7.8.06

The Entertainer

We live in a very entertainment-oriented culture. TV, Internet, IPods, they all contribute to our "need" to be entertained. The area of music is no exception. Teens and young people spend many hours a day listening to music. That is why music is such a powerful medium for spreading ideas and philosophies. Even when entertaining, music is spreading some sort of philosophy.

Obviously, Christian music spreads the ideas of Christianity, and can be utilized to spread the Gospel. However, as I mentioned before, most Christian music is geared toward entertainment.

Christian music? Entertaining? "Surely not," you say. Well, when you think about it, just how much spiritual value is there is today's Christian Contemporary Music (CCM)? How much is devoted to actually lifting you up, and how much is just "fluff," devoid of substance? To be honest, I don't really like to listen to Christian radio very much because much of the music tends to make me feel worse about myself by continually hearing about someone else's shortcomings and struggles. It is somewhere in the fuzzy gray area between spiritually helpful and neutral. It is just fluff.

Thank God for Christian music and Christian radio. At least I have the option of listening to the secular junk that plays on most other stations. And I am not against wholesome entertainment. I do listen to the radio sometimes, and I will watch a good movie from time to time. But as I said before--and will probably say again--a steady diet of entertainment, even good, Christian entertainment, has the potential to take up your time with God and do more harm to you than good. And be very careful about the content of what you are listening to.

So, what does this have to do with songwriting? As a songwriter, you must decide what kind of music you are going to write. I would like to point out four kinds of Christian songs that you could write:

1) Christian songs of entertainment. These songs have a positive message, and may mention God or Jesus. They may be fun songs that you would like to hear when you are driving, or performing some other task. My sister and I wrote a song called "Sing," which encourages the listener to sing through circumstances. It does not even mention God, but it is still uplifting.

2) Christian songs of encouragement. These songs are based soundly on God's Word, and give messages that will build your spirit. They could be a direct adaption of Scripture, or base on a Scriptural theme (as all songs should be). New Creation Realities is an excellent subject for these kind of songs.

3) Christian songs of evangelism. These songs portray the Gospel for sinners. This is a great type of music, but tricky to use. They must be perfomed in the right way at the right time. A performer of these songs should be careful not to "cross over" in order to reach the lost.

4) Christian songs of praise and worship. These songs are in a class of their own (that's why they don't start with "E"). They are the highest and best in Christian music. There are numerous verses in the Bible that command us to praise and worship God. They are songs that minister to both God and the singer.

So, what kind of music are you going to write?

Until next time,

Think on These Things

Tim Heider

2 Comments:

Blogger kmolhusen said...

marvelous post, my lad, simply marvelous. Could you perhaps elaborate on "crossing over"?

11:23 AM  
Blogger Tim Heider said...

Yes, I will elaborate on crossing over...later. I've got some other stuff to write about first.

By the way, thanks for commenting. You're probably my biggest fan!

6:58 PM  

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