As a musician I have played in many different settings. Churches, bars, festivals, stages large and small. I've played many different styles.
With that being said, I find that there is a terrible lack of creativity in Christian music. When we look back through history to musicians like Bach and the like (Christian men by the way). They were at the forefront of music. They were doing wildly creative things! In fact, they were considered mad men. But they CHANGED music. They were doing things that revolutionized music. Where as Christian bands now are playing radio friendly 4 chord 4/4 junk.
If we are to be emulators of God, should we not try to emulate his creativity? Why are we sitting back and accepting this stale garbage?
Because people generally Want stale, easy and formulaic. It's comfortable. It's easy to swallow. It's "safe".
And God is often viewed in the same light. The God of soul mates, church garage sales, married pastor's with picket fences and 2.5 children and who always smile. And soccer moms and dads running their own businesses. Where sins are swept under the rug or overlooked because no one wants to be shamed for struggling.
Where people hide their dark secrets behind a smile because it's not "Christian" to admit to problems.
In a culture that fake and stale and dishonest, creativity is dangerous as it may leak out sincerity.
Growing up I avoided mainstream Christian music for less popular variations. With Christian music that felt more creative and sincere and open. Eventually I realized that music mostly felt creative in light of CCM, but their secular peers tended to far outshine them. And still do.
Often times even the most creative Christian music tends to be lesser copies of something secular.
And after 30 years of pondering this I feel it's because mostly Christians are attempting to fit in, rather than lead. See whats being done and try to make the best copy of that to fit in and hopefully make some headway in terms of acceptance.
But in my experience the only Christian music to get anywhere, at least since I've been watching, has mostly not been in the mainstream markets.
Stryper, P.O.D., NF having been some of the biggest, but Fit For A King, Silent Planet, August Burns Red and other having some decent success. And in the early 2000s there was the Christian-core movement that blew up and took over, but then imploded.
But in modern culture creativity in music and mainstream don't really go hand in hand. And that even goes for secular. And often times when creativity is involved it goes over people's heads. Creativity is often left on the outside to be played by musicians that get labeled as having no talent Because they go beyond 4 chords and 4/4.
To find the biggest collection of talented musicians means to step outside the mainstream sounds and take a risk at what's not always comfortable or easy and to reevaluate whats good.
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