Response to a comment

I don't know how long ago this comment was posted, or by whom, but I really want to respond to it... if it was you, please feel free to email me to continue the discussion (nrbaughman@gmail.com) the comment is in reference to my top 10 albums of last year and here it is in full:

Anonymous said...

I totally disagree with some of the choices on your list. The main one would have to be Switchfoot. They are such a bunch of sell outs. They say that "we are meant to live for so much more" but on that album they sold out. They went on Non-christian tours, Left the name of "God" and "Jesus" out of many of their songs, and put in you and he, refering to God in the 3rd person. Not only did they play at non-christian concerts, but they used the extra money for what? Better instruments, better effects on music videos and more stuff. That stuff is the same stuff Christ says will rot away. They need to use their money on the eternal, THE CHURCH. Helping their local chuch or giving more to help THE CHURCH would be a better use of their money. I'm not saying I am always following God, but when you are in a Well-Known band for Christ you are put on a ladder where everyone sees you. And by not proclaiming your faith directly you dirty the name of Christ.

First of all, what is a Non-Christian tour? Tons of Christian bands go/have been on tours with non-Christian bands - MxPx, Showbread, Five Iron Frenzy, Mae, Number One Gun... Hell, Underoath even headlined the Vans Warped tour this year! Does that make them any less Christian because they are broadening their fan base and are willing to play shows outside of a church or a youth group's building? I sure hope not.
Second, what exactly is a sell-out? Is it because they moved to a larger label that was able to get them better shows in order to accompany their growing popularity, and allow their cds to be sold in more places giving them a much easier accesibility to those who are craving their message.
Third, YES, Switchfoot still holds a message. I don't know where you got that they left out "God" or "Jesus" from their songs, but none of the Switchfoot albums (even when they were on a Christian label) explicitly mention God or Jesus. Does that make them less Christian? No, because they are more than willing to put up their faith and all the struggles that accompany it within their lyrics. Just because they don't say the name of God doesn't mean that they aren't talking about God. For instance, one of the songs I mentioned in that old blog, "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine," says within its title and throughout the song that everything we do, whether wrong or right continues to prove that there is a God behind it all, hence the Shadow proves the Sunshine. Also, there are a bunch of praise choruses that say he or you instead of mentioning the name of God specifically, and I hope that those are still Christian songs.
Finally, you don't get mad at a Christian home-builder for buying better equipment for building homes, do you? Then why would you be upset because they are buying better instruments in order to improve the quality of their shows?! It makes no sense. Not only that, but Switchfoot has put up a bunch of money starting up their own charity type thing called lowercasepeople, which you can check out on lowercasepeople.com, wherein the entirety of the cause is for social justice, just like some guy was all about two centuries ago... I think his name was... ummmm Jesus?

I need to wrap up because I have company coming, but if anyone thinks my points are wrong or they want to add anything, the comments are now open. So please, if you really think Switchfoot is not Christian, just because they are on a larger label, I'd hate to say it, but I think you are wrong.
Godspeed.