Perhaps one of the more interesting genres of music is that style known of as "Contemporary Christian". This genre includes rock, reggae, jazz, rap, and others. However, there are problems within the genre. Mostly the problems are of a theological nature. That is to say that a good bulk of the songs are little more than watered down gospel feel good songs that don't even mention Christ Jesus or the Lord God Almighty.
However, of greater concern are songs that are vindictive in tone. The "Need to Breathe" song "Washed by the Water" is one such example. The lyrics are mostly repetitive. However, the opening lines are highly vindictive. Indeed, what follows are those vindictive opening lyrics with a systematic line by line breakdown. The inappropriateness of the it should become evident rather quickly.
"Daddy was a preacher"
In and of itself, a seemingly innocent statement. However, for an opening line, it borders on being a form of self justification.
"She was his wife"
What is the relevance of bringing one's mother into the picture unless there is some form of sin involved? Again, the issue of self justification is of concern here.
"Just tryin(g) to make the world a little better"
Every Christian is called to seek to share the news of the gospel. In like manner, we are called to be stewards of what God has given us. However, there is nothing that specifically directs us to try and make things better, that is an implied response to the message of the gospel.
"You know, shine a light"
Shine a light? This isn't very clear, especially in the context of the previous statements. This lends to a very specific question. What were the artists parents doing? It would seem that whatever the unmentioned activity was, the artist is trying really hard to justify actions that may well be sin.
"People started talking"
People can and do talk. There is nothing new here. However, if the pastor is doing something and people begin to talk about it, likely there is a problem. Indeed, many are the stories that can be told of pastors who went rogue and did things that were contrary to scripture and the creed of the local parish.
"Trying to hear their own voice"
A rather accusatory statement. If anything, it would seem that discussion began because of a pastor doing something that was contrary to scripture. It is also a possibility that the pastor may have done something contrary to a decision of the church council or the belief statement of the church.
"Those people tried to accuse my father"
The moment the statement "those people" comes into play, the song automatically became vindictive and accusatory. Indeed, there is certainly no way for the listener to know what the accusation was or if it was justifiable. Hence, whatever the dispute, the artist is being irresponsible in making this statement.
"Said he made the wrong choice"
Perhaps that is the truth. Perhaps the pastor did make the wrong choice. A congregation has the right and responsibility to reprimand a pastor that goes astray. No church should tolerate a pastor that is engaging in either questionable or outright sinful behavior. However, given that the listener is being forced to accept whatever the artist is saying, it is irresponsible of the artist that the full story is not given.
"Though it might be painful"
Truthfully, it would seem that the artist is the one carrying the pain. Unfortunately, he is trying very hard to dump his pain upon the listener rather than cope with it appropriately, with a rather vain attempt to justify the actions of his father. Again, it seems likely that sin was involved and that perhaps even the artist was hurt by it and yet he did not dare question his father about his actions.
"You know that time will always tell"
Time is funny. The past is but a memory, the future is a dream, and all there will ever be is today. Yet, ironically, time does tend to eventually bring out the truth, though not very often is it in a way that we expect. Sometimes, the truth really isn't what we want it to be. Time does often reveal this. Unfortunately, when we reject that revelation, we attempt to put our own spin on it in order to justify ourselves or those we care about.
"Those people have long since gone"
There are two very distinct possibilities here. Either they left the church in frustration, disapproving of the actions of the pastor, or they died. Notwithstanding, they are no longer there. Given that they are gone, it allows for the artist to attempt to justify the actions of his father as there is no longer anyone who can hold him accountable. This is actually a case of pride. However this form of pride is rather sinful and needs to be repented of.
"My father never failed"
Really? Any honest Christian would, could, and should argue that failure to reconcile is still failure. Hence, now the artist resorts to lying in order to justify his father's actions.
An e-mail from a local "christian" radio station states that the station manager believes this song is about overcoming gossip. Not true. Anyone can break down this song and clearly see that likely gossip was not an issue, sin was. In like manner, anyone can also see rather clearly that overall tone and grammatical structure of the lyrics are vindictive in nature. One does not need a college level english class to see this.
Sadly, this is just one example. Another such song is called "My Jesus". In it is the accusatory statement that if Jesus went into a modern church he would like be kicked out. In this particular case, it is a blanket accusation against the Christian church as a whole. Please note for clarification that there are actually two different and distinct songs by this title. The one referenced here has the singer(?) screaming frequently the words "I want to be like my Jesus".
Another song of worthy note, though not because of a vindictive tone, is "Nicole Nordeman" and her song "Brave". Beautiful song. However, there is no mention of Christ Jesus and his gospel. There is a vague line about "its your love that breaks the chains". However, that "your" is so unclear as to have little true meaning.
In a nutshell, when considering Christian music, content must be carefully considered. Songs like "Brave" are watered down feel good fluff that does nothing to carry the gospel message. Songs like"Washed by the Water" are vindictive and self justifying, having no proper place in Christian music. Honest, Bible believing Christians should shun songs like these. The fact that such songs even exist only serves to demonstrate how desperate the situation really is. Contemporary Christian music needs songs that speak directly of Christ Jesus and his sacrifice upon the cross. Christian music does not need songs that are watered down feel good fluff that can be played anywhere without offending people, for the cross is an offense to those who are perishing. Nor does Christian music need songs that attack the church and its people from within. Such songs only serve as ammunition for the forces of evil, death, and the devil. These songs serve only to keep people out of church, which is precisely what the devil wants.
If you are reading this, you are encouraged not to buy albums that contain songs like these. You are also encouraged to call your local "christian" radio station and urge them not to play songs like these. The church needs to stand up for the truth of the gospel and it needs to stand firm against those both within and without that would otherwise destroy it. There is and can be no middle ground.
