God and Country Music: The Really Attractive False Heaven of Small Town Living

Last updated on: May 16, 2013 at 1:00 pm by Nick Rynerson

God and Country Music: The Really Attractive False Heaven of Small Town Living 2013-05-16T11:24:54-06:00 Nick Rynerson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I have written more than one God and Country Music column on the relationship between Nashville and Christianity. And really, you wouldn’t have present-day Nashville without American Christianity. From George Hay’s “strictly clean and decent” policy at the Grand Ole Opry to the chorus of Eric Church’s hit ”Like Jesus Does,” religious life has been an important aspect of country music. From an anthropological position, it’s fascinating how this type of popular culture has been a safe haven for religious conservatives who feel encroached on by the urbanization and liberalization of the world around them. But from a Christian perspective, I am worried that a lot of Christians are buying into a subtle yet attractive legalism: separatism.

Here’s the chorus to Craig Morgan’s “More Trucks Than Cars”:

We say hell ya and amen, yeehaw, and y’all come back again

And pray that our boys come home alive

And when Old Glory flies, we still hold our hands over our hearts

Where there’s more trucks than cars.

The song, especially the chorus, is indicative of the theological market of Nashville: patriotic, rural, conservative, Christian. It’s brilliant marketing, really. To offer a picture of life uncorrupted by the left-wing terrors of globalization, urbanization, liberalization, and secularism. Country songs like these (they have been a dime a dozen for the last three decades) offer a haven from change and “progress.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdFwiFT4ef4&

And for an impressively large percentage of the population, the sort of daily life described in these songs is really appealing. Honestly, I love it. If I had the funds, I would be darn tempted to try to find the town that Morgan is talking about and buy a house there. It seems like it would satisfy my soul by removing me from the things that I am frustrated by socially and politically.

In a social climate like the United States that’s been rapidly changing since the 1960’s, it is natural for people who don’t welcome social change to insulate in their communities and block out the world. Country music provides a brief escape for people who, like me, are afraid of the uncertain future. It’s like a less extreme manifestation of the same longings and desires of the Russian Old Believers ( read this if you don’t know what I am talking about). This kind of separation seems great, except it simply isn’t Christian.

Jesus didn’t isolate himself from the world that he lived in. The moral teachings of Jesus and His church aren’t supposed to be cultural barricades. Morality is meant to protect our spiritual, emotional, and relational well being as Christians “have mercy on those who doubt” (Jude 22) in the world around them. The more I work through all of this (which is completely against my nature), the more I realize that the ‘narrow path that leads to life’ tends to go right through the ‘wide path that leads to destruction.’

It’s okay to want to live an idyllic, Christian world. We were wired to want that. But we won’t find it in small-town America; we’ll find it in heaven. I love country music because it points me there. But in my enjoyment of it I have to be careful that I don’t go mistaking paradise for that home across the road and repent when I try to save myself in cultural nostalgia.

God and Country Music

Mainstream Country Music

Nashville

Small town

Previous Post

May 16, 2013

Citizenship Confusion: The Boston Bombers Tell Us Why They Did it

Next Post

May 17, 2013 The Moviegoer: The Colossal Vitality of Baz Luhrmann's Great Gatsby Illusion

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Asides Elsewhere Featured Film Games General Culture Headline Literature Music Of the Moment Podcast Politics RetroPost Sports Technology Television Uncategorized Viral

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz