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Does anyone on here have an opinion about Christian Contemporary Music (CCM)?

19K views 137 replies 45 participants last post by  regenmusic 
#1 ·
I am a Christian who personally does not like it and I think "Christian Rock" is anything but Christian, but I am sure many others on here will disagree with me. I am just curious as to the opinions of those on this forum, particularly since it isn't Christian. I can provide arguments for why I do not like it if anyone is curious :).
 
#5 · (Edited)
I think you've gotta realise that the Hillsong stuff is meant to be sung by a congregation for them to worship whereas Bach's was (largely) sung by a trained choir. It is simply not a viable comparison. Singing Hillsong is a quite different experience from listening to Bach. Of course, it depends whether you're willing to be a participant and allow your spirit to be carried along.
No-one (not even the Hillsong writers) are going to say their music matches Bach. But they are writing music ordinary people can sing to worship in a congregation.
 
#7 ·
I highly enjoy music that glorifying God : J.S. Bach, Monteverdi, Mozart's Requiem, Vivaldi, Pergolesi, Handel's oratorios, Britten's Requiem... In recent composers, I enjoy some. Here are some exemples :

Arvo Pärt (many things to listen, this is just an exemple) :



Gorecki : beatus Vir :



You may not believe it, but Heitor Villa-Lobos composed some church music. Check it out :



Alan Hovhaness (most of his work is kind of mystical) :



Sofia Gubaidulina : Johannes Passion



Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more.
 
#12 ·
I think there should be a distinction between music that is meant for worshipping God and "worldly" music. You cannot simply take some contemporary pop/rock, slap lyrics about Jesus on it (and some of these bands sing about Jesus almost as if they were singing about their boyfriend) and worship God with it. And personally my spirit is much more uplifted by a Bach cantata or a piece like Brahms' "German Requiem" than by anything contemporary.

PS. Nietzsche should be taken with a grain of salt, but he had some fine ideas.
 
#14 ·
After a I long absence, I got back into classical music, specifically sacred music, because Christian music wasn't doing it for me.

I don't think Christian rock in itself is bad, but it sounds borrowed. Back in the early days of rock, the rock musicians stole from the church; they took the church music they knew and converted it into the secular. (Of course, I realize they stole from other sources also.) But now Christians steal from rock, which means they have to learn each new rock fad, no matter how vile, to convert it into something sacred. As a result, it doesn't sound authentic.

Praise and worship is another genre that doesn't quite click with me. There are some Christian praise & worship songs that speak to me, but a lot of it is repetitious and simplistic with words which don't call for much commitment ("Here I am to worship, here I am to fall down, here I am to say that you're my God"). And it's really boring to play; mostly three chords over and over and over. But I have a lot of 30-something friends who love this, and in my neck of the woods, this kind of music seems to be taking over, so I'm trying to like it.

But personally, I think praise and worship music is getting long in the tooth, and I'm looking forward for the next generation to come up with something truly authentic.
 
#17 ·
At the church where I am employed as the organist, we have two services:

One is very high church and quite traditional, the other is what we call "convergent worship" where we combine the old with the new. This is not 'happy clappy' music (which I loathe) but more contemporary versions of some of the standard hymns.

We do not have the budget for a 'praise band' every weekend, but we do bring in a percussionist and bassist on the festival Sundays of the year, at which we use also piano and electronic keyboard.

What I do not like is when a praise band will take something classical and turn it into a christian rock beat. Totally agree that they need to come up with their own material, and some new fresh stuff.

Meanwhile, all of our classical music will endure far into the future as it has already done for several centuries in the past.

Kh ♫
 
#18 ·
Thank you everyone for all your responses! :D

I see a lot of people on here are actually at least somewhat sympathetic to my position, but given this is a forum for classical music as opposed to soft rock, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised! The reason I am opposed to CCM is not so much because I think it is artistically lacking and shallow, but because I believe it is actually undermining the Christian faith! I know many will be offended by me for saying this, and I hope you will not feel I personally dislike you just because you may like it or even defend it: I don't hate you for disagreeing with me, even vehemently! I hope I don't make too many enemies here or even have people think I am a "wacko" but I feel strongly about this subject.

I hold the position of David Cloud on www.wayoflife.org about this subject. He gives some good reasons why Christian churches shouldn't "mess around with CCM" and why the music is helping lead to the "one world church." If you are Christian, you will know where I am going with this. If you are not, I hope you are curious anyway :) Just go to his home page and search about CCM if you want to know more. He has a plethora of articles detailing his stance and evidence for why he feels the way he does. Even if you don't ultimately agree, I hope the curiosity of some of you is sparked, and take a good look at them anyway.

Again, thank you for all your responses! I do appreciate them!

SongQuestion :)
 
#22 · (Edited)
First if all it depends on what Christian music you mean. Something like Hillsongs is certainly not undermining the Christian faith - the church numbers several thousands! It is the message of the faith that matters not the artistic merit. The fact is that God looks on the heart of the worshipper not on the artistic merit. The bible tells us to 'make a joyful noise to the Lord' not an artistic (or even tuneful) one.
As for Mr a Cloud, he represents a certain view held by a certain part of the church. He is actually talking in his blog about secular rock being adapted for church use (the Beatles were not Christian by any stretch of the imagination) not music written by Christians for churches.
 
#27 ·
I can't imagine a being like Jesus is really concerned either way. This kind of stuff is completely fabricated from and for the people of faith.

I can see him now, "Hey pops, they're singing my favorite jams. Brownie points!"

Just be a kind person.
I cannot honestly see how stuff can be 'fabricated from and for the people of faith.' You can't have it both ways as it doesn't make sense.
Christian worship,music is not something we sing to get us brownie points with God because we know he loves us. It's to express our love for him!
 
#20 ·
David Cloud? That guy does some cloudy thinking. As for so called contemporary Christian music, it's only a label, and making a sweeping judgement on all artists who may be categorized as such doesn't make any sense.
 
#34 · (Edited)
@Vesuvius - everyone goes by their own experience, but you can't extrapolate from that and say that 'plenty of people' at church aren't genuine or that it's 'usually' a social event. That's because you - just like me - are in no position to know that, not being omniscient or able to see into people's minds.

My own experience is different & I have encountered very few Catholics or Christians of other denominations (I am a convert) that I thought were phoney. But it's still 'just my' experience.

I don't particularly like 'ditties' or rock music in church services, but so what? It isn't artistic merit that counts in worship, but the wish to love/serve/be with God.

And the sincerity of that wish can only be judged by God.
 
#36 · (Edited)
By the way, Ingelou... I'm not trying to disregard your faith or your new finding of life. I think you're a sweetheart, and I always wish you the best. I'm directing at the 'pop culture' of the catholic way that I've been entangled in for half of my life as a youth. And it is complete nonsense... at least how the 'mainstream' has twisted it. The core message is quite beautiful, like most religions. But it doesn't take long for the populous to molest something enlightening.
 
#37 ·
Do I have an opinion about CCM?

I do, and it's not a good one. I haven't heard much and what I heard sounded schmaltzy and I just don't like pop music and have little interest in the genre that the CCM I heard was trying to fit into. It kind of sounded like music from a genre primarily oriented to the teenage listener that I would not have a lot of interest in anyway, with sappy, moralizing Christian lyrics grafted on.

Just as with hip hip and rap, there is probably some decent CCM around, but I am not interested in locating it. There's a LOT of great Christian classical music by composers I already love :cool:

I have, however, rather enjoyed SOME, not a lot, of gospel bluegrass and I have a Marty Stuart country gospel album, Souls' Chapel, that I am quite fond of, although I don't particularly care for any of his other stuff.
 
#41 · (Edited)
^ I use brief and direct prayer, a personal hot line, to meet my spiritual needs and listening to music for my entertainment needs. They are separate endeavours and this is how I like it :tiphat:

While Bach is a composer I love, I have never listened to his cantatas (yet): I think this type of music might be too 'churchy' for me. I am open to it, but I feel no rush to get into it.

You might meet your needs differently and that is fine with me :cool:
 
#42 ·
^ I use brief and direct player, a personal hot line, to meet my spiritual needs and listening to music for my entertainment needs. They are separate endeavours and this is how I like it :tiphat:

While Bach is a composer I love, I have never listened to his cantatas (yet): I think this type of music might be too 'churchy' for me. I am open to it, but I feel no rush to get into it.

You might meet your needs differently and that is fine with me :cool:
I don't listen to the cantatas for religious purposes. I just enjoy them as beautiful pieces of music. Same with the masses, passions, etc.
 
#44 ·
My younger brother is in the Christian rock business, and as far as I can tell it is a genuine expression of his faith as well as of his love for that style (~ "those styles" would be better) of music. He knows that a lot of conservative Christians reject it and as far as I can tell he simply isn't worried about them or their opinions. I have some hope that as he ages his faith will become more spiritual and less hateful, more about what and Who he loves than about what and who he rejects, but of course for that to happen he will have to escape the fundamentalist culture that we both grew up in. I don't have any hope for his music - it's pretty good already, there's no room for hope!
 
#45 ·
When I heard a Christian group who sounded like Steely Dan, I was repelled; but really, it's just using popular models as a vehicle, and ther's nothing inherently wrong with wanting to sound 'modern.'
 
#48 ·
Read and heard rumors. I've read and heard rumors about a lot of things but you need to go on facts. Of course some may be in it for the money. The only thing I can say is the people I know (which number quite a few) are sincere people. These are facts, friend, not rumors! Read the beginning of Shakespeare's Henry IV part 2 to see where rumor takes you!
 
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