The interviewer asked Fernando Ortega, one of my favorite singers, about what he thought of the commercialization of Christian music. Here’s what he said:
“Well, I think that most of today’s Christian music is based on a thin premise. When you take a pop song and weigh it down with the gospel it sort of cheapens both. The theology is too heavy for the song, and the song usually ends up being too light for the theology. Often I feel like you end up with some sort of fuzzy Christian propaganda that doesn’t do music or the gospel any justice. That’s why I like hymns so much. The early fathers wrote many of the texts to hymns that we sing today. I like that they attach us to our Christian history and remind us of what in our faith is worth preserving. Hymns were written by theologians, not pop stars, and that is why when they are sung, we so tangibly feel the weight of glory.”
And that’s why we love Fernando.
By the way, if you haven’t listened to his latest album In the Shadow of Your Wings, I can’t recommend it highly enough. In fact, why don’t we make one of the songs from that album the Song of the Day? If I get in trouble I’ll take it down. It’s called “Oh God, You Are My God (Psalm 63).”https://rabbitroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/OhGodYouAreMyGod.mp3