What is Contemporary Christian Music?

Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) is a broad genre of modern popular music that is written to express themes of Christian faith and worship, typically using the musical styles, instruments, and production techniques of mainstream pop, rock, and related genres.

It emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s when churches and artists sought to reach younger audiences by blending biblical lyrics with the sound and style of popular music. Today, CCM encompasses a wide range of styles (pop, rock, hip-hop, etc.) and is performed both in church settings and by professional Christian artists in the commercial music industry.

CCM did not emerge in a vacuum. Its musical foundation is rooted in the sounds of rock and roll, which itself arose in the 1950s from a blending of rhythm and blues, and country. Rock was more than a new sound—it was a cultural force that embodied rebellion, freedom of expression, and sensuality. Figures like Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and later The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, popularized a style of music that was inseparable from physical movement, passionate display, and often explicit references to romance and sexuality. Scholars, critics, and the artists themselves acknowledged that rock was, at its core, a sensual and even sometimes erotic form of expression.

As the church sought to remain relevant to younger generations, it adopted these same musical forms into worship. CCM arose with the goal of communicating biblical truth in a musical language familiar to the culture. While the intention may have been evangelistic or devotional, the form carried with it the sensual baggage of rock and roll. Driving rhythms, emotionally manipulative builds, and the performance atmosphere of concerts often resemble more the charged energy of a rock show than the sober-minded reverence of biblical worship. In effect, CCM can stir powerful feelings that lead to action without first engaging the believer’s mind in truth.

Scripture consistently warns against being ruled by passion or emotional impulse. The Christian life is to be marked by sober-mindedness, clarity, and self-control. Proverbs 25:28 declares, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” Without self-control, a person is left vulnerable to spiritual attack and error. The apostle Paul, in Romans 12:2, commands believers to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind,” placing emphasis on thoughtful discernment rather than mere feeling. Similarly, 1 Peter 5:8 exhorts, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” The call is to watchfulness and clarity, not to surrender to emotional intoxication.

Even when the content of CCM contains biblical themes, its musical form often prioritizes an emotional experience first, leaving truth to follow. Galatians 5:23 lists temperance (self-control) as a fruit of the Spirit. By contrast, worship that bypasses the mind and directly manipulates emotion can lead the believer away from temperance and toward dependence on musical stimulation for spiritual vitality. While music itself is a gift of God, its use in worship must align with Scripture’s call to sobriety, clarity, and reverence.

CCM inherits its sound and methods from rock and roll, a genre historically associated with sensuality and emotional abandon. Though it seeks to serve God, the form itself can encourage believers to place feelings before truth. The Word of God calls Christians to the opposite pattern: to be sober, to rule their spirits, and to allow truth to govern both thought and emotion. Christians ought to worship God in music the way He desires (learn what God wants in music here). Worship shaped by Scripture must therefore be marked not by the spirit of rock and roll, but by the Spirit of God, who produces self-control and leads us into truth.

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Thank you for reading!

Aaron Dempsey

I Corinthians 15:58