Contents page | Christis archive | Submissions | Advertising | Links page | Meet the team | Cartoons | Subscribe | Christis timetable | Search Christis

Previous article | Next article

Photo: Ben Fletcher

At Greenbelt a few years ago I had an amazing experience. But one that left me with a lot of questions that I have never really answered. I was dancing to a Christian DJ, playing secular house music, in worship to God, and I had the impression of the angels in heaven dancing with me and the several hundred other people in that tent. It struck me that God created all music, not just the songs you sing at church; he also created the overwhelming desire you sometimes get to just dance and he created that adrenaline rush you get when you hear a good song that you love. That night, dancing with the angels, I learnt that worshipping God is not about the words you sing, it’s about your attitude.

This may seem fairly obvious, but it’s a point that doesn’t seem to have penetrated the realm of Christian dance music. The question I was left with after that night is, does Christian music need to have lyrics that mention God? In fact, does Christian music need to have lyrics at all? And if it doesn’t, how does one distinguish it from secular music? Is it enough for it to be written and played as an act of worship to God?

Photo: Ben Fletcher

I freely admit that I have long been a cynic when it comes to Christian music. I’m happy to sing it in church, but I rarely buy it because, in the genre of music that I listen to, I don’t think it matches up to the secular alternative. I would, however, also admit that Christian music has come a long way in the last few years. There are really good Christian artists writing really good pop songs and rock ballads and r ‘n’ b songs and punk tunes and amazing worship songs. But it seems to me that there’s an inability to get away from the idea that songs must have words and they must convey some kind of message. This is fundamentally inconsistent with dance music, which generally has no lyrics, and if it does they are usually repetitive and meaningless. This is not to say that dance music does not convey a message, because I think it does. Dance culture is about hedonism: live for the moment, do whatever makes you happy, don’t think about tomorrow. But does this mean that to combat this we need to write a song that tells the Gospel story in four verses with a catchy chorus and a drum ‘n’ bass bass-line? A lot of Christian dance music would seem to reflect this. And if it’s not preaching the Word in the song, there’s an MC shoving it down your throat over the top of the music.

This may seem like a bit of a petty complaint, but it takes only one look at the charts to see how pervasive dance music and club culture is in today’s society, and the charts only reflect the most commercial level of current trends. To give credit where it’s due, The Tribe (formerly the World Wide Message Tribe), based in Manchester, have done a fantastic job of reaching the younger, teenage, commercial market with their music. But I can’t help thinking that if they were to approach a person who spends their weekends at Gatecrasher and their summers in Ibiza, and asked them, “Who’s in the house?”, the answer wouldn’t be “God’s in the house”.

Photo: Damon Hart-Davis/DHD Photo Galleries

Several years ago I went to a night at a club in London called Abundant. It was run by Christians, but on the face of it there was little to distinguish it from any other club. The music was secular, the venue was a well-known club, some of the DJs were Christian, but they had secular DJs as well. They even sold alcohol. If you didn’t know it was a Christian club, you’d probably never have found out. But if you did know, there was the freedom to worship God with other Christians to music that didn’t make you cringe! I sometimes wonder about that club. I wonder whether the non-Christians there noticed something different about the place and the people. It closed down shortly after that and I think Abundant became a café/bar instead.

God promises that if two or more are gathered in his name, he will be there. If this is true, which I believe it is, then God actually was ‘in the house’ at Abundant. The question is, is it enough for non-Christians simply to be in the presence of God? Or do they need a talk at the end of the night, an MC preaching to them while they dance, and literature handed out at the door? I guess it depends on the purpose of Christian music. Outside a Christian context, should it only be used for evangelism? And does evangelism always require words? Or can it be an atmosphere or an attitude? These are questions that I still don’t have the answer to.

But this is what I think I do know. Jesus met people where they were; people like Zacchaeus, the Samaritan woman at the well, the sinful woman who poured perfume over his feet, and his own disciples. He related to them on a level they could understand and then lifted them to his own level. Music shapes whole cultures and identities in today’s society and we need to recognise the central role music has to play in the lives of a lot of people. We cannot hope that people will make do with commercial imitations that don’t meet the standards they are used to. We need to relate to people using a medium they understand, and then we can show them how much more God has to offer. I also believe that everything we do should be done to the highest level of our ability, as if we were doing it for God and not for man. This means at least attempting, if not succeeding, to meet the standards and traditions of the secular music scene. The Tribe sing, “This is the sound of a generation rising” Let’s at least try to make it a good sound!

But finally, and most importantly, I believe that every aspect of our lives should reflect the glory and the grace of God. This means not only dancing to house music at Greenbelt, but also dancing to S Club 7 in Ziggy’s! “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17)

Vicki Russell-Smith

We want to know your perception of Christian dance music and how it relates to secular music. Write to us at editor@christis.org.uk

Previous article | Next article

	Back to the Christis homepage

Last modified: 25th November 2005