When I turn on a country music radio station, I expect to hear a male voice accompanied by a catchy guitar riff crooning about drinking a cold one with his toes buried in a sandy beach. If I change the station to pop, I expect to hear bass-thumping tunes about dancing the night away in some pulsating club. Classical, rap, and oldies stations are just the same. They are based on genres that encompass certain musical sounds and fairly standard themes in terms of lyrics.

But when I turn on the Christian music station, I have a different expectation — I expect even more. I not only expect the lyrics to be based upon a common theme, but I want them also to be lyrics I can sing to myself throughout the day to inspire, encourage, and motivate me. Likewise, I do not expect a single style of music; rather, I expect many different styles, each of them catchy in their own way.

While Christian music used to be based on hymns sung in church, the times have called for a more contemporary sound.

The overall style of Christian music has changed throughout the years in order to remain current and popular just as other music genres have gone through changes. For example, there are the classic country artists that span generations such as Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, yet contemporary country bands are emerging with more of a “pop” sound. Some country artists are even adding in snippets of — gasp — rap.

Does this mean that the country music genre has become watered down or “unoriginal”? Perhaps. Or perhaps it means music changes as contemporary taste changes. This is true of all music, and Christian music is no exception.

Christian music artists have diversified their style in order to gain a broader audience base, but it is the message that ties these various styles together. Not everyone is clamoring for sacred oratorios nor are they all hoping for heavy metal hymns. While all of these styles may or may not be used in the context of a Sunday morning service, they each have their place in the genre and on the Christian radio station.

Each of these styles pleases the ear of many different listeners, but it is the message centered around the man more popular than the Beatles that matters.

Tiffany Towns is a graduate student in theater and dance.