Is there such thing as "Christian" Music?

Derek Webb posted on twitter yesterday that the term, "christian", when not referring to a human, is just a marketing term.

This got me thinking- is there such thing as Christian music?

Let's dissect it: How would you classify it? Songs praising our Savior, correct?  But what if the song never names God by name?  What if it uses the pronoun 'you'?  Well, obviously you would go to the lyrics sheet and make sure that they wrote it "You" and not "you".  but what if there was no lyric sheet? 

Or what if that band is, God-forbid, one of those 'in-betweeny' bands like Lifehouse, Derek Webb, or Dave Barnes?  Lifehouse is a rock band on a 'secular' music label.  But several of their songs are obviously about God.  Songs like "Hanging By A Moment", and "Storm".  Their song, "Everything" even has a dramatic skit that people play at churches when the creative service gets serious. (I tried posting the video here, but you can only watch it on Youtube)

So is Lifehouse a Christian band? 

Many Christians won't go near the 'self-help' section of the bookstore because "We need God's help", and then they pick up books by Joel Osteen which are just self-help books using God's name as a way to gain entrance into a different demographic.  

There are even "christian" churches that are really just marketing schemes and not places to seek and save the lost.  But that's a post for another day.

Here's the main thing to take away from this is that things can't be christian.  Music can not be 'christian', but it does have the choice to praise God or not.  I believe there is worship music, which is a big difference from christian music.  There are 'christian' artists who have never put out a single worship song.

I used to be a person who believed that 'secular' songs had no place in worship- and no place for God.  As if when the band signed a contract they said "Okay, we are mainstream- no singing about God, and if we do- not in a biblical way."

 I believe God can use anything for his glory.  Take the song, "One Thing", by Finger Eleven:


This song was originally written about a girl.  There is a girl in the video.  But can God use it for His glory, for worship of Him? Of course! And if you disagree with me then we have a problem, because my God can do whatever He wants with whatever He wants.  When I listen to this song, I'm not thinking about a girl. I'm not thinking about dating. I'm thinking about my God. I worship my Savior when I hear this song.

So is there such thing as Christian music? To me- no.  There is music. There is music used for the glory of God and music that isn't used for God's glory. We try to complicate things by putting labels on them, but it really comes down to a black and white issue: is it used for God's glory or not.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you agree? Disagree?