“Are they a Christian
band?”
“Is this a Christian book?”
“Is he a Christian author?”
“I’m surprised I heard a Christian band on a secular
radio station.”
These are all things that all Christians have heard at
some point in their lives if they have ever spent time around a church group.
On the surface, these comments and questions seem innocent. But it seems
Christians have decided to fully accept every movie, every song, and every book
that crosses their paths as long as it is classified as Christian. Whether it
is a quality piece of art or not, there seems to be an obligation to support it
because of the morals that it promotes. This has, by default, created the idea
that non-Christian things are, in a sense, evil and should be scrutinized or
rejected with no thought other than that it is not Christian. This is a
dangerous and counter-productive mindset.
Most Christians do not think about what makes art good;
they only think about the morals that it promotes. The theme it communicates is
only a portion of what makes art good. Take the movie God’s Not Dead, for example. Almost every Christian I asked about
the movie, including myself, said something like, “It was a really good movie!
Its message was great!” Some went into further detail saying something like,
“the acting was bad at some parts” and, “the script and story line was
terrible.” But all that seems to be forgiven because of its righteous message.
Christians accept bad art because of its Christian message.
A Christian rapper, Propaganda, said, “the presence of
good art will unconsciously refine a community while poor art will do it
incalculable harm[1].”
Notice he did not say “Christian art;” he said “good art.” Good art, with
quality, thought, and good morals will refine a community, not bad art with
Christian themes.
Christians are pretentious to assume that their media is
the best and most upstanding.
It is as if nothing can be as wholesome as what we put
out. But why does wholesomeness make it worth anyone’s time? And if it is
wholesomeness you look for, why do we stop at Christian media? There are quite
a few bands, books, and movies that are popular with everyone that supports
wholesome morals without claiming to be “Christian.” The band Twenty One
Pilots, is a great example of this. Their music is exclusively played on
non-Christian radio stations, but their lyrics are all positive and wholesome.
Their song “Migraine” is written from the perspective of person fighting his or
her inner demons and telling him or herself that life is worth living. Another
song of theirs, “Ode To Sleep,” discusses guilt and redemption. Many Christians
don’t know about Twenty One Pilots because they only listen to music with the
“Christian” label on it.
When Christians mindlessly support bad art with good
morals, it does no one any favors. If Christians do not demand quality out of
their art, how will the rest of the world take Christianity seriously? If the
goal of media is to win souls and encourage the culture, how can we expect to
do that if the quality is terrible? If “bad art will do incalculable harm” to a
community, why do Christians keep making bad art? Christians need to focus on
making a good piece of art with a good message rather than a mediocre piece of
art with Christian messages.
