Christian musician, or a musician who is a Christian?

Myabe it's me...but I see no difference. It's like the difference between a bald man and a man with no hair.

 

I think the difference is in the markets their fans are in and their quality of music.

I find that "Christian musicians" tend to be of lower musical quality and need to market their music to a niche market in order to have success.

Musicians who are Christian tend to have musical ability that trandscends the Christian music market and also impact non-Christians. They also have the opportunity to bring elements of their faith and impact society to a larger extent.

Of course there are many exceptions to both generalisations I have presented above.

 

From what I have seen in the way the phrases are used, "Christian musician" tends to refer to members of "worship groups," church choirs and similar things. "Musicians who are Christians" could refer to Christians who happen to earn their living as members of (say) the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

I picked other, because it makes no difference to me.

God can, and does, use all Christians...

What I don't like are people that have no talent, and pretend to be Christian in order to break into the Christian Music Market....

I will not name names, but these are the ones that "perform" on stage, but don't live the life.

I Know of a Southern Gospel Group that went to the national convention, one of the ladies....er... Ok, I'll go with that.... left the stage, went back to a hotel with another man that wasn't her husband...

The person that saw them coming out of the hotel bar, was shocked... for this person had somewhat "idolized" this Christian performer... and was singing all her songs... but when she saw her drunk with another man, that blew it for her.

And I am not picking on SG music.. it happens in all genres of Christian music.

 

I prefer a Christian artist. Why? Because that generally means that they sing Christian music. An artist who is a Christian does not necessarily sing Christian music.

 

I see a big difference.
A Christian artist, a musician who sings christian music.
and artist who is a Christian, a christian who may or may not sing christian music.

 

Maybe I was wrong to do so but I have always assumed that most, if not all, Christian artists are Christians. Otherwise, why would they sing Christian music instead of some other genre?

 

But what is "Christian music"? Music with Christian lyrics? Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Creation and Bach's St Matthew Passion all have Christian, mostly biblical, lyrics, yet plenty of people sing them who are not Christians. On the other hand, there are plenty of Christians who sing in choirs and other "secular" singing groups that perform music with lyrics that are not particularly Christian. And not all music is vocal anyway, nor do all musicians sing. What about a Christian who is a violinist, a harpist, or an orchestral conductor? (Remember, Dale's OP mentioned professional musicians; it made no reference to the type of music they performed).

 

I don't know if that's something anyone can really determine with their own point of view. Only God knows the true reason behind the performance, Christian or not.

love,

Sopranette

 

This is what I like most in music or any art in general:

Music written and performed by a Christian, but not only that, the music and lyrics must come from a Biblical worldview. That is the ideal.

Sometimes a Christian artist will produce art that is not from a Biblical worldview.

Sometimes a non-Christian artist will produce art that is from a Biblical worldview.

Which is better? I think the latter is. A Christian artist does not always produce art that is either Biblically-based or good.

 

Gold Dragon,

Have you ever heard any of Phil Keaggy's instrumental recordings?

Or the group IONA?

Those brothers and sisters are WORLD CLASS musicians.

God bless,

Mike

 

No I haven't. Thanks for the recommendations. As I stated in the end of my post, there are many exceptions to my two generalisations and these guys may very well be exceptions.

 

Yes, excellent recommendation.

I also recommend Fernando Ortega. He is a classically-trained pianist, who I think is one of the best Christian artists today. And his music and lyrics are Biblically rich.

 

I prefer "Christian artist". Whatever talents we may have, being a Christian should always come first. I am a Christian first and foremost before anything else. Christ and His will are first and most important. Saying "an artist who is a Christian" makes it sound like he's an artist first and foremost, and being a Christian comes second to that. I have been in the music ministry since I was a teen (I'm 62 today), but I'm not a singer who is a Christian; I am a Christian who is a singer.

 

U2 video

Unless the music is glorifying God I don't see a reason for it.