WHEN EVANGELICALS WERE COOL

 By Philip Jenkins, Prof. of History at Baylor Univ., Texas [edited]

How Christian Themes entered Mainstream Rock Music

Historians often have problems dealing with popular culture. Here's a case in point. When we write the history of the US in the 20^th century, it's hard to overstate the significance of the 1970s “Jesus People” revival, which some call a 4^th Great Awakening. The movement gave a whole new…space to born-again Christianity.

 It’s great to study the rise of contemporary Christianity. But we don't pay enough attention to the popular culture of this era, above all in rock music.

Historians have shown how Christian groups like Campus Crusade for Christ were influential in the 1970s revival. But those groups faced a daunting challenge reaching a non-believing audience, unsympathetic to the moral aspects of the gospel they preached. The 1970s weren’t a promising time to be preaching chastity, & a drug-free lifestyle.

Many evangelicals were deeply suspicious of the whole rock music culture. Although trivial, men’s hair length/style constituted a stark cultural boundary. Young Christian groups could organize to their hearts' content, but they weren’t going to impact the secular world until they spanned that cultural gulf. Looking back, they did succeed. By the 1970s, evangelical Christianity had a real impact on hippy subcultures and Jesus People groups became commonplace. By 1972, Campus Crusade attracted tens of thousands to Dallas, Teaxs for Explo '72, a kind of Christian Woodstock.

Divine intervention apart, how did they manage it?

A Band called “The Byrds”

Part of the explanation lies in the secular musical trends of the late 1960s. A driving force in the new cultural/religious upsurge was a band named the Byrds. In the mid-1960s, the Byrds were deeply into psychedelic experimentation, culminating in their 1968 album The Notorious Byrd Brothers. But at that point, things changed radically. David Crosby left the group; they added Gram Parsons, with his enduring passion for country & western music. In 1968, the reformed Byrds began recording at Nashville...

The Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo album

In August 1968, the Byrds released the album Sweetheart of the Rodeo, which pioneered a new style of country rock. It also initiated a revolutionary change in the country music world…

Unintentionally, the Byrds revived & legitimized Christian themes in music... The Byrds, Sweetheart of the Rodeo featured such evocative classics as I am a Pilgrim and The Christian Life.

Jesus is Just Alright with Me

In 1969, the Byrds recorded the song "Jesus is Just Alright with Me," which became an anthem for the emerging Jesus People. [In that era, “all-right", was equivalent to today’s “cool” or “awesome.”] The Doobie Brothers' version of “Jesus is Just Alright” became a US hit, peaking at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 in Feb. 1973. Recently, the song was covered by Robert Randolph, with guitar great, Eric Clapton.

Following the Byrds, other artists jumped on the bandwagon, recording or adapting Christian-themed songs. Judy Collins’ version of Amazing Grace rose to #15 on the Billboard Hot 100, remaining on the charts for 15 weeks. In the UK, Amazing Grace hit the charts 8 times between 1970 & 1972, peaking at #5, spending a total of 75 weeks on pop. music charts. The song, Put Your Hand in the Hand of the Man from Galilee, won a Grammy Award in 1972. The Biblical language of pilgrimage, redemption & sin entered mainstream rock music. On the “dark side,” themes such as Satan also entered Rock music’s repertoire: The Rolling Stones recorded Sympathy for the Devil in 1968 & the Grateful Dead issued Friend of the Devil in 1970. Suddenly, mainstream young people were exposed to music using Christian themes, in highly accessible rock/country fusion styles, played by hip musicians with long hair & beards. Along the way, they also heard key evangelical themes, which suddenly became cool & contemporary.

That, I suggest, is a major reason why 1970s Christian movements were able to find young audiences open & receptive to their messages.  We can't claim that the Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo was the album that changed America's faith. But, at least, it made a mighty contribution.

Comment by Joe Carter: 

Jenkins may be overstating the case for particular artists ["If the Byrd's Sweetheart of the Rodeo wasn’t the album that changed America's faith, then (at least) it made a mighty contribution."] Nevertheless the role of rock music in shaping American Christianity---for good & ill---has been underestimated. Much of the music Jenkins discusses certainly served a pre-apologetic function during the 1970s, making evangelicalism palatable to younger audiences.

It’s too soon to say for certain, but Christian hip-hop may be playing a similar role in broadening the appeal of evangelicalism. Unlike the 1970s, when Christian rock was viewed with suspicion by older believers, today, many evangelical leaders are embracing & encouraging this movement. The unlikely alliance of pastors & performers is also producing more theologically informed music than in previous decades.