowing true love as personified in a Ray Lamontagne song. It is the belief of a growing number of evangelicals interested in cultural renewal that we should view art this way, not discrediting or rejecting that which is good, but receiving it with thanksgiving.

Where Do We Go Now?
We have been blessed with The 930 and this holy mission to extend the gospel to those who do not have it, while simultaneously edifying and encouraging one another already in the fold. Through music and art, heard and viewed through the headphones and lens of Christ, we have a unique opportunity to be a cog in the great wheel of cultural renewal through gospel transformation. We Christians, image-bearers of God, equipped with grace and a knowledge of God’s truth and promise of redemption through the saving blood of Jesus Christ, should be the pace setters not only for creating great music and art, but critically thinking and meditating on it. By this estimate, Christians in the arts and those interested in the arts would do well to look for truth revealed in everything we encounter, as God is the author of all truth. At The 930, we seek to present artists that are interested in the work of telling the truth, whether they are Christians or not. Indeed, hold fast to what is good and reject all else.

This entry was posted Monday, October 1, 2007 at 10:58 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed, and you can leave your own response below.