Former CCM Singer Alisa Childers: Christian Music Industry Is ‘Just a Business’

alisa childers
Screengrabs from Facebook / @Alisa Childers

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Apologist Alisa Childers, a former Christian recording artist, is sharing her thoughts on worship and the state of contemporary Christian music (CCM). In new video clips, she emphasizes that Christians must use discernment about many CCM songs and recognize that “true worship is God-centered.”

Childers, daughter of CCM pioneer Chuck Girard, sang with the Christian group ZOEgirl. The latest book from the podcaster and author is titled “The Deconstruction of Christianity: What It Is, Why It’s Destructive, and How to Respond.”

Alisa Childers: Not All Writers of Christian Music Are Christian

In a clip posted to YouTube by Cross Examined on Oct. 9, Childers is asked about ties between deconstruction and Christian music—and whether believers should be concerned about popular culture’s influence on the genre.

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Childers, 49, responded by sharing insights about the current state of the industry. Regarding CCM record labels based in Nashville, Tennessee, the industry is really “just a business,” she said. “It’s run like a business. [Labels are] owned, for the most part, by secular companies, and that’s who the higher-ups are answering to.”

As a result, Childers said, “There’s not really a theological standard in contemporary Christian music that people have to match up to. It’s really just what’s going to sell.”

The industry provides what churches want, she added, saying, “So they’re not necessarily writing from a perspective of like, ‘Hey, let’s give the church these theologically rich songs.’ They’re trying to get on the radio.”

Childers clarified, “I’m not saying all the Christian artists have that mentality. There are some really great people in that industry that are full of integrity and doing a really good job.”

Most worship music churches now use, she said, comes from labels formed by major churches, such as Bethel. “As far as how we approach quote unquote Christian music, we need to be incredibly discerning and realize that not everybody who’s writing Christian music is even a Christian,” said Childers. “Don’t just assume because something has a Christian label on it that it’s inherently even Christian.”

Worship Should Be Stable, Not Emotional, Says Alisa Childers

About what music Christians should listen to, Alisa Childers said the secular-Christian divide is complicated because a lot of “really solid Christian artists would say, ‘Well, we don’t like being called a ‘Christian artist.’”

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She urged parents to listen to music and talk to their kids about worldviews, because many lyrics have “really subtle messages.” Pointing to Taylor Swift, Childers said the pop star’s latest album is “super sexually charged,” so parents must determine whether that’s something they want to let form their kids spiritually.

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Stephanie Martin
Stephanie Martin, a freelance writer and editor in Denver, has spent her entire 30-year journalism career in Christian publishing. She loves the Word and words, is a binge reader and grammar nut, and is fanatic (as her family can attest) about Jeopardy! and pro football.

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