'The Jesus Music' Documentary
Jillian Cheney
4 min read ⭑
Calling all Jesus freaks and those who love Christian music with the sweetest of devotion.
The new documentary “The Jesus Music” interviews some of Christian music’s most recognizable stars, including Amy Grant, TobyMac, Kirk Franklin, Michael W. Smith, Michael Tait, Lauren Daigle and more.
The film comes from the Erwin brothers, directors of “I Can Only Imagine” and “I Still Believe.” It retells a nostalgic history of “Jesus music” — which would later be called contemporary Christian music.
The documentary focuses primarily on these artists and their personal and professional struggles. In doing so, “The Jesus Music” offers an insight to the lives and careers of some of Christian music’s most talented creators while legitimately criticizing churches for their lack of support and discussing the problem of racial segregation in Christian music.
At times, however, the documentary leans too heavily into its nostalgia — meaning it misses out on some essential elements in defining Christian music and what it means to the world.
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In the late 1960s, the hippie movement was still widespread across the U.S. Many musicians at the time had spent the past several years experimenting with sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll and were concluding that such a lifestyle was self-destructive. They found solace in places like Calvary Church in Southern California, a church that encouraged its congregation to worship casually — barefoot, in jeans.
It was out of this church that some of the earliest “Jesus Music” groups arose, though they had difficulty performing at most other places. From the start, churches and TV pastors condemned these groups, despite the fact that they had all the right intentions — and really good music.
The evangelical conference Explo ‘72 changed that viewpoint for a little while, primarily because Billy Graham was such a supporter of this nontraditional Christian music. Graham would remain a supporter of Christian bands in this way, notably platforming D.C. Talk and others who were shunned by straight-laced churches.
The documentary’s next focus is a breakout star of the 1980s who elevated Christian music to the next level. Amy Grant made her start as a demure but intensely talented singer-songwriter. She soon became a beloved pop star and was quickly shunned by churches. Because songs like “Baby, Baby” and “That’s What Love is For” weren’t explicitly Christian, she became a defiled sinner in the eyes of many Christian leaders and fans.
Criticism grew after Grant's divorce and remarriage. Many stores pulled her albums off their shelves, and radio stations stopped playing her music. Grant says that Christians in the industry and many listeners regarded her as “damaged goods.”
The documentary criticizes Christians and churches who quickly abandoned Grant and others. From this angle, it tackles the way Christians are often quick to be cruel and unsupportive if artists or other creators don’t fit a traditional Christian mold.
A pleasant surprise in the documentary is an honest discussion of unnecessary segregation within Christian music. Already going against the grain of what churches considered acceptable, many interviewees say Christian musicians had an opportunity to create racial unity where there was none in the church — but most of them didn’t.
TobyMac — who began his career as a member of the trio D.C. Talk — is praised for working to bridge the gap, often collaborating with Black artists to create his soul music.
Black gospel superstar Kirk Franklin is credited for bridging the gap between the religious and the secular with his song “Stomp.” Franklin is regarded as one of the best gospel artists of the past several decades, beloved for both his music and his personality.
Among these stories, expect a plethora of interesting tidbits about these artists’ journeys. That includes how Franklin signed his first record, the rocky run of D.C. Talk and more.
It’s entertaining, but there’s a huge gap missing: It’s not discussed how this music impacted audiences outside of record sales and general cultural touch points. That means, maybe, that the audience for this documentary is exclusively people who don’t need an explanation of the impact because they experienced it themselves. Whether or not that’s the case, this lack alienates viewers by leaving them mostly out of the picture.
Similarly, the documentary seems so distracted by nostalgia that it forgets about modern Christian music. The years from 2002 to 2021 get about 15 minutes of screen time tacked on at the end. That’s a real loss.
It’s those years — and what’s coming beyond — that are currently the most interesting. There’s mention of Hillsong worship, Chris Tomlin and others but no discussion of what it means that the contemporary Christian genre has shifted almost entirely to worship.
But there are those, like Lauren Daigle, who have bridged the gap and produce more than just worship music. Daigle talks about being a kindred spirit and friend of Grant, which feels true both in their personalities and sweeping success in both Christian and secular charts. But Daigle, too, only appears for a few short minutes.
“The Jesus Music” is sweet and fun, but it leaves lingering questions. What’s the difference between Hillsong’s monopoly and Jesus music/CCM? There definitely is one. Is Christian music only for Christians? Has it ever been for secular audiences? What does the future of Christian music look like?
Maybe the nature of these questions is just a sign that the study of Christian music deserves a lot more attention. At the very least, “The Jesus Music” is a place to start.
Jillian Cheney is Religion Unplugged’s Senior Culture Correspondent. She writes about film, TV, music, art and books — as well as American Protestantism and evangelical Christianity. She was Religion Unplugged’s 2020-21 Poynter-Koch fellow. You can find her on Twitter @_jilliancheney.
This article is republished from Religion Unplugged under a Creative Commons license.