I am particular about my music that I listen to. I am presently enjoying Todd Agnew, Big Daddy Weave, Selah and a few others. I am looking for good music but more so I am looking for words that have meaning. Contemporary Christian music should be directed towards Jesus or sharing Jesus.
Recently I heard a saying about ‘Jesus my boyfriend’ music that was being played by popular Christian music artists. My first thought was like bubble gum music or the teeny bopper stuff but supposedly in a Christian sense towards Jesus.
I am not exactly sure that is what the original author meant but I have noticed myself listening with even more rapt attention to the music that I thought I had already ‘screened’.
I will try to explain my idea of the JmB concept better. Here is a song that I listened to and really like the artist. If you look at the words you will notice there is no mention to Jesus, God, or any of the Deity. There are a few you’s with a capital ‘Y’ implying Deity.
No record deal, no dream fulfilled, no three minute video
No catchy jingle, no big hit single playing on the radio
Can make me happy enough
Can make me feel the way you do
You make me happy
I wanna make You happy too
You make me happyYou make me happy
No flashy cars, no movie stars, no man, woman, boy or girl
No fancy things, no diamond rings, nothing in the whole wide world
Chorus:
Can make me happy
Can make me feel the way You do
You make me happy
I want to make You happy too
You make me happy
You make me feel the way I do
You make me happy
I wish the whole world knew You too
No I cannot count the ways You have made my life so blessed
All I know is that You came and made beauty of my mess
Said I cannot count the ways You have made my life so blessed
All I know is that You came and made beauty of my mess
There are two ways to look at a song like this one. You can ‘assume’ that because it is playing on a Christian station that it therefore is Christian and the artist is singing about Christ. Or… you can imagine Mariah Carey on a stage singing it to a pretend lover. If you have ever listened to secular songs about love they speak of their lovers making them feel as if they are in heaven, how happy they feel, wanting to make them happy too, etc. In life we tend to attribute all sorts of greatness to our lovers for all the incredible things they do for us, do to us, and make us feel. With the exception of when it says, ‘no man, woman, boy or girl’ most of the words in this song have probably been said in a secular love song or said to a human at some point in a fantastic ‘love’ relationship.
I truly believe the artist that sings this loves the Lord and the song was intended towards the Lord. But when you can take a non-descript song such as this and hand it to a secular artist to sing on any stage in front of any crowd, how is God getting any glory? Is this song going to bring anyone into a closer relationship with the God that created them? Or has the commercialism of even Christian music put such a pressure on the artists to fill their CD’s that the ‘filler’ music becomes just that ~ with no spiritual meaning attached?
Songs like this lower Jesus to a boyfriend status instead of Savior and God.
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