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Rock Gospel: Spreading God's Word
| Article
# : |
15096 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1989 |
2,126 Words |
| Author
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Deborah Evans Price
Deborah Evans Price is a free-lance writer living in
Hermitage, Tennessee. |
Rock 'n' roll created quite a stir when it burst on the general American music scene in the 1950s. More than thirty years later it continues to generate controversy, making incursions into religious music today with the same ferocity that once set the secular music world on its ears.
When people hear the terms gospel music or Christian music, they usually think of a choir in richly colored robes or possibly a quartet of conservatively dressed people. Today's Christian music, however, is not limited to such stereotypes. Attending the annual convention of the Gospel Music Association immediately makes clear that participants are singularly varied flock. Men in three-piece suits talk earnestly with long-haired younger men in leather and makeup.
Christian entertainers today are expressing their beliefs through a variety of musical genres, from hymns to heavy metal and from rock to rap. This very diversity has become a source of controversy not only within the music industry, but also in the pews and pulpits, as many people refuse to accept as "Christian music" any music with a rapid, pulsating beat.
The basic crux of the controversy lies in the question, Can a rock song transmit a religious message? The fundamentalist community is most vehemently opposed to a religious message being carried by rock music. Prior to his downfall, Rev. Jimmy Swaggart had preached heated sermons against contemporary Christian music. Some religious leaders have gone so far as to protest Christian rock concerts and try to get this kind of music banned from their cities.
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