Well, knock me over with a pack of Testamints but apparently some of you didn’t get my “You might be a Christian music fan if…” post.
Well, at least the Jonas Brothers/David Archuleta joke anyway. Most of you probably didn’t even read the rest, you got so riled up thinking I mocked the teen idols or the Mormon faith.
I wasn’t. Honest. I love the Jonas Brothers (poor victims of the mainstream music industry that they are), and David Archuleta is just about the cutest thing going. And shoot, I live about 10 miles from Hill Cumorah. I wasn’t mocking Mormons. But I was mocking some hypocritical Christian music fans.
The joke, for those of you who missed it, was:
You might be a Christian music fan if … you didn’t let your kids listen to the Jonas Brothers, until you found out they were Christians – but you did let your kids listen to David Archuleta, until you found out he was Mormon.
So here’s an explanation, for those of you who still don’t get it … work with me, here, OK? …
Christian music fans, and parents, are very concerned that the music they let their kids listen to is “Christian” or made by a Christian band. The definition of what is or isn’t Christian is arbitrary. Can they buy it in the Christian bookstore? Does the band mention Jesus by name in any of their songs? Do they play the music on secular radio? Are they on MTV? Does their youth pastor listen to it? Does the band call themselves a Christian band?
So they look for what I call the “Jesus fish stamp of approval” – that someone identifies the band as “Christian.” Then it’s OK. That could mean hearing a song on Christian radio. Having a friend at church tell them the band is Christian. Hearing the band mention God on an awards show. The band calling themselves a Christian band, even if you examined their lives and found nothing really Christian.
With me so far?
OK, here are the parts of the joke you need to understand separately so it all makes sense together:
1) The Jonas Brothers started out in Christian music (not that most people know that) but are a huge mainstream success, and they are often identified as “Christian” in the media. But that poses a problem for most Christian parents. Their music doesn’t say “Jesus” at all. But they wear purity rings. Then again, they posed for that sexy cover on Rolling Stone. At some point, every Christian parent with teenage girls has to give a thumbs up or thumbs down to the JoBros. That their album is available at some Christian bookstores is sometimes the deciding factor, or the “Jesus fish stamp of approval.”
2) Most evangelical Christians don’t believe that Mormons are Christians. If you want to debate whether Mormonism is or isn’t a Christian faith, I’m sure there are places where you can do that. But this isn’t one of them. Right now, you just need to concede the fact that most evangelicals don’t think it is.
3) David Archuleta is just about the cutest, sweetest, squeaky-cleanest artist out there, and it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to see him in a sexy pose on any magazine cover.
You got all that?
OK, the basic comic equation is truth+exaggeration (or pain)=funny. Take any joke and you can pretty much plug in that formula. Somewhere there’s a truth that’s exaggerated for a humorous effect.
Now let’s put look at the Jonas/Archuleta joke again:
Many Christian parents wouldn’t let their kids listen to Jonas Brothers because of their mainstream success, that Rolling Stone cover, etc – until they found out they were Christians and wore purity rings. Then they’re OK.
BUT there are Christian parents that don’t let their kids listen to a band that ISN’T Christian, and since the prevailing thought in the evangelical community is that Mormonism isn’t a Christian faith (again, I’m not going to debate whether it is or isn’t) that would put David Archuleta on the not approved list. The fact, like it or not, is that they wouldn’t consider him “Christian music.”
The joke comes from the exaggeration of both truths and the hypocrisy that can come from arbitrary decisions about what is or isn’t “Christian.”
I’m not knocking David Archuleta or even the Jonas Brothers. I’m commenting on the way Christians make decisions using a “Jesus fish stamp of approval”. It’s hypocritical. Christians are often hypocritical. And we look ridiculous when we do stuff like that.
Understand now? All better? See that I’m not mocking David or JoBros or Mormonism?
Of course, now that I’ve had to explain it to you, it isn’t funny.
posted December 4, 2008 at 11:45 am
It was humorous (on this end, anyway) watching that thread unfold. If you could hear me, I just made a “wooshing” sound of the joke going over peoples heads.
posted December 4, 2008 at 11:59 am
Thanks for explaining. Great article. It’s a touchy issue when religion is involved indeed.
posted December 4, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I get it now. I had no idea that most Evangelicals don’t consider Mormons to be Christians. So Jesus in a song is good enough but Jesus in the unabbreviated name of your religion is not. Now that is funny!
posted December 4, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Hello Joanne,
It’s funny that you had to explain things, but believe me, I know that things you write can be taken wrong. In fact, you may even say the right thing, and someone will find fault with it. It’s always good to explain.
I was so impressed with David Archuleta that I started a website dedicated to discussing his character, about five months ago. Our team took a trip to Murray to meet with his family and friends two weeks ago, and we have some great interviews from those who know David on the site. They actually confirm that he is a young person of character.
I am not a Mormon, but I was so impressed with the care and love we were shown by those who know David. It was a big surprise when David Archuleta and his mom stopped by Brett Hales house during our interview with him. Brett is a good friend of the Archuleta family, and David stopped by to visit Brett, not knowing we were there. Brett has MS, and had been sick, so David took the one day that he was home to visit with Brett. Further proof of his care for others and stellar character.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading your article and thought it appropriate to confirm what kind of person David Archuelta really is….a young man of character!
Take Care,
Gallie
http://www.countingdavidscharacter.com
posted December 4, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Violet, and I didn’t know that everyone didn’t know that evangelicals don’t consider Mormons Christian. Well, that probably explains why that joke went over so many heads, LOL!
All the best,
Joanne
host of the GS blog
posted December 4, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Jeff, it was funny when I went to bed last night and read the first couple of comments, but not so much when I woke up and read more! I actually asked several friends to go read the post and see if I somehow wrote some horribly offensive thing and can’t see it myself.
In any event … can you think of any more? LOL Here’s one:
You might be a Christian music fan if you have one or more of the following on your car: a Jesus fish, a decal for a radio station with the word “Light” in its name, or a bumper sticker that says “My Boss is a Jewish Carpenter.”
Joanne
host of the GS blog
posted December 4, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Most reasonable people believe that Mormonism is just another spoke in the wheel of christianity. All religions have different branches or sects. The traditional LDS/Mormons are a pretty benign bunch, not radical at all. And David Archuleta certainly is a fatastic young role model for any group of folks..and talented…man oh man the boy can sing!
posted December 5, 2008 at 12:38 am
I actually am Mormon, and a Huge fan of David Archuleta. I didnt find any offense in your comment, I understand what you were trying to say completly. It is common for many people to view the Mormon faith as “non-Christian”, however, we know otherwise! It kind of makes you want to tell all of these parents…though that would be impossible…to stop looking for this “fish stamp”, and maybe start paying attention to things that can truly define someones character. I’m not “hating” on the JoBro’s at all, I’m actually a fan of some of their music…but it angers me to think that people are that hypocritical…to not listen to someone’s music simply because of their faith. David is a wonderful Christian example, someone that I look up to, and I’m 20 years old! It just proves that not only children can learn something from this young man, but adults can too!
Good Article – No offense taken at all!
posted December 5, 2008 at 12:46 am
Thanks, Mormonlady! That makes me feel a lot better.
For a minute I thought I’d really goofed!
Thanks!
Joanne
host of the GS blog
posted December 5, 2008 at 8:59 pm
I am a lifelong member of the LDS (Mormon) church, and I thought the Archuleta joke was quite funny. We already learned during the Romney Primary campaign that there are certain Evangelicals who don’t want to see any LDS succeed in public life because it might give too much legitimacy to the LDS church for some of the “weaker minded” Christians. That’s what made the joke so funny. LDS sometimes like to poke fun at our own hypocrisy in an effort to help folks “lighten up” and “get better”. For example, we do silly things like tell our little kids that they can’t play on Sundays and then when they start going stir crazy in the house, we let them play in the back yard so the neighbors won’t see them “breaking the Sabbath”. I have to guess that there are many Evangelicals who can also see this type of humor in their own culture-based, not necessarily Bible-based, behaviors and attitudes.
posted December 6, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Christian Rock has always played the Special Olympic card of the music genre. Most of these participants in the field would never survive in the mainstream or indie areas, as they lack their own inspiration or originality. Christian Rock has mimicked and passed off carbon copies of successful mainstream formulas, (I might add) a good 2 – 3 years later as their own feeble doze of Christian Rock.
If you were to listen to Country Radio, you would find more references to Jesus, as compared to Christian Rock. Also, country musicians are known to show their beliefs often, so when a J-Bomb is dropped in song, it sounds surprisingly appropriate and sincere. Compare that to the forced Jesus name-dropping in Christian Rock, each time it sounds forced or contrived. It begs to ask, were they just lazy and couldn’t find a word that rhymed? Did it seem easier to just say Jesus to keep it ok in the Evangelicals? Does anyone find this as cynical?
It’s easy to laugh at the Evangelicals on how they scrutinize Christian Rock and conduct background checks on the participants as to their worthiness. Secular Music also goes through the same process on does the person have enough credibility to be considered cool to listen to. Hipsters, music snobs, teeny boppers, even radio music directors have more rules then you would even imagine. “I don’t like his tie, I think he looks cute, the tour manager took away my Access All Areas pass, I don’t like his whiny voice, the way the record is mastered, I used to like them before they were famous (my personal fave), even the label it was released on…. The list is endless.
People have always put their music through the ringer, no mater which side evaluates it. Placing extra emphasis on Christian Rock and expecting to be made by Christians and only the sects you agree with is extremely stupid. It would be like saying; “I will only eat food cooked by a person that agrees with me, my views and beliefs”… So what happens if that person is qualified and doesn’t know how to cook?
posted December 7, 2008 at 2:23 am
Mormonism is Christian in the same sense that Christianity is Jewish. It may have started from the same root but it incorporated enough distinctive doctrines that it should be understood separately.
posted December 11, 2008 at 11:55 am
This is an interesting debate about classifying “Christian” music groups. Some groups like Flyleaf don’t embrace the “Christian Band” label yet they say they are all christians in the band. I think for them they are afraid of being shunned by mainstream markets. For me if all the songs bands did are at least “clean” and mostly about Christian Themes or from a Christian perspective in dealing with issues I would call that christian music. The album may have some neutral tracks and that’s fine with me as long as it doesn’t counter biblical teaching. Family Force 5 is a christian band, IMO, even though half of their songs are neutral and “clean”. The band member’s are professing Christians and some of the songs talk about the Faith. I prefer when artist are more specific and evangilistic like Kutless, Rebecca St. James, others. I guess the difference is if the bands consider themselves a ministry or simply musicians. I understand that some bands try to be acceptable and not too preachy so they can reach out to non-believers, like Stryper did. Sometime, I’m concerned that the band may cross the line and become purely secular band.
posted December 11, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Isn’t hipocracy when you say something but you do the opposite, in other words, your life contradicts what you say. I don’t get the hipocracy part concerning the Jonas Bros. It’s not hipocritcal for christians to allow their kids to listen to the JoBros just because they found out that they are christians. It just means that new information was revealed and helped parents feel more comfortable with that band. I am not that familar with the Jonas Bros., so I would need to do more research to make sure their songs and their lives are rather clean cut and not anti-biblical before I endorse them for my kids. So far, what I’ve heard is relatively good. It’s just easier for christian parents when the band is on a christian label, we just assume that they’re good. We should be more careful even then. As for the Jonas Bros., Jordin Sparks, David Archuleta and others we need to pray that they stay out of trouble and are bold enough to stand for what they believe.
posted December 11, 2008 at 1:54 pm
OK, anonymous, so maybe Christians don’t understand irony either.
Joanne
host of the GS blog
posted December 11, 2008 at 5:41 pm
I am a Christian teen and I listen to all kinds of “main-stream” music and so do my Christian friends. And though I do not believe Mormons to be Christians, I like David Archuleta (he’s one of my favorite music artists) and for that matter, I don’t like the Jonas Brothers (though they are Christians, it comes down to the fact that I don’t like their music, it has nothing to do with their religion.) Another note, my pastor (not even my youth pastor) has quoted movies like “300” in his sermons. You might want to rethink your statement a bit.
posted December 12, 2008 at 10:01 am
UnknownUser, see my comment to Anonymous.
Joanne
host of the GS blog
posted December 12, 2008 at 7:13 pm
As a christian, I want to listen to music that will encourage me, challenge me, and direct my focus towards God. I also like certain styles of music and want to hear the message with a particular style as the vehicle. I like the sound of a lot of secular music, however, the message of the music taints and ruins some of the music. I don’t completly shut out secular music it’s just that there is so much Great Christian Music out today, I hardly ever choose to hear the secular. As far as the Jonas Bros, if there making good clean music that people like that’s great and based on their background they are likely to continue in that. As far as Archuleta, he will probably make good clean music too, if he gets theological on some Mormon teaching then I will have to analyze. That’s not being bigoted or hipocritical, that’s just common sense. Music is always saying something and what you listen to can have an effect on you. So in general people need to be more discerning about what they hear.
posted August 25, 2009 at 11:26 am
I think the main problem is Christians are forgetting what true Christianity really is. Most “christians” (the majority in the churches today) lable themselves as christian the same way christian artists get labled as christian – ie a fish on their car, a Bible in the house, they go to church, they lift their hands when they sing, they tithe, etc… the list goes on. But how many of those Christians actually read the Bible to see what a christian is? Very FEW!!! I am a christian leader in the “church” and an amazed that 90% of “christians” I ask don’t even read thier Bible. They have redifined christianity on thier own terms. (Some of you reading this will get what I’m talking about). Here’s the simple way to become a chirstian today. 1. Ask Jesus into your heart. 2. Find a church that you are compfortable with. NEITHER of those two things are in the Bible. Anyway – nice post.