Christian Schools and The Christian Music Industry

I've been thinking about the correlation between Christian schools and the Christian music industry. You need to understand that as I write this, I was a lifer in the Christian school system. It could be easy for me to sound like a self-righteous hypocrite in this post, so I'll try my best not to. In hindsight, growing up in Christian school was like some kind of weird bubble experiment in a "lukewarm" ocean. I won't blame my "lukewarmness" on the environment, however, I found it more difficult to lift Jesus up with passion in a sea of Christian students, that were living half-heartdly for Christ than when I was around pre-Christians. I took the plunge into this comprimised sea when I entered high school. I wasn't really going to do anything "that bad," but I also wasn't going to live for what I knew to be right. As Jesus says in the book of Matthew, we are to be lights that shine in the darkness. It's hard to shine when you're in a culture full of other lights. Instead of being attracted to you, people think, "oh, you're just fanatical, trying to be Jesus, a goody goody," and on and on and on people will go. Living a life that's not outwardly evil, but isn't inwardly righteous either.

From my vantage point, the Christian music industry is in the same dangerous place as the Christian education system. They can have all the right outward appearance, the right lyrics, the right acceptance speech, but they don't lift Jesus to a hurting and dying world and see the power of God released. I'm not out to demonize Christian music or Christian schools, but I am feeling there is a more excellent way. Obviously public, other private schools, and secular music (for a lack of a better term) have their own dangers and pitfalls. I long to see a company of people in education and music that will rise up and be a voice in the earth, not just try and protect themselves from the big bad world. Where are the Christ followers that will be real and lift Jesus up in places where it's not popular. In both of these fields, it feels like to me people usually want to cram everything into a nice little box.

I have to ask myself some hard questions. Am I just preaching this but not living it yet? Am I always blaming my environment for my stunted growth? I am committed to change and I want God to change me to do what's not popular, what lifts Jesus, and most importantly what's in agreement with His heart for each moment. Let's bust the mold people and be the original creations that God has called us to be in this world. Maybe what Jesus is calling us to is something different. Thank God for godly fired up Christians in the Christian education and Christian music scenes. But let's not be ignorant either and engage in a hurting and dying world, where we will shine like stars and show Jesus to people.