The Rise and Fall of Modern Worship/CCM

By: James Southworth

I have nostalgia and affection for the Christian genre. I grew up in a Christian family, went to church,  was in church plays, and attended youth group. I'm still a Christian now, of course, and I still listen to plenty of Christian bands. The thing is, though, I'm more a fan of Christian rock. At a young age, I wasn't allowed to listen to secular stations, which I didn't ever really consider a bad thing, and I don't now. So, I was always listening to either K-Love or Air1. This could be my nostalgia speaking (and I'm certain it is partly), but I remember always loving the music they played on the stations when I was relatively young. A lot of it even ranks among my favorite music now. I'll be thankful that both stations introduced me to groups like Skillet, Kutless, Third Day, Switchfoot, Anberlin, MercyMe, Jeremy Camp, Relient K, and even my favorite band Disciple (hard to believe with the state the radio is now that there was ever a time either station played Disciple). I would be lying if I said there wasn't a time when I loved listening to these stations. But, I also can't deny that it feels like there has been a decline over the years, at least in a big portion of the Christian mainstream.

It's somewhat hard to say when the genre of CCM (or Christian Contemporary Music) got its full start. In fact, CCM in its infancy was referred to as simply "Jesus Music". But, the genre as it's called now became become truly renowned within the 1970s and 80s. Artists like Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Jars of Clay, and DC Talk were primary influencers of the genre. I like all of those artists. Almost all of these artists are still working today. Michael W. Smith even released two albums this year, one of them being more CCM based and other being strictly worship music. One can't say that CCM music hasn't had longevity. If some of its original acts can still stay around and be relatively successful, then it's an assured fact that this subset of Christian music will be around for decades to come. I don't think this is a bad thing inherently. This is especially true when it comes to the earlier CCM artists. Even though DC Talk isn't together anymore, most of the individual members are innovating in their own careers (one exception, more on them later). TobyMac had a bit of a decline with some of his middle albums, but has gone about making more interesting pop music with "This Is Not a Test". I'm anticipating his new album coming out soon this year due to the two solid singles. Kevin Max has been making huge waves in the indie Christian scene for years now, and is still considered to be one of the more underrated artists out there by many. Even though I'm not as big on artists like Jars of Clay or Amy Grant, I still respect them for bringing a lot of interesting things to the table in this genre's heyday.

One of the key things that define the best potential of CCM, to me, is interesting music styles that have God focused lyrics. Groups like MercyMe and Kutless drew some controversy with their hits "I Can Only Imagine" and "Strong Tower" (respectively) when they first came out in the early 2000s. Why was this? Well, a lot of traditional Christians felt that music should be strictly on piano and with hymnal-structured lyrics. Elements like guitars, drums, and other instruments could almost have been considered heresy back in the day, as they were associated with secular culture. MercyMe's hit even ended up crossing over into the Billboard Hot 100, which made a lot of Christians cry out that it may not be even a truly God-focused song. This mindset hasn't been completely eradicated over the years. In fact, there's still a significant group of people out there who would say that hymns are the only way to go, in regards to how to best worship God. However, songs in the vein of "I Can Only Imagine" or "Strong Tower" are undeniably more accepted in the modern day. I respect songs like these for being groundbreaking changes in what was acceptable as Christian music. The fact that certain genres are even questioned as to whether they are inherently Christian or not is just insane to me. CCM took risks even up to the early 2000s. It was considered edgy and rebellious at one time; an emerging form of music that was shocking and unprecedented on religious radio stations. CCM even helped make other genres of music more popular in the Christian sphere for a time, especially rock and metal. Petra and Stryper don't fit the label of CCM as it is now, but I would say they did in its early years. They popularized the ability for rock and metal to at least be viable sources of music within radio stations. For the longest time, Christian music was behind with secular music in regards to its progression. It can certainly be debated in some ways that it is behind the times now, but not nearly to the extent that it was in the early 60s.

Now, let's talk about the more modern tendencies of CCM, as well as worship music. I think that CCM is almost inextricably tied with worship at this point. This became especially the case when groups like Hillsong United, David Crowder Band, Chris Tomlin, and Passion came into popularity. A lot of these bands became tied with what is now known as "worship music". Now, you may be asking yourself, how can "worship" be a genre? I've asked myself that question many times. After all, shouldn't any genre within the Christian genre be classified as being inherently worshipful as long as it is honoring God? The obvious answer to that is a clear "yes". But, with the way that stations like Air1 and K-Love have gone, it seems like ever since about 2010-2011 the only acceptable genres have stayed strictly within some safe boundaries. "Worship music" incorporate a lot of piano (so as to keep older and more traditional Christians more accepting), soft acoustic guitars, catchy choruses, and lyrics that are easy to sing along to. They will also incorporate the occasional use of electronics to try to have a bigger/more epic feeling sound. On its own, none of these elements are horrible. The unfortunate thing is that these musical boundaries are stayed in so frequently, even up to this day. Now, I certainly don't blame a group like David Crowder Band for this. They were one of the earliest innovators of worship, never once keeping to a singular sound. I don't love all their music (and I'm not a fan of David's voice at all), but I can't deny they did some interesting things that went beyond the genre's confines. The same can't be said for someone like Chris Tomlin. He could almost be considered the trend setter for what worship music is like right now. He has penned or covered some of the most well-known worship songs today: "Our God", "How Great Is Our God", "Good Good Father", "Whom Shall I Fear". Those all have something in common: they're meant strictly for a group worship setting where people can sing along to them. They're built on simplistic worship chords, and notes that an average population can hit easily.

Let's talk now about what is one of the most problematic things in worship: the lyrics. Just consider this line from "How Great is Our God": "How great/Is our God/Sing with me how great/Is our God/And all will sing how great/How great/Is our God". Or how about these lyrics from "Good Good Father" (which was covered by Chris Tomlin): "You're a good good father/It's who you are (3x)/And I'm loved by you/It's who I am (3x)". And look at these lyrics from the chorus of "Hosanna" by Hillsong: "Hosanna, Hosanna/Hosanna in the highest/Hosanna, Hosanna/Hosanna in the highest". Or how about these from "King of My Heart": "You are good,good/Oh/You are good,good/Oh". Do you see the problem yet? If you answered something along the lines of "repetition", then you hit the nail on the head. I know what some people will debate: that worship songs should be simple so an audience can remember them, and that even some hymns are built on simple choruses. I can see where people are coming from, but only to a small extent. Since when did God want us to make songs that lack such creativity in describing him? "Worship" lyrics like these use some of the most basic, simplistic adjectives in describing who God is. "Good" and "great" have to be some of the most frequent lyrics I've heard in evaluating God's character. You can go ahead and look up how many of them do that. It's disappointing to see just how many of them there are, even in worship songs that I somewhat enjoy. Something like "King of My Heart" gets me really mad, as it is just so vague. God is just called "good". What deeper truth is revealed in that? It's just disheartening to me that worship music lacks so much creativity. We are made by a creative God. Is this the best way we can honor him? God calls us to challenge ourselves in our attempts to understand Him. Lyrics like this keep us from an arm's distance. On a darker note, simplistic lyricism can make the worship seem like it's all about us from an outsider's view. Lyrics that talk about how great God is seem to do so in context of what he does for us- not what we can do for him. That feels a little self-serving to me. In its most extreme sense, worship music can even be against God's teachings. Vague lyricism can lead to controversy or even be truly heretical. Newsboys did a horribly misguided thing where they married politics and religion together on tracks like "God's Not Dead" and "Guilty". The latter is even more problematic as it talks about how God isn't in schools anymore because you're not "allowed" to pray in a learning setting anymore. This simply isn't true. Cory Asbury's song "Reckless Love" has stirred some debate amongst people as to whether its lyrics are really true to who God is. I have nothing personally against this song. I generally disagree with people who are so against the word choice of "reckless" to describe God's love for us. However, the fact that it is stirring up debate because of the lyrical vagueness is reflective of a problem that's universally apparent in modern day worship music.

I think there might be an even deeper, and possibly more saddening, reason as to why worship music is a genre so many bands are doing right now. The answer is almost too obvious: it's an easy money maker. It will likely be played on radio over genre-pushing pop/alternative music. Worship will definitely be pushed over playing a band that's dedicated to rock, metal, and even rap. Jeremy Camp had moderate success with his debut grunge rock-fused album. When he released a worship centric album, though, he had at least three or four lucrative singles on there that received immense radio success. Kutless got significantly more radio play with their worship albums "Strong Tower" and "It Is Well". For the most part they've played it safe ever sense, releasing a worship album last year that was so apparently trying for radio success it was embarrassing. Even though Switchfoot is far from being generic, you'll see a more CCM leaning hit like "Live It Well" being played over "If The House Burns Down". On their most recent album, Skillet released some blatantly obviously CCM fused songs like "Stars" and "Lions". They were clearly meant to be played for Christian radio stations. The fact that Christian radio stations have created a culture where only the same genre of music is mainly played is sad to me. The Christian Hot 100 is worse than the Billboard Hot 100 in some ways, which I can't believe I have to say. At least the secular charts will occasionally have risk-taking artists present. Go and look at the Hot 100 for Christian music right now. I saw a couple artists I generally like, but the songs that even those good artists have on the chart are some of their safest and most basic. I think most Christian artists do have generally good motives when doing worship music. And I understand that there is a need for starving artists to make money. But, why does every CCM song have to be same sounding? Worship and CCM revolves around such similar subject matter, and stays comfortably within the realm of easily digestible sentiments of God. This is a trend that needs to stop.

There is hope. It's not like worship music or CCM is too far gone just yet. There are a lot of bands out there innovating. Just look at a group like Kings Kaleidoscope, who have some of the most artful and poetic God centric lyrics out there. Their album "Beyond Control" is most certainly my favorite worship album to date. Gungor keeps the simplicity of worship music in tact, but has some of the most theologically intriguing lyrics out there. Rend Collective are probably the best modern worship band ever, and have only gotten better with time. They are making significant waves. They're also one of the few bands who seem to actually have a voice in trying to make worship more upbeat, more interesting, more risk-taking, and more powerful. Even groups like Hillsong United and Hillsong Young & Free are starting to break free of the confines they stayed within for so long. They're actually pushing their respective sounds. I hope that these more popular groups start getting other bands to do the same. I looked at the top 10 on Air1 today just out of curiosity, and it was what I was expecting to see, which is unfortunate. We still have a long way to go in the Christian mainstream before things truly change. Don't dismiss the Christian genre entirely, but don't also give in to its every generic whim. It's time for the Christian mainstream to start giving credit to more bands out there who are promoting God's message in interesting- and truly creative- ways.