Christian Rock Accused of Being ‘Devil Music’
The documentary explores how some churches were hesitant about, if not outright hateful toward, CCM artists and rock bands, specifically throughout the early 1980’s into the late 1990’s.
Stryper frontman Michael Sweet shared how he felt betrayed by the very pastor who led him and his family to Jesus in the mid 1970s.
When The Yellow and Black Attack singer was 12 years old, Sweet put his trust in Jesus along with his family after hearing televangelist Jimmy Swaggart preach on television. Shortly after, he found a local church to attend.
Originally calling band Roxx Regime, Sweet and his brother became disconnected from the Church until a friend encouraged them to reconnect with their faith.
It was then that the band changed their name to Stryper to reflect the words of Isaiah 53:5, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.”
The band’s Christian lyrics encouraged fans to praise Jesus. “The hair is long and the screams are loud and clear. The clothes are tight, earrings dangling from the ears. No matter how we look, we’ll always praise His name. And, if you believe, you’ve got to do the same,” they sang in their song Loud ‘n’ Clear.
Critics claimed the band wasn’t actually Christian, because they opened for “secular” acts like Bon Jovi and Ratt. Nevertheless, they went on to become the first Christian band to achieve platinum status with their third record To Hell With The Devil.
Sweet recalled that after Stryper had become successful, he was watching Swaggart on television only to find the preacher talking about him. Swaggart said that Christian rock music was “of the devil. It’s of the powers of darkness. It’s not of God…It’s the voice of the dragon under the guise of Christianity. It produces no better results within the church than it does within the world.”
Swaggart singled out Stryper by holding up one of their albums during his sermon.
Amy Grant Relates
Stryper wasn’t the only Christian artist who felt shunned by the Church. Amy Grant recounted how she also experienced pushback from other Christians. Grant described her motivation to write Christian music, saying, “A lot of hymns are, close your eyes singing to God. I wanted to sing songs with my eyes wide open, singing to each other.”
When the 15-year-old Grant released her first album in 1977, she felt embraced by the Church. That began to change in the 80’s when she grew in popularity and became known as the “Christian Madonna.”
“She’s not always wise in the way she says things,” Grant’s pastor said during a Christianity Today interview. “She doesn’t want to be a sex symbol, but wants sex to be seen as a good thing, a godly thing.”
In 1991, the multi-Grammy Award winning artist released her album Heart in Motion, which is included the #1 hit Baby Baby. The song was about her newborn daughter Millie. The album was considered a crossover from the Christian market to the mainstream, as Grant became popular outside the Christian community.
Grant’s ninth studio album went on to become the bestselling Christian music album to ever be released, selling over 5 million copies. However, many within the Christian music world sharply criticized the album for not talking about Jesus enough.
Grant’s best friend and Christian music icon Michael W. Smith recalled wanting to “duke it out with the critics” for the things they were saying about Grant’s album and personal faith.
In 1999, Grant and her husband Gary Chapman, who was also a CCM artist, divorced after 17 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. Grant was rumored to be in a romantic relationship with country singer Vince Gill since 1994, but the two maintained that they were only friends. Grant and Gill married in 2000 and had a daughter together in 2001.
Grant’s divorce and remarriage resulted in some Christian radio stations taking her songs out of their rotations. CCM Magazine interviewed Grant in 2002, and afterward Grant said the interviewer misrepresented her by only quoting the portions of the interview that would reflect poorly on her.
Grant once said during an interview, “Let’s get real. You want to know what my real black ugly stuff is? Go look in the mirror and everything that’s black and ugly about you, it’s the same about me. That’s what Jesus died for.”
CCM in the 1980’s and 1990’s
Even though Billy Graham embraced “The Jesus Music” scene, many Christian parents did not.
Eddie DeGarmo, CCM artist and one of the founders of highly successful Forefront Records, said in that that CCM came into its own during the 1980’s. “It had gotten over the growing pains,” DeGarmo said. However, the pushback didn’t come from the mainstream culture. It came from within the Church. “The Church didn’t accept us, ” DeGarmo said.
