Saturday, May 14, 2011

Contemporary Christian Music... in relation to a Mormon

Contemporary Christian Music (or CCM for short) is a very emerging genre nowadays. Even in the early days, this genre, although discouraged by the mainstream media, has had hit-makers. From Jars of Clay's hit "Flood" to DC Talk's magnum opus Jesus Freak, many CCM artists have made positive strides in help bringing the light of the gospel into a world that seems to be further drifting towards the dark. However, in the mind of myself and probably many other members of the LDS church, the question arises: "How can we apply this music into our faith?" Obviously, being that most of these groups had never embraced the doctrine of the restoration of the gospel, there are times when the message of the songs doesn't walign with the restored gospel. For instance, many discuss the doctrine of the Trinity... ehh. However, in a general sense, much of CCM can be applied to the gospel in a positive light. There are two songs that I'll bring up in particular:

1) DC Talk "What If I stumble?" (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwMTKUSYZKU):
This song is a very good song, which discusses to the listener the difficulty of truly bearing a testimony of the gospel in a world that seems to run counter from it. In particular, the main problems addressed in the song are pride and hypocrisy. We need to be bearers of the light, but, if we do err, how does that impact our testimony?

2) Jars of Clay "Flood" (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfAhpX_wIBk)
I particularly like this song for two reasons. First, as an avid King Crimson fan, I find it kinda cool that Adrian Belew produced the classic. The second reason, of course, is the message. In this song, imagery of Noah's Flood is applied to show to the listener the fact on how, no matter what, we cannot be able to survive without God. To recant something I've learned in my Book of Mormon class this last semester, the message of the song is of Faith ("I Need You to Hold Me..."). Heavenly Father will show us the way on how to return home, but we need to keep on believing, amidst the floods that might rise to drown us.

1 comment: