Who is to blame, the Chicken or the Egg? Whose fault is it that I find myself lacking good new music for Christmas and particular Advent that works well for a praise band? Is it the fact that deep down we are all traditionalists and do not believe you can do better than Silent Night on Christmas Eve, which I would agree with, and O Come, O Come, Emmanuel during Advent? We have a lot of great traditional music for Advent and Christmas so maybe there is simply not the market for new music for these seasons, even music that fits the instruments and emotions of a new generation. I would argue we have great Easter music too, and yet that does not stop artists from coming up with new ways to sing about the sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Christ. In fact without singing about those things lot of newer Christian music would not exist. So maybe it is a theology problem, most new Christian artists have been raised in more conservative evangelical churches that focus much more on the resurrection of Christ than on Christ's life. For this reason they are inspired more by his death and therefore compelled to sing more about that aspect of his ministry. Maybe theology is more the reason for the lack of music than market need/interest.
To add one final question to the puzzle, can good music not only inform, but also help create good theology. Maybe good theology is too loaded a word, but I would argue that a theology of Christ needs to be balance between Christmas and Easter and that Christ was born to more than just die. So if we had bands singing more songs about Christ's birth in the language and style that resonates in evangelical, Easter-oriented churcches would that help to shape their theology in new ways. Even if there is not a need in more main-line traditional churches to redo or attempt to replace some of the classics this time of year, for the sake of theological diversity and growth, do we need more Christmas songs that appeal to the same people who love songs with a more Easter theme to them? What do we fix first, the chicken or the egg? Do we try and change musicans first or the culture? How does a praise and worship service celebrate Christmas?
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2 comments:
gbod.org has a good article on musical hospitality...basically they say not to do something "new" or different musically during Christmas because the traditional songs evoke memories & are familiar. Even if a person is in church twice a year, they typically know the traditional Christmas carols, but wouldn't know a new arrangement...
Interesting questions raised here Jeff. I am intriqued by your statement about contemporary artists focusing on Jesus' death and resurrection and not his life. Perhaps songs about taking on the establishment, doing justice, and loving your neighbor (and not in the cheatin' country song kind of way) don't sell as well. Although U2 seems to be able to make a pretty good living at doing that, albeit in a more subversive manner than many Contemp. Christian artists do. I think good songs do come from good theology and from a living liturgy; songs that are based on those factors are the ones that eventually become the "old standards". Thanks for the interesting blog! Advent Blessings, Jeff
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