Or at least just puzzled.
You see, I ALWAYS have had a strong bent for music. I was first on stage singing at 6, learned piano at 7, and composed starting at 12. But it wasn't until I got into the church at 20 that my music started getting a mandatory edit by the church. Anyone who knows my story knows I started church 21 years ago at a United Pentecostal church.... VERY strict on music, we really weren't supposed to listen to anything BUT Christian music, though at least I did discover black Gospel choir music (which I STILL love) so I kinda glommed onto that-- if I was gonna HAVE to listen to Christian music, it's gonna groove! I did wind up loving some of the music a lot, and it became very meaningful to me....HOWEVER, there was a large part of Christian music that Mike and I, as musicians, puzzled over. Why was the music so vanilla? Why did so many of the songs sound the same? Why was the music so behind the times? And WHY on God's green Earth would tone-deaf folks who were CLEARLY terrified still want to stand at the front of the church, uncomfortably holding a cassette insert with lyrics in one hand, a mic in the other, and butcher some poor Christian tune and make everyone present have to bite their lips to endure it? There are MANY questions I could address here, but I am focusing on only one in this blog.
WHY was it wrong to play in a secular band?
There were all sorts of verses thrown at us, and rest assured-if you are reading this and are determined to "fix" the fact that I enjoy and play secular music, keep in mind that I have already heard every argument under the sun against this, and have VERY fully studied this out, I have had no choice, as it is one of the only professions with this expectation. I gave up any kind of secular music for about ten years, and only rediscovered it after I had been out of the superlegalistic Holiness denomination for a while. Yet even among evangelicals, there were some that were REALLY offended as we started to do more and more secular music.
But here is the deal: Would you want a carpenter who had only built church furniture to build your house?
Would you prefer a surgeon who had limited experience because they would only operate on Christians, or one who had extensive experience on all sorts of people from all walks of life?
Would you really expect any businessman to shoot himself in the foot by taking ONLY work from Christians and no one else?
And even if they could, is that even how God wants us to live? Aren't we supposed to be salt and light, spreading good taste and brightness everywhere--not in a holy huddle, all covered up and coddled against a world we are supposed to be helping?
I remember Mike being constantly harassed by one person for listening to secular music; they could NOT understand why in the world he couldn't just listen to something Christian that was similar, and Mike came up with one off the best ways to explain this that I have ever heard; goes like this.
Let's say there's groups of Christian football players across the US, and they decide to have a Christian football division, let's call it the CFC. They play each other in Christian venues, for Christians, and the guys and the teams all know Christ and...great idea, right??
So... would you still watch the NFL?
I already know your answer, and here is why you would still watch it, regardless of whether the people on the teams are Christian or not.
NFL players have spent a lifetime on one skill. They are absolute experts in their field, having developed the precision and ability that only repeated, intense practice can bring. They are professionals, they are the BEST.
So why aren't musicians who happen to believe in Christ allowed to be that good--playing and practicing wherever and whenever possible, that when it DOES come time to play music that is specifically about God, it is GREAT music, and not lame?
I am in three bands right now, outside of leading god-songs at Radiant; the Justmann band which is a ten-piece band with a horn section, a jazz band called Uptown, and a classic rock band called Downtown; and I sing for anything else I can possibly sing for...why? Because, when it comes time to sing music to and about God, I want to have invested my talents so thoroughly that I can create the best possible offering to my Creator. There is no WAY I would be able to do what I do as well as I can without this experience, not that I'm so great, but I definitely would be worse without this experience.
The other thing some church people seem not to understand is that music, for myself and for Mike, is our JOB. It isn't our moonlighting, or something that we feel like doing on the weekends, or a hobby, THIS IS HOW WE FEED OUR FAMILY! We MUST take every job we possibly can, because we have to support our family. That's how I wound up in so many bands, because we are both trying to make as much money as possible. We enjoy it, but it is WAY more work and harder than most people realize, there is picking out music, choosing keys and arrangements, rewriting, endless hours of listening (ever listen to a song over 100 times? I do when I learn new material, and by the time I play it I am usually sick to death of the recording) and endless hours of practice, rehearsals, buying equipment, hauling and setting up and tearing down said equipment, not to mention booking, marketing, advertising, websites, calendars, and getting people to show up. Don't get me wrong, once everything is set up and we have a halfway decent soundcheck, I DO love what I do. It's just that people seem to think that a secular band is some sort of hedonistic exploit, and I am letting you in on a little secret- it's a JOB just like any other, it's just a different kind of job, with different parts that are fun and different parts that are difficult.
You see, everyone FREAKS when Mike sits down at a piano and plays. So, he learned all of those mad piano skills from a Christian teacher and Christian curriculum...right?
WRONG! He learned from the teachers that were GREAT TEACHERS. He went to a secular college for his undergrad and masters degree, and continues to use all of that phenomenal ability not only to play all over the state, but also to play at Radiant, a place that gives us great latitude as artists, with a pastor who can appreciate great art, whether it resides in secular or sacred music.
When Solomon was to build the temple, he hired the most skilled artisans-never even specifies if they believed in God, just that they were the best. All of that great craftsmanshop, regardless of who had done it, was going to be used to the glory of God, which brings me to my last point.
Soli Deo Gloria.
Thank God for J.S. Bach. In pictures where I am wearing sleeveless shirts, you will see a tattoo on my right shoulder that reads Soli Deo Gloria. I love it, it's latin, so NO ONE can read it. so why do I have this? About ten years ago, when I was really struggling with...do I play secular music or not, I discovered that not only J.S. Bach, but many of his contemporaries AND many musicians throughout history, wrote and played music for the public, and for the church. J.S. Bach understood well that--no matter where or what he was playing for, and no matter who he was writing the music for, it ALL glorified God, because he was using his God-given talents as much as he could. At the end of his manuscripts, he wrote S.D.G. Soli Deo Gloria. Only to the glory of God. Likewise, whatever I do, and wherever I do it, and whatever I am playing, it is ALWAYS ultimately used for God. He gave me my voice, I will use it as much as I can-just as a surgeon will save whoever he can, no respecter of persons. I AM only to the glory of God, I love God. And there are some words and some songs you will never hear me sing, but that is out of my own personal conviction, not some rule that I believe should be blanketed over all musicians.
So there you have it and now you know why I will likely always be both a secular and sacred musician.
Any requests?
