THURSDAY THOUGHTS: THE GOSPEL, ART, AND THE ARTIST

A Facebook friend, who has demonstrated more heart and concern for the Gospel Music Industry than anyone I've ever met, wrote in a recent post, "The Gospel music industry has a number of great conferences. Do we need a conference specifically to help Gospel artists better their spiritual lives?"

I shook my head, and thought, "Who doesn't need to better their spiritual lives-- no matter what their vocation is? 

Why single out artists? They're visible, but not the only people we see. 

Why not care about the spiritual lives of accountants, plumbers, gas station attendants and electricians, too? 

I knew what she was getting at, though. 

People connected to, employed by, or engaged in anything associated with the term "gospel", go around with an albatross around their necks, that targets and monitors them when they're on and off the clock. 

Wait. 

They're never off the clock, and when they snap, it's news.

What is this demand that one person, or group of people be more spiritually fit than everyone else? 

Is it because of what they profess to be, and do? 

Attach that word "gospel" onto a thing, and the game changes dramatically. 

Don't dare trip, fall, or make a mistake. 

Don't be weak, and definitely don't say anything that can be characterized as controversial. 

The public refuses to allow the art to be separated from the artist. When the artist falls, the art loses credibility and value.

 
Now...just how serious am I about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, if I allow the actions of a singer or musician (who, perhaps without their consent, has been drafted as a spokesperson, mentor, or representative) to make me doubt, or dismiss it?

Maybe those letter G's in my friend's post should be lower case. Not Gospel, but gospel. Not a noun, but an adjective. 

Maybe the anxiety and non-fictive kinship wouldn't be so great when favorite performers wile out, fall short, or quit. 

Maybe we'd still be able to listen to the music without feeling sorry for, or being disappointed by the people who make it.

Perhaps basics, home training, and the like, need a revival, so we can stop expecting spirituality from, and imposing rules upon industries that never claimed to be particularly, or primarily spiritual. 

The local church ought to be the example, and foundation. 

Instead, many are busy trying to replicate the spectacles, explosions, celebrations, fashion shows, and extravaganzas seen on TV. 

Good grief. 

If you don't listen to the radio, you might not be able to sing along at some churches these days.

Praise teams are all the rage. 

Choirs comprised of tone-deaf, non-singers--but who are faithful and have heart, seem to be acceptable in some places. 

Music is so abysmal, mediocre, laughable, dismissed, and devalued in some sanctuaries, you wonder if church-goers have been instructed to tear the entire book of Psalms from their Bibles and burn it. 

Churches need vibrant, strong music ministries led by competent people. 

One cannot calculate the value of a church-based music education. 

What is being taught today? 

That music doesn't matter? 

That no effort or passion is needed? 

That mastering an instrument is not a marketable skill, worthy of compensation? 

That singing is a hobby?

 

What is the local church instilling in future artists? 

That mastering a piano is a lesser skill than inserting a disc into a disc drive?

A budding young singer who hears excellent singing at every weekly, local convocation, won't be so eager to look elsewhere for instruction, inspiration, guidance, encouragement, and excellence. 

What they hear won't be an anomaly. 

While they are being exposed to the music, they are also in place to hear the Word of God that inspired the music, and will enrich their lives. That Word provides a foundation that covers, grounds and directs that person so that they are able to move into ANY arena and maintain their integrity, enthusiasm, and faith.

We want, and like conferences, but we don't need another one. 

Are we learning anything, or just helping some ministry pay their enormous electric bill, or burn their mortgage? 
We are all FAT; just bursting at the seams with information from conferences! What are we doing with the resources we already have?

Maybe we should just sit down and re-read all the books and notes, and listen to all the cassettes, CD's, and watch the DVD's currently cluttering our desks and bookshelves. Perhaps we should just have a big swap meet, or lock in! 

I wonder what would happen if conference planners made it a requirement that those who perform have to stick around for the whole thing--particularly the parts where prayer, teaching, or preaching are taking place? What if performers just dust off those Bibles? 

Its applications cover EVERYTHING! 

Conferences??? Uh uh. 

We should all have PhD's in Theology by now, based on what we've gleaned from conferences! They are money-generating ventures, no matter what the urgent topic. 

People flock to them and go home financially depleted, and with more paper to add to the paper they've already accumulated, but with how much more real insight? 

God, of course, can use anything to fulfill his purposes, so I won't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Maybe all industries should have an employee development division. Everyone could use a mentor. 

Everyone needs someone to whom they can be accountable. 

Everyone needs wise counsel when pursuing ANY endeavor. 

One has to want that, though. 

Industries that truly care, know that without the people, there is no product. What you care about, you nurture and invest in.

Whether you're a Christian or not, if you want to be a participant in ANY industry, learn the business--the good and the bad of it. You can still lift up the name of Jesus, and be smart, savvy, and professionally successful. 

There are perfectly LEGAL activities going on, in every industry, that won't seem nice OR right, that leave people confused, misused, discouraged. and often penniless. 

It bears repeating: Forget the players, learn the BUSINESS before you jump in to ANY industry. 

We make the mistake of thinking the Gospel Music Industry is bound by our collective Bibles. It is not. 

I think it's the less than godly business practices people experience that disillusion, discourage, blindside, and leave them distressed. 

It's got "gospel" in the name, so the extremely naive assumption is that it's supposed to be lovely, fair, just, righteous, unblemished, compassionate, upstanding, and void of devious, shady, opportunistic, greedy, lying, cheating, competitive, envious, and otherwise ruthless individuals. 

People break their necks to get inside and hobnob, but get their feelings and sensibilities hurt when they've been shortchanged, snubbed, or deceived by people who never, EVER promised to be Christlike.

Those who continue to play in any industry, do so because they have mastered the game. They know it is not always sweetness and light, but they've learned how to navigate. They know who's who. They know there IS a risk in playing. They know that no one is indispensable no matter how great they think they are. 

LEARN THE GAME, but a good mantra to repeat when one senses one's guard is down, and is feeling particularly vulnerable, is THIS INDUSTRY IS NOT YOUR CHURCH HOME. 

It would be prudent to stop expecting what you thought a thing was "supposed" to be, and learn what it IS. 

If it is business, it is something that is done regularly and for profit. 

If it has been profitable, it is probably not suffering a deficit of willing participants. 

 

Some people just want to sing or play an instrument, and do it well, and earn a living at it. Period. They don't want to be confined. 

We construct, and force ourselves and others, into ridiculous boxes and categories, and then wonder why our unreasonable expectations are dashed! 

Who said if you are a church goer you can only participate or utilize your talent in the gospel music industry? 

Who made that rule? 

Is that why some people are so conflicted, and bound by some unwritten mandate? 

They think their salvation will be in question if they sing R&B or Jazz or Country? 

Is that the source of the strife and trouble? 

Content? Is it all about content?

Do people want to be stars and high rollers, but their childhood narrative says you can't play, sing, or make a living at anything else? 

If it involves revenue, it's business. 

The Gospel Music Industry is a business. 

Of course it could be under-girded and characterized by New Testament-based bylaws and practices if it wanted to be. 

If that was the aim, a lot of what we see would not exist, but it is under no obligation to adopt Christian principles as a business plan. 

It's about how to make money. 

How to fill seats. 

How to boost ratings. 

How to make a profit off of the talents of churched human beings, by directing a product to the churched masses, based on their churchy interests! 

It's about how to make a legitimate living doing what you like--something that many churches won't pay for, because sharing your skill set is supposed to be your reasonable service! 

Many believe singers and musicians ought to give it away! But how many churches need to send a check to the artists whose copyrighted music they've decided to play and broadcast during service every week? Why don’t they think the LIVING, BREATHING musicians they actually know, should be compensated fairly? 

Why then, should an industry that has NEVER boasted to be founded upon the Word of God, be any better at caring for its Levites than the local church is? 

There's nothing wrong with business or money, but we have GOT to stop looking to profit-driven businesses as spiritual examples, and flawed human beings as role models! 

We have to stop assuming that everything stamped with the word "gospel" represents THE gospel. 

It's called the Gospel Music Industry--the emphasis is THE MUSIC, not the people who make it, because when the people are dead and gone, the music still generates revenue. 

People are getting rich off of the efforts of others. 

The people are dispensable. 

The MUSIC matters. 

Even of some people are never seen or heard from again in a public forum, the work they have done has already insured the present and future financial security of someone else who probably can't play a lick, or carry a tune in a bucket.

 

You can always tell just how dispensable artists are by what is considered relevant, and who and what we honor, and what we determine as excellent and noteworthy. 

The biggest hellion or the most staunch Atheist can master music and perform it! 

Where would a Christian, who wants to be a singing superstar turn, where no one in their church will question their salvation or choice of vocation? THE GOSPEL MUSIC INDUSTRY, of course! That's where filthy rags and the unrighteous can be comfortable looking, moving and rubbing shoulders like their worldly counterparts, while boasting "I only sing sacred music". 

Why is the industry that would seem to be the best fit, NO different in its business practices than any other? 

Why is it not overseen by wise, scrupulous, spiritual leaders who will make sure to cover and protect the singing/playing sheep? 

Why is there no distinguishable trait, no glaring integrity, no attention to the tenets of the Gospel, and no obvious care? 

Why is it not distinct and separate?

 

Just because people SAY they sing or produce gospel music doesn't mean they live it! 

Should that even be a prerequisite? Or do we just want performance excellence, and not care what happens in the lives of people once they leave the stage? 

Just because an industry produces Christian-themed products and extracts its agents from church choir lofts, doesn't mean they have the promotion of the Gospel, or interests of the performers at heart. 

They may simply appreciate the artistic value of it all. 

WHEN has the gospel music industry itself EVER officially identified itself as a body of believers, or a Christian-based, Christ-centered, Bible-believing organization? Where is that written? 

The subject of the products it produces CLEARLY has no influence on it's practices. The name of Jesus is used to make men and women great and prosperous, but how many are truly giving that name all of the glory it is due?

We really have to stop elevating people to dizzying heights at which they cannot function, or sustain themselves. 

We praise people one day, and then go all pompous and sanctimonious on them when they stumble. 

To achieve the utopia of a body of performers who all lead sterling, God-centered lives, and serve as excellent representatives of contemporary Levitical work, someone would have to plan one mighty ol' conference---spearheaded by Jesus himself.