In its coverage of the Iowa caucus, the New York Times quoted
a pastor who said he’d be voting for Mike Huckabee despite his serious
reservations about the candidate’s belief that it’s possible to serve
“God and rock ‘n’ roll at the same time.”
Huckabee plays bass guitar. He recently showed his chops on the Tonight Show. But the Iowan pastor’s concerns are out of synch with contemporary American evangelicalism. Fundamentalist churches that say “Christian Rock makes as much sense as Christian Adultery” are a dwindling fringe. The vast majority of evangelicals, even the most theologically and politically conservative ones, have embraced rock ‘n’ roll for decades.
And yet there are fierce debates within evangelicalism about whether secular rock is as acceptable as Christian rock and even about the ideal purpose of Christian rock -- is it entertainment? evangelism? ministry? So it’s worth noting that the band Huckabee plays in is what’s known as a praise and worship band. That’s the “safest,” most “religious” and most insular variety of contemporary Christian music. The fact that it’s Huckabee’s genre of choice also explains the origins of his mysterious campaign buzzword: “vertical.”
Josh Marshall posted about Huckabee’s vertical politics last night. “Can anyone explain what the hell that means?” Marshall asked. “Is there something I’m missing here?” Soon enough, he posted an update suggesting that the phrase might be “crypto-evangelical code wording... a clever dog whistle call out to Christian fundamentalists and evangelicals that his politics are God’s politics.”
Marshall is mostly correct. The phrase is Christianese. And while it’s used in a variety of contexts, it’s most commonly applied to distinguish one type of contemporary Christian music -- the type that Huckabee plays -- from others. As the Lyrical Theology blog put it, “Christian lyrics can generally divided into two categories. 1. Lyrics that are horizontal, or directed towards people, and 2. Lyrics that are vertical, or directed towards God.” A few years ago, the top A&R; guy at Word, a major Christian record label, explained what this means as a practical matter: “Overt, or vertical, lyrics are lyrics that are not afraid to say ‘Jesus’ or ‘God’ in them. ‘Vertical’ meaning: I am speaking to God, or God is speaking to me, or this is a prayerful song. The lyrics are out in the open--overt--about the Christian faith, praise and worship or the like.” Horizontal lyrics, on the other hand, “are the type that could often be love songs, but the You is with a capital ‘Y.’” Snarky young Christians call the
Huckabee plays bass guitar. He recently showed his chops on the Tonight Show. But the Iowan pastor’s concerns are out of synch with contemporary American evangelicalism. Fundamentalist churches that say “Christian Rock makes as much sense as Christian Adultery” are a dwindling fringe. The vast majority of evangelicals, even the most theologically and politically conservative ones, have embraced rock ‘n’ roll for decades.
And yet there are fierce debates within evangelicalism about whether secular rock is as acceptable as Christian rock and even about the ideal purpose of Christian rock -- is it entertainment? evangelism? ministry? So it’s worth noting that the band Huckabee plays in is what’s known as a praise and worship band. That’s the “safest,” most “religious” and most insular variety of contemporary Christian music. The fact that it’s Huckabee’s genre of choice also explains the origins of his mysterious campaign buzzword: “vertical.”
Josh Marshall posted about Huckabee’s vertical politics last night. “Can anyone explain what the hell that means?” Marshall asked. “Is there something I’m missing here?” Soon enough, he posted an update suggesting that the phrase might be “crypto-evangelical code wording... a clever dog whistle call out to Christian fundamentalists and evangelicals that his politics are God’s politics.”
Marshall is mostly correct. The phrase is Christianese. And while it’s used in a variety of contexts, it’s most commonly applied to distinguish one type of contemporary Christian music -- the type that Huckabee plays -- from others. As the Lyrical Theology blog put it, “Christian lyrics can generally divided into two categories. 1. Lyrics that are horizontal, or directed towards people, and 2. Lyrics that are vertical, or directed towards God.” A few years ago, the top A&R; guy at Word, a major Christian record label, explained what this means as a practical matter: “Overt, or vertical, lyrics are lyrics that are not afraid to say ‘Jesus’ or ‘God’ in them. ‘Vertical’ meaning: I am speaking to God, or God is speaking to me, or this is a prayerful song. The lyrics are out in the open--overt--about the Christian faith, praise and worship or the like.” Horizontal lyrics, on the other hand, “are the type that could often be love songs, but the You is with a capital ‘Y.’” Snarky young Christians call the