A PR Question for the Christian Music Industry…
Blogger Benjamin Myers at his blog Faith and Theology discovered an interesting radio interview with a supposedly “Christian” band. What they reveal, about 8:30 into the interview might surprise you. As Ben writes:
The topic was contemporary rock music. With intense fascination and amusement, I listened as one caller from a Christian band attempted to commit PR-suicide. The caller stated the name of his band, and went on to make these remarks:
“I play in a band that goes with the Christian message…. We sell on the internet…. There’s six of us in the band, and in the last five years, we’re literally all millionaires…. I’m not a Christian, and none of the members in my band are either. But it’s a bit like The Wiggles. If you put yourself out there and find a market, you cater to it, and it’s as simple as that….”
Taken aback, the host of the programme asked: “So you’re a Christian band doing well on the Christian rock circuit – well obviously doing very well if you’re millionaires – but none of you are Christians?”
And he replied: “Well, it’s a market, that’s all you need to know really. You know, you cater to it. You write your songs to it. And that’s all there is to it. It’s no different to writing a jingle for Marmite…. I don’t really see why I need to be a Christian to play Christian music. If they want to buy it, that’s all that needs to be known.”
I’m sure the other five millionaire-members of the band will be thrilled at the publicity this generates!
The Lord works! If the message of the music fits the Christian tenets, principles and beliefs then can we not still take that at face value? Understanding the human brain and the effect of searching one's brain for the appropriate message to market to Christians will alter the synaptic connections and neuron pathways eventually so they will one day realize that God is there waiting. Epiphanies do not always come in a flash.
The Second Coming website shows a band that nowhere professes to be Christian, seems to have only 4 members, none called “Dave”. They also seem to be from Seattle, not Australia.
I can’t find any other Second Coming bands, let alone any that would be millionaires. Sounds like a hoax caller to me.
(Or perhaps Phil, he was well aware of the PR blunder and gave a false band name)
Second Coming? Never heard of them. Millionaires? Highly doubt it. Their official website has less than 100,000 visits. Their MySpace has just under 1750 friends. A PR Disaster for the Christian Music Industry? Consider these guys are even close to the size of a solid indie band, and considering they are neither signed by a Christian music label, nor part of the Christian music scene, I'd consider this a little bit of online wishing from the multiple "hatters of Christian music" that blog about it all day long. Next story please.
OK – OK – maybe it’s a little hyped, but what I was actually trying to do was start a conversation about non-Christians exploiting the “Christian” market. Most of the studios who are trying to produce films for the faith based market aren’t Christians and don’t even get it. Is that good or bad? Here are musicians who seem to be cashing in on the Christian market, and aren’t Christians themselves. Is that a problem? What do you think?
When the apostle, Paul, in Philippians chapter one says, "Some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry, but others preach about Christ from pure motives. They preach because they love me, for they know the Lord has brought me here to defend the Good News. Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. But, whether or not their motives are pure, the fact remains that the message about Christ is being preached…so I rejoice, and I'll continue to rejoice…," it might appear that it doesn't matter to him who presents the tenets of faith in any given situation. However, the preponderance of Paul's teaching would indicate that the Kingdom of God has been, and always will be, built by faithful, selfless people who are not not preoccupied by selfish motives. When one stands to sing of the love of God and his call to salvation, but with a motive of personal enrichment and devoid of personal conviction, the song they sing is a lie. In Philippians, Paul's exposure of those who were preaching with wrong motives did't say they were NOT believers, just that they were driven by wrong motives. This self-confessed group of non-Christians marketing themselves to believers because the profits look promising may not be doing themselves the favor they think. There are a number of examples in scripture that show how those who presumed to speak for God, but were unqualified (Matthew 7 for one) paid a high price!
I think things "like this" are fears and reasons why the distrust runs so deep between Christian masses and Hollywood. Personally, like I posted earlier…I really like the actual filmmakers to be Christians, not just one well known actor or personality..
I think of Jesus' parable of the seed sower. Just as the seed that is thrown on the path to the seed that is thrown among the thorns they won't last long with the attacks of the enemy and the persecution that will come. Eventually they will have to take a stand or wither away.