For me, there are three types of contemporary Christian music.
The first is the obvious one which defines itself as such, made by artists who loudly and proudly identify as Christian who exclusively create “Christian music”: Casting Crowns, Michael W Smith, Stryper, etc. (BTW, Stryper is totally worth a Google if you love 80s hair metal but wonder what the Christian version of that would look like.)
The second type is created by mainstream artists who themselves are Christian, who sometimes talk about God in their music, but their music isn’t ALL Christian (and sometimes they say swear words). This would be artists like Creed, Mumford and Sons, Sufjan Stevens, Kanye West, Bob Dylan, Prince, and others. (I’m trying to shoehorn in Prince at least once per sermon.)
The third type is a genre I like to call Unintentionally Christian. This is music that by all accounts was not intended to be religious but could easily be swapped into a worship service.
I know this from experience as one of the times I was asked to lead youth worship back in the day, I played Ke$ha’s “Your Love is My Drug.” To me, the lyrics and spirit of this song evoke a real evangelical fervor. It’s easy to imagine Christian music festival-goers belting this out to Jesus, right down to the last line, which no longer seems like a throwaway: “I like your beard.”
It’s a lot like the phenomenon of not being able to unsee something once it’s pointed out: once you hear a song *as Christian* it’s almost impossible to hear it again secularly.
(Then there are also songs like Extreme’s “Hole Hearted” which seem like it would fit in this genre, as it’s on an album called Pornograffiti, but turns out is a very intentionally Christian song. Sneaky! This belongs in the second category.)
ANYWAY, my favorite song in this made-up genre is “This Isn’t Everything You Are” by Snow Patrol. I have no idea how I ever even encountered this song. It wasn’t a hit like “Chasing Cars.” (Snow Patrol’s Greatest Hits album has *fourteen* songs on it, and this isn’t even one of them. Can one person name more than three Snow Patrol songs? No.) I also don’t consider myself a “Snow Patrol type of guy” (But maybe I am?!). This song somehow ending up in my life truly feels like divine intervention.
I encourage you to take a listen. I’ve heard it probably hundreds of times at this point, and no matter my mood, it still has the power to make me cry every time. The lyrics are a mix of sad and uplifting, but overall the whole thing feels like a massive truth bomb, summed up by the chorus line: “This isn’t everything you are.”
No matter what you’re going through or how you’re currently defining yourself: that isn’t everything you are. Your life may feel depressing or mundane or lame-in-comparison right now. But that’s not everything you are.
Seeing yourself and even the rest of the world through this lens changes everything. That homeless man you see asleep on the street in a puddle of urine: that isn’t everything he is. That Instagram influencer you hear about making $100,000 for each selfie she posts: that isn’t everything she is. The latest person getting canceled for their old tweets: that isn’t everything they are.
Everyone (EVERYONE) has been created to be so much more than we can even realize.
And I just wanted you to remember that today. (And every day.)
~Rev. Matthew R Houchin #ordained Minister
PS: Are there any Unintentionally Christian songs that YOU love or that make you feel spiritually connected in your religious tradition? Please leave them below in the comments or send me a message.