Growing up evangelical: A sacred-secular chronology
Raise your hand if you grew up evangelical. Does anyone remember those CCM store displays attempting to lure customers with comparisons like, "If you like Sting, you might like Steven Curtis Chapman" or "If you like Jewel, you might like Rebecca St. James"?Among the peculiar realities of growing up evangelical was navigating the strange dichotomy of "Christian vs. secular" spheres of product consumption, exemplified most vividly in the realms of commercial music and book distribution. In high school, for example, I can remember listening to both the Beastie Boys and the Newsboys on my precious Sony Discman, enjoying the percussive grooves and cheesy lyrics of each group in their own special way. Around that same time, I also read novels by both John Grisham and Frank Peretti—a page-turner is a page-turner right?If you're anything like me, you daydream about the past when you should be living in the moment. Or you get fixated on what's current when some historical perspective might be more appropriate. Rather than attempt any profound reflections on the various writers, artists and entertainers I've been "into" over the course of my life from childhood to the present, I thought it might be trippy to compose a list (yes, another list) chronicling some of my favorites fluctuating from year to year. You'll notice I've tried to include samples from both "worlds" in keeping with the contrived sacred/secular paradigm of my upbringing. Funny how quickly one's interests can change.
2012: Rachel Held Evans / Flight of the Conchords
2011: Tim Keller / Lauryn Hill
2010: Bethel Music / Sigur Rós
2009: Scot McKnight / Pat the Bunny (Vincent's favorite)
2008: Richard Mouw / Barbara Kingsolver
2007: Derek Webb / Matisyahu
2006: Shane Claiborne / Ben Harper
2005: Brian McLaren / Jon Stewart
2004: Jim Wallis / Franz Ferdinand
2003: Any book promising a lifetime of marital bliss / Coldplay
2002: John Piper / The Strokes
2001: U2 and Bob Dylan (oh no, my categories!)
2000: Delirious / Goo Goo Dolls
1999: Burlap to Cashmere / Counting Crows
1998: Matt Redman / The Chemical Brothers
1997: Audio Adrenaline / Beastie Boys
1996: Jars of Clay / Michael Learns to Rock
1995: Sports Spectrum (magazine) / Sports Illustrated
1994: Newsboys / The Eagles
1993: Petra / Queen
1992: DC Talk / MC Hammer
1991: Adventures in Odyssey / Will Clark
1990: McGee and Me! / Joe Montana
1989: G.T. and the Halo Express / Magic Johnson
1988: Superbook / Wayne Gretzky (we lived in Canada)
1987: Clubhouse (magazine) / Highlights
1986: Psalty the Singing Songbook / ThunderCats
1985: Flannelgraphs / The Transformers
1984: Sesame Street
1983: Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
1982: Lowly Worm
1980-1981: Anything that smelled like milk