about 15-20 years ago, or longer, but today it is just plain silly. I am speak in particular about the idea that Christian creativity (particularly of the musical variety) is inevitably and pathetically lame. Baloney. I would put the best of Christian artisits up against ANY secular artist of any stripe. The quality of the music ballooned during the mid to late 90's and now there isn't a paper's width of separation between the quality of talented Christian and non-Christian artists...and I am speaking about musical talent and ability. Lyrically, the factors require more judgment, of course.

Yes, it is obviously true that the job of those who are tasked with choosing a life of holiness while being intentionally steeped in a world of impurity is a difficult assignment to always get right. Many mess it up, often or always. Some may not end up with the prize...but it is the task we've been given to pursue.

Money does have an uncany ability to corrupt, and the merchandisers of the world are the ones who bewail the loudest at the ultimate demise of the Beast at the time of its collapse. But Christians are made to participate in the temporal world, which requires the necessity of pulling one's own weight, and at times the weight of others as well. The method humanity has developed for keeping track of our effort is money. Everyone has to deal with it...even Christians. Some do it successfully and others don't.

Is it possible for Christians to lose focus? Of course...which points back to the whole purpose for this exercise we call life. Christians are supposed to make an informed decision for holiness in the presence and face of that which is unholy, that which is carnal (i.e. self-serving in a short term, sensually-stimulating way).

It is true enough that much of what is part of Christian efforts to get through this life ends up muddied and polluted. Many Christians, often the newest and most immature ones who are frequently the most excitable and attention-getting of the lot, don't exercise their choices in the wisdom of maturity but rather in the foolishness of babes and children. That is merely what should be expected. God made becoming holy a DIFFICULT thing to do...Romans 8 says that the closer we get to knowing the full truth of Him, the more succeptible we will become to getting swole-headed and falling short. That's just part of the game. It's a tough game and the prize goes to long-distance runners...steeple chasers you might say...not to sprinters.

I guess I'm not sure just what the article wants to point out--if it is that culture is off limits for Christians, I have to disagree. Life requires culture. If it is that Christian culture is trying to sanitize secular culture and that can easily lead to or even cause spiritual compromise, I will agree again...but with a reservation. This isn't an all or nothing scenario. This life is vanity from top to bottom, but vanity in and of itself isn't sin. But taking vanity seriously...making an idol of it...certainly is. Much of "Chrisitian" contemporary music (CCM) and Christian rock CAN become polluted, but it doesn't have to be. The fact is, pagans and godless have the same set of blocks to play with that Christians do, and vice versa. The temporal world of this planet is finite, and living in it means that we will all be encountering the same pieces...it is what and how we assemble them that makes the difference. Will we do some of the same things at times? Yes...inevitably so, but that doesn't mean that Christians are ipso facto compromising.

I guess that is what bugs me about this article...it seems to suggest that Christians are doomed to be bored or boring, only able to sit pathetically on their hands because to do otherwise is a sure sign of capitulation and failed integrity. It just ain't so.

i dont think that the author was trying to say that christians are doomed to be boring or be bored or anything like that. i think that she was saying that it seems as if the church is trying to recruit and convert today's youth by "making it cool" and trying to replicate secular culture by adding god to the mix...which isn't working because its just too fake (and we can tell that its fake) and doesn't appeal to many people unless they are already a christian. It also seems like the church is trying to profit from all the merchandise they now have promoting christianity (i.e. jesus is my homeboy t-shirts) which isn't really what christians are supposed to do. You're not supposed to get people to become christians by showing them how "cool" and "hip" and it is as if it's some sort of passing fad because then they would be joining the church for the wrong reasons. And in my opinion that's just as bad as staying godless.

basically what i'm saying is that this is a very relevant topic because i'm apart of the demographic that the church is now targeting (i'm 19) and although it may not be as prevalent as it was 15-20 yrs ago, it still is an issue.

I think chelsea hit the nail on the head for this article. I came of age 10-12 years ago, totally immersed in the christian subculture. I went to a christian college so i remained aware of the culture, but it also became more apparent that teens and youth are approaching culture differently now than I was just a few years before. I'm sure there's a mix of reasons, and the quality of Christian entertainment hasn't actually changed that much at all-- everyone has always been saying "the best christian artists are as good as the best secular ones," but the fact is the christian artists who are actually breaking new ground aren't the ones getting any positive reception from the christian community and they never were.

I would say politics and technology are probably bigger reasons for this trend than anything else. An 18 year old today has grown up in an America that their church really can feel some responsibility for- Bush has enjoyed a level of acceptance from the evangelical community that was unimaginable back in the 90s when the christian market was becoming a giant industry. Unlike the televangelist scandals of the late 80s, the failures in this decade have been far harder to ignore as "that doesn't happen in my church."

Meanwhile technology has made answers easier to get and therefore questions easier to ask. Also, a teen today connecting with other Christian Ska fans (believe me, only christian teens like this music) will meet someone who has a different theology or set of values but still meets the criteria to be 'christian.'

All of this means that the christian media's big money-spending demographic, teens, are also more likely to be aware of, and question, the media they're consuming. If songs, books, and t shirts with elementary level theology and little if any actual spiritual growth value weren't enough for me 10 years ago I can't imagine how most teens today are approaching them.