Let’s fight for “One More Song!”
Guest post by Eric Gargus, interlinc WriteGroup and 15-year Youth Ministry Vet
There’s something really special about most Christian albums. Back in my teenage years I would buy a cassette from my favorite secular bands (yes, I’m old but not as old as the 8-track guy) and only find one or two really great songs. I always felt ripped off. In my experience, about nine out of ten Christian albums really deliver on all the cuts. That’s a pretty astounding (and thoroughly unscientific) statistic! Of course, the seven to nine terrible songs on those cassettes I bought back in the 80’s are what built iTunes (that’s just my theory but let’s assume Steve Jobs got tired of buying albums and only enjoying twenty percent of them).
The majority of Christian artists and songwriters out there are making excellent music. Those whose hearts aren’t in it or just couldn’t make it in the secular industry are always brought to light. And those stalwarts who have stayed faithful to God — like Third Day and Skillet — always seem to cross generational lines and put out terrific tunes.
So with all the great Christian-themed music, why are your students’ portable devices full of secular music? Sure, some of it is both great and clean. But come on, have you kept an eye on the Top 20 lists lately? Grandma would blush. Grandma’s dog would blush.
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It’s a fight to keep putting Christian music out there in front of your students. More often than not it’s a losing battle when trying to get uplifting music into their digital playlists. Don’t tire in the fight. Last Sunday a parent approached me and said, “My son now has one song on his playlist that I like.” My first thought was, “DELETE THE REST OF THE PLAYLIST!” Then I took a step back and thought, “Something connected! We actually won a battle!”
That song in that kid’s playlist came from my most recent Youth Leaders Only Box. I think I’ll adopt a personal motto this Fall — “One More Song!” Let’s use the resources we get from interlinc to fight to get just one more song at a time into our students’ playlists.
Rock on!
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