Hull 2 :: Arsenal 1

I realise that I’ve got to write something of some substance soon, but this is worth writing about…

This evening Hull City beat Arsenal 2-1!!!

(oh… and Hull actually scored all the goals too! Prolific scorers all round)

How do you do community ‘on the road’?

1.The contemporary debate

It has been interesting scouring the internet for debate about Christians involved in professional music is the narrowness of conversation. Largely I found people in the US debating which bands could be labelled ‘Christian’. Criteria seems to largely involve lyrics being positive and reference to God being made in songs. One article on the ‘evangelical society’ website berated the Christian band ‘Chevelle’ for playing at ‘Ozzyfest’ a few years ago alongside the likes of Marilyn Manson, and for their lyrics becoming less explicitly about God. The writer felt that their dark lyrics do not present a Christian perspective; “Dealing with pain is a common theme of secular music, and hardly represents the Christian life well.” I wrote to the author querying why he felt it didn’t represent the Christian life well, suggesting that in fact for many Christians life might be full of pain.
However I found no debate about how Christians who are in bands with non-Christians should witness, still less how Christian community should show itself on tour. The focus of mission seemed to be largely from band towards audience with little or no words given to how to witness to the crew or other bands. In fact the afore mentioned article found it incredible that Chevelle should be seen hanging out with Marilyn Manson, noting that Christians will be known by the company they keep. I also made the point to the author that Jesus was known by the company he kept, and was thus known as a glutton and a drunkard.

I want to try and start a conversation about how Christians can tour with bands and be a credible witness as a community in such circumstances and to all those involved in the music industry.