CCM and The Music Industry

I grew up on hymns and praise choruses and the Maranatha! singers music. Well. And whatever sappy love songs or pop my mom listened to in the car.

I didn't grow up with a whole lot of CCM. That's Christian Contemporary Music, in case you aren't down with the lingo. The CCM industry was just starting to really boom when I was a teenager. It was a new experience for me.

I remember the very first CCM cd I got. (And I was thrilled to get a cd, as cds were fairly NEW back then. I had just graduated from cassette tapes.) Anyway, I was in high school, and a friend and I decided to go check out a meeting that the FCA club was having. (Fellowship of Christian Athletes.) Well. *She* wanted to go, and asked if I would go with her. I have never fancied myself an athlete.

Soooo, we went. And while I found the meeting less than thrilling, at the end they had a nifty little drawing. I think the leaders of the club were trying to get the kids more interested in Christian music, as most of us all listened mainly to whatever was on the radio. I can only speak for myself, but my dad listened to a lot of classic rock (think 60s-early 90s) so I listened to a lot of that. I loved 80s music. And I listened to whatever top 40s hits were playing as well.

This drawing involved having a number called, and if it was yours, you got to go up and select one of the new *Christian* cds they had purchased. My number was picked fairly early on, while there was still a big selection. Only problem was, I had never heard of any of these bands before. Still, I looked at the covers and picked out a D.C. Talk cd. It was their newly released Jesus Freak album.

My friend's number was selected a few turns after mine, and she chose a Dakota Motor Company cd. {Remember them, anyone??}

So we took our cs home and listened to them and gave the whole CCM thing a try. I liked my cd. Eventually, I collected more *Christian* music. It was amazing to me that the Christan book stores had so much to choose from in categories like rock, alternative, metal, etc.

I gotta say, some of it was good and some of it not-so-much. But I did greatly expand my musical repertoire. Yay me.

Now, my oldest son is almost the age I was when I got that first DC Talk cd. He listens to a lot of the same bands I did. And some new ones too. But maybe being a mother has caused me to ponder things from a new perspective. I think CCM is good and fine, with a great big *IF* attached to the end of that statement. I think it is good and fine *IF* the main goal is to glorify Jesus Christ in the music, not just sound like the rest of the hip, cool ,trendy world and make a new market to sell albums.

I guess I am saying you can not just add some Jesus to your lyrics and call it good. I think today's youth inherently knows this, and often that is why they shirk CCM to begin with. Because some of it is phony.

Please don't misunderstand. I'm all for CCM. *IF*

I'm not going to try and judge the hearts of the musicians behind every album. That's not my job. I just know that when it comes to selecting music, and helping my children select music, the one question I come back to is, does this help us glorify God?

I've got a mess of opinions on music, but the long and short of it is I believe music is inherently spiritual. And it is powerful. Ever been in the grocery store and gotten a song stuck in your head? I have. Lots of times.

Just makes me more careful about what I deliberately put in my head and in my children's.


How about you? Do you have any thoughts on CCM, or just music in general?

~amy danielle