The Perils of Contemporary "Christian" Music

Why one former CCM leader left the movement.

Excerpts:

A former rock musician (keyboardist, singer and composer) from the Baby Boomer generation, Lucarini became a worship leader just as CCM was beginning to take over church services in the late 1980s to 1990s. He was a new born-again believer at the time and was happy to use his talents for God. He helped a couple of churches transition from traditional to contemporary worship services.

He thought he had all the right motives and enthusiastically promoted the acceptance of CCM in evangelical and fundamental churches.

"We used the excuse that we wanted to reach out to the young people," Lucarini said. "You know what? They didn't like the music. It was our music. It was classic rock. We just did it for ourselves. That was the conclusion I came to."

"Let's be honest about it. It wasn't to save souls. It was just because we like that kind of music and we're the rebellious generation so we just basically thought we could do whatever we wanted," he added.

At the heart of his argument is that rock music, and all forms of it, is a music style that was created by immoral men for immoral purposes.

Whether it's soft rock, pop/rock, jazz, praise and worship, Chris Tomlin, Delirious? or Hillsong, CCM is "scandalous and offensive because of where it came from and what it means around us in the world today," he argues.

"And I don't believe that Christians can just take it and sanctify it and call it holy," he says to those who say it can be used to reach people for God. "I think it's a mistake."

It's like serving a nice juicy steak on a garbage can lid (even if you try to scrub it, it remains a dirty garbage can lid), he explains.

"I can sit and talk to anybody about why I think rock music is the wrong musical language to tie with 'praise the holy God,'" he contends. "They’re incompatible. You see the results of it everywhere with the tension and church splits and even the younger generation."

After his experience with taking teens to CCM concerts, Lucarini believes the harm done (CCM artists, whether intentional or not, role modeling indecent dress and rebellious images, or stirring improper crushes and lustful interests among fans) far outweighs any salvation or discipleship benefits.

He submits to the argument that some would not even give the Gospel message a listen or step into a church without the medium of CCM. But Lucarini ultimately believes CCM is not needed.

"It's very arrogant for people to declare issues that split and divide Christians as secondary. It's just an attempt to suppress what’s going on," he said. "Any issue that scandalizes and offends brothers and sisters in Christ cannot be called secondary. At that point in time it’s primary and must be dealt with."

After more than ten years of leading worship and later questioning the CCM movement, Lucarini says he has come to learn the true meaning of worship.

Worship is not a response to the opening guitar licks of a song, but a response to God's revelation and who He is.

End quote.

Interestingly, the Emergent Church Movement, which is tied to the CCM/Seeker Friendly movements, has inherited the same adolescent mentality, as I have often called ECM: "You're not the boss of me!" Lucarini confirms this very point of mine. It IS rebellious. It IS immature and selfish in nature and it DOES affect lives and the health of churches.

For further information dealing with contemporary "Christian music" go to Dr. Peter Master's article here.