According to some college chaplains at this conference I’m at this week, long term exposure to Christian music may have unsavory side-effects.

They feel like they’re fighting bad theology and unbiblical perceptions created by the music business. They’re students grew up listening to K-LOVE in the minivan on the way to school with mom. They grew up in “event-driven” churches singing songs from “stars” who also came to town to play concerts.

Did the industry change the church/students or did the church/students change the industry? Either way, these guys don’t think all change has been good.

Worship songs, these chaplains say, might be too important to college students. Singers are marketed (and sometimes, apparently, behaving like) nothing but saved rock stars. And don’t even get these chaplains started on lyrics!

These guys also say college students think involvement in a “worship gathering” is optional too – students can text or talk or sing or pray…whatever they want…like a concert. “This is what happens when communion with God becomes commercial,” one said.

“Why would I bring an artist to my campus for chapel and further propagate Christian celebrity and worship as concert?” another asked.

These guys are suspicious, at best, of the Christian music business and its artists. They say we don’t think enough about what we write and sing and how it will affect people exposed to it for years and years.

Now, I know my readers. Some of you might feel tempted to throw a stone of your own at the music business now. So I’m removing temptation and closing comments. If you need to share your two cents, I’m all ears eyes: [email protected]

Otherwise, just ponder (I sure am): How could Christian artists, signed and unsigned, serve God and God’s people better?