Christian folktronica artist David Crowder has warned people in the church against mindlessly absorbing the popular culture around them.
"My approach to culture for one is that we don't even realize the stuff that we're influenced by. We get more into this America culture, even church culture and you breathe it in every day and you're not even aware of how you're being formed by it," he told Breathe Cast.
This is why Christians need to be discerning, and this happens only when people let the Holy Spirit into their lives, he said. With God, people are able to acknowledge their deficiencies and depravity.
"I think most church leadership and staff look exactly like CEO businesses do and that's gonna affect the culture that we don't even think about or concern ourselves with. I think we have to be as diligent in the stuff that's 'good' as we do with the stuff that is 'bad' because I believe God is active and present everywhere and at all times," he said.
Crowder said that the walls between the world and church are so high and this is why many Christians tend to be antagonistic towards up-tempo and youth group music, even though there is nothing wrong with it. It's difficult getting them to appreciate music they do not like, but it would help if they keep an open mind, said Crowder.
"I don't think you can talk people into taste but you can have them try a new dish and if it suits their pallet then that's fantastic and if it doesn't it's just impossible to talk someone into liking something," he said.
Crowder feels blessed because a lot of people really embrace his songs, and the singer has been overwhelmed by the positive response he has received. "I've always felt like we were writing for our friends, people that we knew or lived life with so that made it very simple to create words and melodies and create sounds that would move us knowing it would move them," he said. "I just tried to keep my thought process pretty simple."
