It’s the holiday, and while I have a ton of work I could be doing, I figure if no one else is working, why should I?
So surfing around the internet, I came across this ad for musicians looking to form a Christian band, and I thought it was the epitome of what Christian music has become:

“We are a bass and keyboard players trying to put a Christian band together and see what happens, we are not the best musicians so you dont need to be neither, we are open to play any kind of music, the only requisite is that you need to live a Christian life. If you play guitar, drums, sing, or play any other instrument and think this is the right band for you let us know, may the Lord have a special plan for us.”

The irony is that I before I found this I was reading a post by a guy named Jerik who plays guitar in a Christian band. Except he’s not a Christian. Apparently the big topic of the night at this one particular show wasn’t the music, but whether or not the guitarist was an athiest. Some people even made their decision to attend based on the answer to that question. Jerik writes:

“I realize that Hands is a Christian band, with a Christian message, but I have at no point on this tour pretended to be something I’m not, and I haven’t been asked to. I play the guitar. I’m not sure if the notes coming out of the amp worship God or not, I haven’t asked them. Either way I don’t think it should matter …. Unfortunately I felt pretty alienated for a good portion of the rest of the night. Yikes.”

I wonder … is it really Christ-like to judge a guy who plays guitar based not on his talent but his faith, and then alienate him if he doesn’t measure up spiritually? Is it really more Christ-like to make a band that sings songs about Jesus but doesn’t care if they do it with excellence?

Maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather see a guy who isn’t a Christian welcomed to play with excellence with a bunch of Christians, and learn about who Jesus is – rather than see a band who doesn’t care about the quality of their product as long as they sing the right words. How about you?
Then again, maybe I’m just in a snarky mood because I haven’t eaten lunch yet.
RELATED POST
Does (or Should) Christian Music Really Help You Become A Christian?
My guest post at Wrecked For The Ordinary: What Is Christian Music And Why Do You Care?
Get the Gospel Soundcheck headlines delivered daily to your email inbox. Just sign up for the RSS feed by going to the “Subscribe” box on the right hand side of this blog and entering your email address.