Christian Bands with a secular record label

2 Corinthians 6
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

 

Hi timothy1769. Does your quote from 2 Cor. 6 apply to Guitar25's question? If so, then how could a Christian doctor work in a secular hospital? Or how could a Christian lawyer work in a secular law firm? Or how could a Christian carpenter build a house for a secular family? Or how could a Christian scientist work for an organization that promotes Evolution or Cloning? And so on. Thanks! latterrain77

 

hello latterrain77.

i guess the typical answer is either

a) those activities do not represent "binding"

or

b) the verses only applies to things spiritual

but it wouldn't suprise me if we've watered down our understanding of this verse so much that some of your examples should be excluded. of course we wouldn't want to allow our interpretations of the bible to make our lives difficult in any way, would we?

in any event, secular record companies promote ideas/lifestyles hateful to god. if trying to team up with them to spread the gospel is not covered by this verse, then i don't know what is. inevitably the message is watered down and twisted beyond recognition anyway. preaching the gospel is incompatible with pleasing the masses, which is the whole point of these major labels.

sorry if this comes off a little negative, i guess a lot of things these days are reminding me that i'm not really living up to this verse:

Luke 14:33
So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

some days i just want to chuck it all and become a hutterite.

 

The Christian labels becomming subsidiaries of the larger secular companies has done much to water down the Christian message in a lot of the music. There was an article whyere Phil Keaggy, and I think Michaerl Card were interviewed about this.

THey mentioned that the Christian labels tended to be much more "song driven" meaning that when the artist had something to say, they put out a CD (record back then). These days, it's much more "artist driven," there is more pressure to continuously put out "product" every few years to sustain a financial income. Not a bad thing for business, but a bad thing for writing good songs that are deep, mature, and doctrinally correct, and a response to God putting something on their hearts.

You also have to fight the pressure not to follow along with the next big trend. Again, a Christian artist creating more uplifting "secular" based music is a different thing.

I think you are at a bit of a conflict trying to mix the two.
Brett

 

This comes from a Michael Card interview that appeared in CCM magazine several years ago.

If you remember, he wasn't just condemning labels, but the industry at large.

The problem is that the same people who screwed up mainstream music, particularly country music, have now set their incompetant sights on Christian music.

The labels are the guilty party, no oubt about it. They're the ones who decide what's played on the radio, which albums are made and which aren't and who the listening public is exposed to.

If they're the guilty ones, we in the church must certainly be unidicted co-conspirators.

As a whole, we don't hold them to any level of accountability. We don't ask for better quality music, we let them feed us crap and tell ourselves that it's prime rib.

Notice how much better the quality of the music was (dated by our standards, and maybe a little hokey by the world's standards but, still, very good for what it was) when the industry was dominated by indie artists and small labels.

The best thing Christian music fans can do is pray that God will bring us a Christian Gram Parsons who will say, "Thank you, but I want to make music on my own terms without being beholden to a board room full of suits who have never even picked up a guitar. Anybody who's with me, let's go". There needs to be a backlash like we're seeing in the alt.country and Americana movements, where artists are choosing artistic integrity over selling their souls to the company store.

 

Chevelle was never a Christian Band. They were a band who could not get a label anywhere else and so very laughingly took a Christian label to be heard in the USA and other larger countries.

They are provocative, arrogant, foul mouth, and quite openly will state they are not Christian. They take the name of the Lord in Vain, and boast about not being Christian.

I am a fan of CCM, and other more rock style bands, but I am very selective on who I choose to listen to. And Chevelle was never a Christian band. They laughed on David Letterman about how they fooled Christian Bookstores and other Christian formats as how they deceived and got their start.

Listen to the words. Chevelle offers No Word in the Lord to anyone! The only thing they represent is Deceit! Their message is evil!

Sherrie

 

hey guitar.

i think it applies to marriage, and probably many other things, probably more than we would like, lol. what scriptural support do you have for saying it only applies to marriage?

 

Guitar, look at 2 Corinthians 6:1; the verse Timothy posted was not addressed to the church at Corinth regarding marraige, but was addressed to all workers and ministers of God.

 

Whether or not it's speaking of marriage, the priciple still holds that we're not to be in relationships with non-believers that cause us to compromise our Christian principles.

I think the question here is what does it mean to be yoked together?

I don't believe an artist saying, "Here's my album, can you help me distribute it" is being yoked.

 

If they're given a good offer, I think they're probably making good business sense.

 

QUOTE]Originally posted by Guitar25:
Heres a question for you? What do you think about christian bands that take up a secular record label? [/QUOTE]

Not to answer a question with a question, but what would a Christian need with a secular record label? Can they not have faith in God to provide?

IMHO, I don't think that they are really about what message they bring across. I think that they are worried more about what tattoo, piercing, car, etc. etc. they will be getting next. Check this out about POD http://www.av1611.org/crock/pod.html

IMHO, Christain rock is straight from the pits of Hell!

 

How do you know God isn't providing by sending them a mainstream record label?

 

How do you know God isn't providing by sending them a mainstream record label? </font>[/QUOTE]Most likely there are different avenues they could have taken. This way just happen to most prosperous(to them).

 

Thank you for sharing with us their hearts and minds. You know them personally? If so, I would really like some autographs! I know from the statements you've made that you have sat down with them and discussed your concerns. I know that you must know them intimately in order to discuss so freely their motives and intentions. I know you must be related to them or in some are so close to them that you can speak to their viable ministry.

No, I don't think you can, no more than I can question or attack your motives for the things you do.

Secular label does not (necessarily) equal sell-out. I believe God can use any of it to reach people for Him. That of course, is my opinion.

 

Just observing their actions.

 

That doesn't answer the question.