Hillsongs has a few songs I like, but they're not usually my favorite. For me, in order for it to be called Christian music, the central focus of the song must be God. It can be about anything, but the focus must go where it belongs. The greatest contrasting example I ever encountered occurred many years back (late 90's/early 00's), when there were two very similar, but drastically different approaches to basically the same concept.
Phillips, Craig & Dean had a song titled "I want to be just like You". It was describing a father's relationship with his son, while focusing on how he (the father) wants to be like God,
because his son wants to be like him. The song may have been about the father/son relationship, but the focus was on God.
Quote:
Lord, I want to be just like You
'Cause he wants to be just like me
I want to be a holy example
For his innocent eyes to see
Help me be a living Bible, Lord
That my little boy can read
I want to be just like You
'Cause he wants to be like me
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Around the same time, several of the "Christian" music stations were playing a song called "Butterfly kisses". The song was about a father/daughter relationship, so in many respects similar to the PCD song. However, that's about where the similarities end.
While the PCD song made God the central focus, this one was strictly about his daughter. In fact, the closest he came to even mentioning God, was in talking about "bedtime prayers" in the chorus, and at one point stating that he "thank(s) God above" for his daughter.
Frankly, if they'd replaced that line with "thank my lucky stars above", no one would have noticed. Similarly, they could have replaced "bedtime prayers" with any number of other activities, and it wouldn't have changed the song one iota. It literally didn't give any glory to God, at best it made passing reference to Him. I always hated when that song came on the radio.
It's not to say that there was anything inherently
wrong about it, just that it didn't put the focus where it deserved to be, which is on God.
For as long as I can remember, I've been laser focused on the lyrics of songs, and whether they give glory to God or not. The music I can take or leave (even speaking as a drummer), but it's the lyrics that make or a break a song for me, to the point where I'll switch stations on the radio if I can't be certain of their intent. It's why my own songs have been carefully rechecked by me, to ensure that the focus is where it should be.
So far as I'm concerned, if the lyrics don't give glory where it's due, then it's not Christian music.