You’re not making Jesus better...

I play weekly in a Contemporary Worship service at my church. The service mixes video clips with modern Christian music. Over the last year I have had a lot of experience with contemporary Christian music and let me say that it is not very good.

The problem seems to be that current Christina musicians believe that by writing about God, they can ignore everything else that makes a song good. They don’t concern themselves with creating interesting melodies, incorporating dynamics, unique chord progressions, or any thing else that would make a song interesting because they reference a Bible verse. I have played a song that where the whole structure was to repeat the verse, there was no chorus, ad infinitum while raising the key a half step with each round.

The other problem is that the lyrics are as bland as the rest of the songs. Take a look at this song, not exactly Dylan. For more examples, just look at these song titles. Again, the simple act of writing about God is enough for these artists. Contemporary Christian sales are surging while the rest of the industry struggles to deal with downloading; remember your commandments. I wonder what would have happened if Michelangelo had taken this same approach?