High Fidelity faith

Sojourners, Jan/Feb 1999

"I used to like the Spice Girls until Point of Grace came into my life," Kayla said as she inched forward to the table where the popular Christian quartet was greeting its public in front of a wall of posters of themselves. "My hero used to be Baby Spice because she doesn't show her body or talk bad like the other Spice Girls. But my mom says the Spice Girls are a bad influence."

Although Jesus never had a publicist, a booking agent, or a marketing manager-part of the entourage of many Christian musicians-he had fame. Crowds followed him. They cheered and waved palm branches. They expected miracles. Christian singer Michael Card believes these New Testament illustrations can be instructive for how musicians should handle fame. In a 1996 article for CCM magazine, he argued that Jesus disregarded his "stardom."

Instead of celebrity, Card said Jesus' posture was that of a servant who washed his disciples' feet (John 13) and cooked them breakfast (John 21). He didn't build a worldly kingdom or live garishly. "The follower of Jesus must always choose truthfulness over fame," Card wrote. "Given the choice, we must wash feet, not do encores. The true purpose of Christian music, which many have still not forgotten, is to spread the fame of Jesus Christ, to proclaim him by celebrating him."

SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH, a reporter for the Minneapolis StarTribune, writes "Otherworldly Unplugged," a weekly column on the Christian music industry.