In Christian music, will business bury faith?

National Catholic Reporter, Feb 12, 1999 by Robin Taylor

"They didn't buy gospel music companies to put them out of business. They bought them because that's what the culture is responding to."

Breeden said, "The big companies are some of our best friends for our cause. They're not asking artists to water down their lyrics or faith. If anything, they say, `I spent several tens of millions of dollars buying you. I want you to be what you are.' They'll help keep us authentic and original and unique."

Christian artists certainly do sing about God's love, prayer, faith and Jesus. One example was ForeFront Records' late 1997 "What Would Jesus Do?" album which debuted on the Billboard Top 200 album chart, part of a "What Would Jesus Do? (WWJD)" movement that saw teens and adults nationwide wearing WWJD bracelets, buying albums and reading the WWJD Interactive Devotional book, which included devotionals by WWJD artists, complete song lyrics from the album and a 16-page full-color photo section.

Yet it's also clear that despite lyrics touting faith, much of the Christian music business is modeled on its secular counterparts.

It's not just that the pop/rock rhythms sound exactly the same as generic Top 40 music. Even the awards show looks and feels like a secular event.

Last year's Dove Awards were a glitzy, glamour-filled event. Cohosts Naomi Judd and John Tesh opened the show with banter about Judd's gown, which she changed twice. "Not bad, Naomi," he said. "Very, very nice."

She replied, "Thank you. It was actually either this Richard Tyler original design, or my breakaway nun's habit."

As the show's end credits rolled, Brentwood Jewelers was thanked for supplying Judd's jewelry.

Aside from charges of selling one's soul for a hit record, secular critics often bring a different prejudice to Christian music -- the sneaking suspicion that it's part of a plot by the religious right.

"Nothing is further from the truth," Breeden said. "Christian musicians are not by nature involved in politics."

Yet if Christian musicians and culture warriors don't always have the same agenda, that doesn't mean they can't be on friendly terms. Focus on the Family, for example, recently worked with ForeFront Records to release an album, "life on the edge," which goes along with a book of the same title by Family's founder, James Dobson. In album promotional materials, Fore-Front representatives said that the company has a "deep respect for Focus youth and family programs and the faithful impact they are making on this country."

Focus on the Family is, of course, a conservative Christian advocacy group that has criticized the National Education Association, opposed all forms of legalized gambling and endorsed the nationwide Disney boycott.

Still, some Christian performers seem to embrace "socially responsible" causes often associated with this country's political left. Steve Camp organized a series of AIDS benefit concerts with Tony Campolo. dc Talk members Michael Tait, Toby McKeehan and Kevin Max formed the E.R.A.C.E (Eliminating Racism and Creating Equality) Foundation in late 1997 in hopes of encouraging racial reconciliation among young people through campus outreach, a Web site, and special events.