Christian [insert noun or verb]

Posted by: Neil
in Commentary, Original Articles
30
Apr

What makes something Christian; not someone, but something? 

What makes someone Christian is obvious, but what makes a non-personal thing worthy of the adjectival “Christian?”  We use it all the time; Christian fellowship, Christian website, Christian music, Christian business, Christian this, Christian that, Christian the-other-thing… but what presuppositions allow us to add “Christian” as an adjectival modifier to a noun or verb?

In some cases it’s easy.  A bookstore carries only Christian books… (rats – did it again, used “Christian” as an adjective for a noun)… some bookstores carry only books written by Christians about Christian themes – therefore we call them a “Christian Bookstore.”  In other scenarios it’s more difficult.  A company that sells widgets was founded by a Christian man who runs it on Christian principle, and as far as the law allows employs mostly Christians – we call this a “Christian Company”… but why?  Widgets are neither inherently good nor evil; in fact they could be used to either end.

Taking an even more emotionally controversial subject – music: what makes music “Christian?”  Some would say “If the musicians are writing to the glory of God it’s Christian music.”  Others would say “Being written by a Christian is not enough, to be Christian music it must overtly glorify the Lord.”  Some would argue any style of music may be employed to glorify the Lord and therefore is a candidate for the coveted modifier.  Others would say that certain styles of music are inherently evil due to their beat or the culture from which they arose.  What qualifies music as “Christian music?”

How you answer this question will have a far-reaching domino effect on how you view the interaction between Christ and culture – and particularly what elements of a culture are “Christian” and those that are, nor cannot become “Christian.” 

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10 Comments(+Add)

1   Ricky Rickard, Jr.    http://ephesians25.blogspot.com/
April 30th, 2007 at 10:53 am

The principle should apply to everything, whether it is books, music, church, or anything else you want to apply the label Christian. Is it man-centered or God-centered? Is what it is saying Biblical? I mean I have heard Christian rap songs that are just as theologically sound as Spurgeon. I have also heard more contempory songs that are theological sound as Joel Osteen. But we should examine everything that we read and listen to and examine it by those points. If it is man-centered or doesn’t match up with what the Bible says, we should reject it. If it is God-centered and matches up with what the Bible says, then we should accept it. Rejecting something because it doesn’t fit our style is wrong. Our style should be the last thing we think about. Everything we say, do, read, and listen to should be to the Glory of God, not the glory of me.

In Christ,

Ricky Rickard, Jr.

2   Neil    
April 30th, 2007 at 11:21 am

The principle should apply to everything, whether it is books, music, church, or anything else you want to apply the label Christian. Is it man-centered or God-centered?

Rick,

I don’t disagree, but I think this too subjective. For example, what makes a song man-centered or God-centered… particularly if it is an instrumental. Even lyrics can be non-biblical-message-conveying yet true at the same time.

Again, I’m not necessarily disagreeing – just pushing the definition a bit for more preciseness.

Thanks for the input.

Neil

3   Ricky Rickard, Jr.    http://ephesians25.blogspot.com
April 30th, 2007 at 12:55 pm

Neil,

The question of what makes a song man-centered or God-centered is a simple on to answer. Who is getting the glory? Obviously, if a song is Biblical, it is going to bring glory to God. However, the non-Biblical song is not going to bring glory to God. Why? God has revealed Himself to us through His Word. We know His nature and character from His Word. So when we worship Him through song or writings, we adhere to what He has revealed to us. We cannot write songs that display a characteristic of God that is not conveyed through His Word. For example, this image that a lot of songs convey about Jesus being our great cosmic girlfriend waiting for us to call on Him portrays an image that is not Biblical. This then would be a song that is man centered. But a song that conveys God’s holiness, love, and mercy and praises Him for all that He has done and will do, that would be a God-centered song. He gets all the glory. I hope this clarifies my point. Let me know if you want more clarification.

In Christ,

Ricky Rickard, Jr.

4   Neil    
April 30th, 2007 at 1:15 pm

Rick,

Thanks, and I hope you don’t think I’m raising questions to be a contrarian…

I agree with your examples regarding songs about Jesus and God. No problem there.

But what about instrumentals? Can a song with no lyrics bring glory to God?

What about a song that has a subject other than God? Can a song with lyrics that describe truth bring glory to God?

Getting back to the original question. What makes a thing, a song “Christian.” How overt (e.g. lyrics) does it need glorify God to be Christian? Or does association make it Christian? can we say Bach’s Fugues are Christian because he dedicated them to God’s glory?

Neil

5   Ricky Rickard, Jr.    http://ephesians25.blogspot.com
April 30th, 2007 at 1:28 pm

Neil,

No worries. I have no problem answering questions.

Instrumentals: I think for the most part they are fine. In fact, I heard some beautiful instrumentals Sunday at church. Now if the instrumental is “Highway to Hell” than that is a different story. But for the most part I think instrumentals can bring God glory.

Songs with subjects other than God: Again, I would have to look at the content. A song describing the beauty of Creation without overtly mentioning God, I think that can because we are admiring His Work. Therein, He gets the glory. Now if the song is something like a Justin Timberlake song, I would say no. That is bringing man glory, not God.

Christian by association: I would have to disagree with this. I mean Hitler dedicated destroying the Jews to God’s glory. That does not make it “Christian”. Again, I would go back to the original point I made. To describe something or someone as Christian, it would be that they desire to bring God glory.

In Christ,

Ricky Rickard, Jr.

6   Neil    
April 30th, 2007 at 1:41 pm

Ricky,

Not familiar with Timberlake enough to catch the reference, but I think I got the point. And I agree with your comments regarding association as well… except Bach was a Christian ascribing something to God that does not contradict the Scriptures…

As for instrumentals – the only caveat I have on what you wrote is – re: “…I heard some beautiful instrumentals Sunday at church…” “beautiful” is in the eye (or in this case the ear) of the beholder. Just yesterday in church two people walked out on an instrumental piece done by the youth at our church – even though it was performed well, they deemed the style inappropriate.

Neil

7   Ricky Rickard, Jr.    http://ephesians25.blogspot.com
April 30th, 2007 at 1:57 pm

Neil,

I am not familiar with Bach. If he is a Christian and dedicating his work to God, then I would have no problem calling it Christian. He would be doing it for God’s glory.

The instrumentals I heard this weekend were done on an organ, and I thought they were beautiful. I am not sure what type of style instrumental was done by your youth, so I can not speak to that. I mean, I used to attend Baptist churches with guitars and banjos. Not my cup of tea, but it was used to bring God glory. It would take something really drastic style wise for me to get up and leave a church.

In Christ,

Ricky Rickard, Jr.

8   phil    
April 30th, 2007 at 2:20 pm

I think there are two separate things going we are talking about here. If you are talking about what music Christians listen too, then I think it is ridiculous to impose some sort of legalistic standard that says that a Christian must only listen to music written and recorded by Christians. I was at countless youth events growing up where the speakers urged the kids to go home and burn all their “secular” music anf movies, and while I believe these speakers had good intentions, I believe they were wrong. It is focusing entirely on the outside appearance.

The other issue is what is acceptable for a Christian artist to produce. Is it OK for a Christian to write and record a love song? A political song? A humorous song? Some people basically give the impression that the only acceptable venue for a Christian musician is praise and worship music. This just doesn’t make sense to me. Do we say that a Christian architect has to only design churches?

The fact is that the creative impulse comes from God. God is infinitely creative and since humans are created in His image, we have creative gifts. This is why I believe both Christians and non-Christians are capable of producing beautiful things, whether it be music, poetry, architecture, etc. If anything, Christians should be in the forefront of creative enterprises.

9   Neil    
April 30th, 2007 at 2:38 pm

Phil,

Music is just for illustrative pruposses – the real question is “What makes something “Christian?”

10   phil    
April 30th, 2007 at 3:13 pm

Neil,
I was using music for illustrative purposes as well. It’s probably the easiest thing, because it is something that a lot of Christians latch onto.

I would say a “thing”, as in an object, can’t be Christian or non-Christian. A thing only has meaning because of the ideas and people behind it. Ultimately, we live in a world full of symbols where people attach values and ideas to objects all the time. Even when we look at a painting that we would call beautiful, we are evaluating the painter, not the object itself, really. If humans (I mean colletively) were unable to create, we would not have the ability to appreciate beauty. When we hear a beautiful song, or see an awesome painting, we are seeing a glimpse of someone’s expression of the artists heart toward God. It creates a resonance within us.

So I guess ultimately, I would agree with what Rob Bell says, in that “Christian” makes a better noun than it does adjective.

One Trackback/Ping

  1. CRN.Info and Analysis    May 10 2007 / 3pm:

    [...] Over the years, I’ve noticed an attitude of sorts developed by some – not all – home schoolers, and similar numbers of folks who send their kids to “Christian” Schools [What makes a school “Christian”? - to reference Neil’s discussion on the usage and mis-usage of this word], as it applies to those Christians who choose to send their children to public schools.  This attitude popped its rather ugly head up again in one of Ingrid’s recent rants against the Evangelical churches in America. More than one hundred and fifty years after their Catholic and Lutheran counterparts had begun building Christian schools in America, Southern Baptists just managed a couple of weeks ago to issue a resolution officially calling on Southern Baptist churches to start developing some Christian schools in those multi-million dollar church buildings. [...]

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