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So contemporary Christian music. What do I know? After having watched Jesus’ music, in theaters on October 1, I know more than before. But before that? Not a lot.
I have spent my entire adult life dealing with the entertainment industry in one way or another, including as a nationally unionized journalist, so I’ve heard of a lot of people. Plus, I’ve loved rock, pop, and folk for decades, but the whole contemporary Christian music (CCM) subgenre seems to have eluded me.
The music of Jesus is the last effort of the Erwin brothers
Director Erwin Brothers, Andrew and Jon – who checked out CCM for two blockbuster films: I can only imagine and I still believe – took the documentary route to The music of Jesus, the latest film from their Kingdom Story Company shingle at Lionsgate.
(Actually, come to think of it, the first time I heard the song I can only imagine throughout – and not just in the late night commercials for Christian music CDs – was at the end of the film. And I still believe is the story of singer Jeremy Camp, whom I had never heard of before the movie was announced.)
From the “people Jesus” to Lauren Daigle
Jesus’ music begins with the ‘Jesus People’ movement of the 1960s and weaves its way through Christian rock and pop, with music videos and interviews from musicians including Amy Grant, Stryper, Michael W. Smith, Kirk Franklin, Stephen Curtis Chapman , DC Talk, the Newsboys and Lauren Daigle.
Other than Amy Grant, who I knew, I learned about some of these people from writing about religious films, such as the Erwins, but others were new to me.
What’s interesting is that I knew some African American musicians from the movie, like Franklin, and heard a lot of gospel bands and songs. I am also familiar with traditional hymns, such as The old rocky cross, Will the circle be unbroken Where To the river, often performed by country or bluegrass artists.
But, I don’t think I heard more than one song from those featured in the movie.
Now, CCM might be pretty good, but it probably speaks to the separation between this world and the mainstream entertainment industry that I covered.
Look beyond the Christian cultural divide
In addition, I am a Catholic, and this culture of praise and music has developed widely among Protestants, especially evangelicals (although the word “evangelical” is never mentioned in the film) and in the mega movement. -modern churches.
With Spotify, Pandora, and other services democratizing music today, even though young Catholics don’t hear these songs at Mass (and they probably hear some of them these days), there may be a lot more to them. familiar with “worship music” as radio / vinyl / CD / MTV generations.
There are even a few Catholic CCM artists, like Matt Maher, but none of them are mentioned in Jesus’ music.
The film features another interesting segment that examines the racial divide in the CCM, with a clip showing Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous observation that Sunday morning is one of the most segregated times in America.
Now, for various reasons, some Catholic parishes are heavily populated by one ethnicity or another, and the Church has faced the same racial issues as the rest of the country. But, in the many places I went to mass – Honolulu, Washington, DC, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, New York, Los Angeles, even Beverly Hills, etc. – the line of communion resembles the family of man.
Of course, the traditional hymns and mass arrangements presented at Catholic Masses in the United States mostly have European or North American origins. But, the sounds of the Caribbean, Africa, Latin America and Asia are also increasingly part of our worship.
I attended a wonderful mass in Los Angeles with Missa Luba, a mass from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And, the most beautiful thing I ever heard at the LA Religious Education Congress was a Vietnamese hymn.
So looking at Jesus’ music was like a journey through a strange land that existed right next to mine, but of which I had only peripheral awareness of existence.
East Jesus’ music Worth seeing?
It’s a beautiful, well-made film, but like the previous Erwin Brothers films that I mentioned, it stands to reason that audiences know this world and the people who live in it, and care about this music.
After watching, while I now have a little more historical perspective, I still feel like I barely know this world. And, I’m not sure there’s anything in Jesus’ music it made me want to know more.
If I want a little bit of God in my music, I’m still going to turn to Mumford & Sons, U2, Gregorian chant or a great gospel song.
But, there is certainly an audience for The music of Jesus, and if you are curious about the genre, you might want to check it out.
Image: Lionsgate
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