The Obsession
I’ve never understood unhealthy obsessions with people. I have been on a few tours now and every time I see someone falling all over themselves just to get close to someone that was on a stage for a the night, I can’t help but laugh.
Teenage girls screaming uncontrollably, barley able to ask for an autograph, grown men tripping over every word, while telling an artist that they play the same type of guitar.
See, there are only two ways these conversations can go. There is either the person who can’t stop telling an artist how great they are and how they have changed the lives of everyone in said persons social circle. Then there is the fan that refuses to stop talking about themselves, and how similar they are to the artist. They play the same guitar, have the same kind of dog, eat the same kind of food, and indubitably lead worship for their church and play the same songs. Some of these fans will go home and spend countless hours online searching pictures, and articles that the artist are involved in and study everything there is to know about the artist, sending emails to accounts checked only by managers and hired help.
The problem with this type of person, no matter how flattering it is to the artist, it’s not healthy. These fans, especially in Christian music, create the “rockstar” that everyone can’t stand to be around. If not grounded and humbled, any artist will begin to believe all their own hype and eventually start to respond in a way that demands the same adoration from everyone.
Luckily I have been on tours with guys that are fully aware of this problem and desperately try to avoid too much “praise”. It’s a struggle for anyone with an ounce of pride, and the obsessed fan does nothing but attack an artist. An obsession of another person, no matter the degree of intensity is not healthy for the obsessor or the obsessed.
Just my thoughts today.
There are some people on Phil Wickham’s blog that should read this…
Dude Molly and I just had a ten paragraph e-mail exchange about this very subject. I would love for artists, whom are “worshiped” by these people to get up on stage and be like, “I am glad you all love me so much, but here is how much of a bastard I really am…” Just go out there and remind the crowd they are humans, the thoughts they have, then again, this is Christian music we are talking about. Those guys wear halos.
In otherwords, in christian music, 100% honesty does not sell cd’s or tickets to shows. But…portraiting this ubber spiritual, worship LEADING guy, whom “I want my husband to be just like,” or for a guy “I want to be just like,” does sel music to these people who are called sheep for a reason, and I don’t mean that in the “we are His flock kind of way.”
I have worked with a lot of amazing guys in the Christian music industry, and they are genuinely guys “I would want to be like”.
What I am talking about is when the fan elevates the artist higher than he or she wants to be elevated. There is no place for that and shouldn’t be tolerated any more than an artist would be tolerated if he acted as elevated as he is treated.
This post is not intended to become a “Christian Artist bashing” thread. We all know that they are out there. That’s nothing new. This is a post about how fans make it hard (nearly impossible) to stay grounded when they are showered with praise for simply breathing.
hey, i know i am a complete stranger to you, but i found your blog while gazing mindlessly on others. i feel you are so right on this matter. and, on my own part, i find myself feeling guilty for putting the artist before the message sometimes. i’m a lover of good music and musicianship, and personally, music from guys like phil wickham have genuinely impacted my life in recognizing true worship through great music. musicians like these have helped me to put faith back into christian artists, recognizing the sincerity we as christians should have when worshipping the Lord. Thank you mr. shawn bashor for the bastard comment—that is the truth everyone should remember.
Let me restate a little bit of that. I guess what I am saying is, these “unhealthy obsessions,” might possibly be overted by some dose of reality. Maybe this is not possible because of time constraints, but maybe you would have those same guys and girls being like that over those artists either. So while it is unhealthy, my guess is it has a lot to do with immaturity. I am not trying to bash any christians artists, but there has to be some sort of resposibilty on their end to make sure not to foster these unhealthy perceptions.
brody -
it’s the fans of road managers that you need to be aware of. those are the worst!!! i think you already know about that. haha…
seriously though. this is a tough thing to deal with & there are two maybe 3 camps that people fall into.
1)the guy who believes what everyone says about them. they become the arrogant ass that nobody wants to be around. i’m like remember dude…you’re in christian rock. not too high on the ol’ totem pole.
2) the guy who is super spiritual and won’t sign any autographs & tells kids they are wrong for asking for one. that can damage a kid just as much as the arrogant ass in description #1.
3) then you have people who have a good balance with it all. don’t believe what people say about you…and don’t believe people are wrong for asking for an artist’s autography. because like it or not…you signed up to be in the spotlight…there are certain thing that come along with that. just be down to eart, love people, and show them that you’re a normal person.
did you eat pappasitos yet? i’ll be mad if you don’t!!!
and from the last post…you can tell that i can’t spell. for the love!!!
Brody,
Good post. As a fan, it is easy to get caught up in the moment and to forget that artists are just regular people. Thanks for this reminder and if I EVER step out of line, feel free to smack me.
Beth
Absolutely Shawn. I agree.
…and I love that my friend Bush can’t spell…
I totally admit that I am obsessive a lot. But with musical artists sometimes I’m the total opposite. It’s not that I see them as a superhuman musical god but when I meet or talk to music artists I never compliment them too much but instead try to be their friend, and they usually like that. Then I go look for them online, and start messaging and stuff. They usually answer me once or twice and then they stop and it upsets me a little. So my problem is not that I think of them as superhuman and forget they’re regular people, but the opposite. I think of them as regular old friends and forget that they have busy lives and don’t have time to respond to people they’ve only met once or never. And ultimately I just seem stupid. I needed this post. Thanks, Brody.
Everything you said is very true….and I really like the way “time to change” stated the types of guys that are out there.
I have been able to spend time with Indie Christian artists in the last six years…..because of the contact my husband has as a drummer. And, I have learned that there are artists who expect you to make a fuss over them…then there are the ones who realize they are created beings….with a gift that should be used to glorify the creator….and not themselves.
The problem is: we live in a world where if you are gifted and are in the public eye, no matter if you are a Christian or not……you are put in a position to be admired. I personally think this side of heaven it will never change….We can all be mature in our faith and still be prone to this.
The flesh is weak…..and it is indeed a problem of the flesh….thank God He works us through it.
One more thing….and it might come across as rude…cuz, in written word you can not know my heart on this…..but, as long as Christian artists, athletes, and even Pastors are in a sense selling either themselves or a product or their gift….this will never change…it will only breed more admiration. The only thing that brings about change about anything…is the work of the Holy Spirit in a persons life….only then can we recognize the truth about our need to worship the Lord instead of Man…..until then….we can only pray for those who struggle on misguided worship.
Hey Brody, I was at the Dallas concert last night, and I was one those who got to meet the “rock stars.” (I even waved by to you on the way out of the meet and greet.)
We met Phil back in the green room (I have a friend who is a chef at HoB) and was pleased to me a guy who was humble, and uncomfortable being the center of attention.
Later, talking to Crowder, I did say that he’s been a blessing an encouragement to me as I lead worship in my own home church, but I was again pleased to see him humbled and blessed to find that my “favorite artist” is a humble man of God.
Awesome point Kim B. I brought this up to Brody in an e-mail and you brought it up here I am glad. It is not only musicians, but pastors, speakers, bloggers?
Yes it is easy to think we know someone by the music they sing, the sermons they speak, the words they type. Truth is, we really don’t know them, only know their talent(not gift, God did not give us the gift of rockstardum, I have looked it’s not in there).
oops…..thanks for the correction of the word gift !!!!! I meant talent….but, my hands get ahead of my thoughts sometimes…lol. Do you wanna know what is awesome….??? God uses everything in our lives to bring us to the realization that we are nothing apart from Him!!! AND….our attempts in the flesh to Praise Him…or spread His message will return void. awwwww…but, He gives us those precious glimpses of His Majesty….and then we know the object of our Praise.
Thanks, Brody -
So a few weeks ago my wife and I come off the “Finding Nemo” ride @ Epcott and there is David Crowder. We discuss among ourselves “is it really him”, and finally my wife has the courage to ask. Sure ’nuff, it’s David … and since I totally love his music, I go right up and say “hi” and introduce myself. I ask for a photo … I’m thinking this not because he’s a superhero, but because it’s a cool moment that I”d like to remember (and I’m thinking “this will be a good blog”). I basically say “thanks, I’m a worship leader in Georgia – caught you at the Third Day concert in Jacksonville, really love your music – thanks for all you do’ and his wife snaps the picture, and we move on.
I dunno – hopefully that wasn’t overboard … just a quick “wow, there is one of my favorite artists” and how I reacted.
The best I can recall, that’s how it went down … so what say you … is that cool, or would David say “o brother” and that it crossed the line?
Fred
I don’t think David would feel that way at all. What you described is a totally normal encounter with someone you respect musically…
Now if you had emailed him 50 times after that… no good
Thanks, Brody .. haha my wife said “you should email him when you get back” and I say “why?” and she said “so next time you want to invite DC to play @ our church, he may remember meeting you better” ….
I passed.
FM
Shawn, as an artist who has tried to vomit up his flaws to audiences in hopes of seeming more human and less worthy of worship, I’ve discovered that doing so only attracts more attention and praise. Just a different kind. “You’re so real” replaces “I love your hair.” It’s still uncomfortable – not wrong per se, but uncomfortable. I’ve learned that while there is a line fans sometimes cross, the discomfort I feel when simply complimented is more my problem than theirs – a fancy kind of pride I think sometimes.
E-mailing me several times a week, mailing letters daily to me, driving by my house slowly with a camera hanging out the car window, asking me to your hotel room, waiting to be the last one to talk to me after a show so that you’ll have me all to yourself – these are creepy things to do, way over the line of normal. But, being freaked out when someone says “I love your music” or “That song changed my life” is more of my problem than the fan’s.
Have you had to put the smackdown on any thirteen year-old girls yet, Brody? We miss you around the cult-de-sac.
I experienced this tonight and was sooooooo heart broken and disgusted.
I pray for you guys that are out ministering, because there are so many people that create idols of their favorite christan artist. Its so sad that while the christian artist is singing to the LORD, the crowd is singing to the artist!
Do NOT lower your standards for the crowd to push them into the presence of the Lord, some will understand(& revelation comes from God) and some will not. (Matthew 7:13) Continue to be covered in humility and be bold in speaking the truth. If its needed to say…DON’T SING TO ME…SING TO GOD!!!!! SING TO GOD! THATS WERE YOUR SALVATION LIES…then so be it!!! Stay encouraged. The joy of the LORD is our strength. AMEN!! God bless and keep you!
ROMANS 12!!!
Well Shaun,
I see where you are coming from. I guess the bottom line is people just have problems. We all do I suppose, some more than others.
I just wonder about how the whole thing is set up sometimes. You know? Like, isn’t the whole “Christian music concert/venue/lights-camera-action thing just flat-out conducive to attracting, even encouraging to swooning obsessive fan?
Same kind of obsession can happen to any Christian in a public eye. Pastors get advances all the time from adoring widows or youth leaders get it from crush-prone girls. They put themselves up on the pulpit as “the man” and people just fall in love with that.
It seems the system where Christian artists have fit themselves into is a system that was created “for” fame. “For” adoring, obsessive fans. We/they, whoever, create blogs, websites, merchandise, etc… for the purpose of nurturing a group of people who adore us and buy our crap and like us a whole lot. (“Crap,” meant to be taken in stuff way, not a quality way.)
Isn’t it a bit like the Victoria Secret model who is haunted the lustful obsessive sex-crazed dude but doesn’t see that her modeling is maybe a part of the problem?
Don’t really know, just thinkin’ out loud here. Hopefully not pissing anyone off.
It is cool that the guys you tour with are at least aware of the situation and make a concerted effort to subdue the very thing it seems the whole system/industry is structured for.
Good post.
Hey Brody,
It was great to hang tonight for a couple of minutes and chat. It’s kinda weird cause I read yours, Shaun’s and Brant’s blogs all the time so as I said earlier you sorta feel like we know ya’ll even though we really don’t. But I agree with your post that some people can really go overboard and put the artists above the Lord.
And man, Crowder puts on a killer show, just wish it was a little longer! Take care!
After my above posts I was like I should have said more….but, didn’t want to cross a line of respect, if you will. I came back to see what others thought and was pleased to see that Seth Ward said exactly the rest of what I was thinking. but, the more I think about it the more I don’t have an answer…..either every Christian decides never to ever do anything else to ever draw attention to themselves….or we keep on the way we are and we grow through this together.
Here’s a question to provoke more thought on the matter:
If every Christian artist, author, etc. were to stop promoting their projects…no more $50,000.00 (per new release)recordings, no more posters, t-shirts, gizzmos and gadgets….book deals and signings….etc, etc.
A. would it stop the problem we are discussing??? or, would it remain the same?????
OR
B. would they have to give up the tours and other lifestyles because all of a sudden…they have to “get a real job” ???
The answer probably is somewhere in the middle….If I were anyone living in the limelight….I think the single most important thing I could do is to pray for my “fans” to not see me…but, to see the one who sent me….easier said than done….????
Kim B,
I would love to ask anyone in “paid full-time” ministry that question. IE Pastors church staff. I don’t really look at artists on the same page, I think we should be asking those in “ministry” that question, not musicians.
Seth, I agree. Now what?
Hmmm..
Interesting to think about.
To think that, that is probably what most of our favorite artists are struggling with the most.
I guess I’ve never even thought about it.
I think our best bet(as fans) would be to daily lift up that person in prayer to defeat that sin.
Well said Brody. It also leads me to church services for at times thanks to God for technology, we have words on the screen, yet no one sings! I mean, we are not there to worship the musicians or critique them or even admire them! Instead, we are to praise the Lord because that is one of the things we will do when we go to meet our KING ETERNAL!!
Lord, help us to remember that all your children (the musicians, pastors, etc) are merely your vessels/intruments and You, our God to whom all worship is due. May we seek you first in all we do, which includes enjoying the beautiful weather we have right now in Cali.
Love you Lord. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!!!
“Just my thoughts today.”
Actually now they were “just your thoughts yesterday…”
I see this kind of behavior a lot at concerts. Just last night, for instance, there were two girls sitting close to me in the lobby while I was waiting to meet The Myriad. One of the girls asked the other if they were going to take a picture with The Myriad guys and the other girl snapped her head towards the other with a look like “how dare you say that!” and said, “NO! Only Phil is picture worthy.” It freaked me out a little. I mean, admiring artists for the talent and the burden that God gave them is one thing. Completely obsessing over them is another. I hope a lot of us friendly Texans haven’t come across as obsessive. I myself, for instance, gave a book to Phil because we had joked about it the Tuesday before. I do not categorize myself with the hormone-raged girls who kept obsessively say, “Oh man, “Whoever” is hot.” constantly and say, “Only “Whoever” is picture worthy.” I certainly hope that I don’t come across that way either. I admire the humbleness that he has and the sincere worship that Phil raises up to our Lord. He is a fantastic worship leader.
But I must say that most all of us don’t get to hang out with these artists everyday. I love being able to talk with my favourite artists. So, I can kind of see why people want to spend as much time around these artist as they can. Without stalking them, of course.
It was nice meeting you last night Brody! God Bless!
Please, what the hell do I know? I’m just a writer/film maker and a composer. I hardly know jack about what goes on in that world from my limited experience. But here is some more out loud thinking and maybe you tell me if any of it makes sense. Again, maybe there is no answer. The never-ending conundrum of Christianity and Capitalism. They don’t really mix at the core, but somehow, God lets it work, for now.
First, maybe some practical things might make things a little more enjoyable on the artist side and easier to cope like, embrace the business as what it is, a business. You sell CDs. You need fans. You want fans. You want people to like you so they will buy your stuff. Its okay. I think fans get that and understand it. In fact, they like it. It’s no different really, than the Christian who owns an oil business. He drills oil and wants people to buy it.
That way, you don’t have to carry the burden around of trying to be Jesus with a mic – lofty and pure and “oh I don’t want money nor worry about it but if you decide to buy one… they are on the back table next to my lunch pails and custom ipod covers that me and my kids painted.” Or Jesus the everyman, “I’m just like you.” when the fans know you aren’t just “every man” otherwise they wouldn’t be there buying your music. You’ve got something other people don’t have, and they appreciate you sharing it, and you are thankful and humbled that they like it.
Then you can be an artists who entertains people and embraces the compliments and positive reinforcement, and embraces the gift for what it is, a gift from God. The Kingdom works that way, we all got different things that we do well. So get on with it and like it and use it. The more you fight it, the worse you get, and oddly, the more the fans become obsessed. “Oh he’s so reclusive… If I don’t get close now, I NEVER WILL!!!!”
Another thing, the one time Amber and I toured, (a modest 15 colleges in 2 months) practically every one of the colleges we went to would talk about was what a bunch of complete prima Donna jerks the last CCM artists were that came through.
And I honestly don’t think they would have been that way if they would’ve shaken the made-up milieu of “I’m surrounded by people who like me but I don’t really want this” then maybe they wouldn’t have been a jerk in order to feel like they were fighting the fan and dodging their compliments. But who knows, they may have just been natural-born jerkwads and WERE being themselves.
Accepting a compliment takes true humility. Saying “thank you” and meaning it to someone who knows zip about music takes humility. You can’t be humble if your aren’t thankful. You have to be touched by it over and over. I think that’s where the hard work comes in maybe, and not so much the “oh I gotta fight the fame” crap when everyone knows you want to be liked or you wouldn’t be selling your Cds and singing for a zillion people. Being able to move someone with your poetry and music is a gift. Having the spirit of David is a rare thing. Embrace it, don’t resent it.
I was at a wedding in the last 6 months and there was this CCM front man there that EVERYONE here would know. He was talking to some other guy in a “secular” rock band, even though the “secular” rock band was comprised entirely of Christians. The CCM front man said to the Secular front man, “Dude, you guys sound great. And I mean, you got to go out there and win people for real. I mean, your fans are real. Ours are pretty much built in. We just come out an play anything and they’ll like it.” I sat amazed. “What an arrogant, ungrateful pecker” was my first response. (sorry.) Does he not know that those fans probably like secular bands as well, and that he should be grateful that someone out there likes what he does? Now, looking back, I think that kind of attitude comes from hating what comes with the territory and resenting the audience that feeds you, your wife and your babies instead of embracing it and being thankful for it.
In summary, Its a business, be thankful, admit that it is a business and be a Christian in your business, hopefully doing some good within the flawed framework that is there.
{end thinking out loud. Me talky talky. No more talky.}
Live long and prosper.
Seth,
would you mind going over that one more time a little slower for us slow people?
Wow…apparently you hit the hot spot Brody. As Shawn said, we actually just had a huge discussion about this very topic and got a kick out of the fact that you brought it up. I have a whole heck of a lot to say in regards to this subject…but I will try to keep it to a minimum (fat chance). God had reminded me of a few verses in light of these things: “He has shown you, oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8)?” and “…you shall love the Lord your God with all you heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength…you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these (Mark 12:30-31).” The other verse the lord brought to mind is from John 21:22, when Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him, and commands him to feed His sheep. He proceeds to tell Peter of the manner in which he will die, and Peter asks “Lord, and what about this man?” referring to John. Jesus responds “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” Does “iron sharpen iron?” Yes. Are we called to build the brethren by teaching, reproofing, correcting, and training in righteousness according to the Word of God? Yes. What I think does not matter, but what God’s word says is that I need to fix my eyes on Jesus, who alone is the author and perfecter of faith. In theory, I think that worship leaders, pastors, tv show hosts, and any one else in the spotlight of the Christian world should do what they can to get people to realize that they are simply human (“just like the rest of us”), they are not super-humans/Christians, and that God alone is to be worshiped and exalted, but we cannot expect them to overcompensate and portray false humility either just to prove the point that they do not want people to worship them. In reality, the obsessive fans, and the fans, and the people who are just hearing them for the first time are going to react the way they are going to react, and ultimately the artist, etc… has no control over that. “…what is that to you? You follow me.” As long as they are not acting in a manner to purposefully lead other’s to stumble (and this goes for everyone, from the way we dress, to the places we go, to the things we do/do not consume, etc…) I do not think they can be held responsible. If someone tells you they are blessed by what you do and you feel uncomfortable, praise God, that probably means there is some form of humility in you. If they worship you, do not encourage it, but do what you feel the Spirit leading you to do. If you have done this, what is that to me? I would encourage everyone to read 1 Corinthians, chapters 12, 13, and 14. It is all about spiritual gifts, our role as members of the body of Christ, and contains a passage even unbelievers know “Love is patient, love is kind…” These chapters are real “truth in love” in my life, the Spirit uses it to gently rebuke me when I get into my Martha mode. I bring this up because “the greatest of these is love.” If our worshiping artists is not glorifying God, it will be done away with, if we are the one on stage pretending to lead others into worship of the He Whose name is above all names, this will cease. But that is between you/us/everyone and the Lord. Well, as much as I could keep repeating everything that has already been said, I need to stop, pray for the truth to be revealed to us (because good, bad, right, or wrong, we all struggle with one aspect or another of this topic) and trust that God works in spite of our innumerable imperfections. Man He blows me away!
My mom just walked in and I shared with her what we are talking about. She is an anointed worshiper whom the Spirit uses to bless others and glorify His name. She has struggled with the idea of how to respond to a compliment, and the Lord brought her a story about a women who was a speaker. After she began traveling around and sharing her testimony, she began to receive compliments that she did not know what to do with. Then God told her to view them as roses, and that every compliment was equivalent to a rose from someone. So at the end of the day she would take her “bouquet” of compliments and lay it at Jesus’ feet as an offering of praise. The Spirit used this story to teach my mom to simply say thank you, or that she was glad that the Lord used her gift to bless them.
Hey Brody…Can I have your autograph? Also, I’m growing my beard out like yours and I’m naming my next kid after you.
Take care. Stay safe on the road.
Brody,
I have an off-topic question, hope you don’t mind. The guitarist for DCB on the right side of the stage at one point was playing some sort of box thing (looked like a car battery with cables) and pushing buttons, do you happen to know what that was? Sorry, I’m not very musical and my buddy and I were trying to figure it out.
Thanks!
Dew.
That thing is just something that b-wack (Crowder’s drummer) made. it’s basically modern electronics that you could find in a keyboard or something else that makes cool noises, just packaged in a shiny box with lights.
Haha, this made me laugh so true! You should make a book, I’d think about buying it… maybe. Well if you read this I’m Eli Meeker’s little bro.
God bless!
damn
Since I’m a 9-5 cubicle gopher it is interesting to read an insider’s take on it.
I’ve touched on this subject few times on my own blog, and when mentioning a certain group of 5 guys, I’ve been promptly shredded for it by the “fans”. I guess my perspective is a bit third person in all this. I have to watch friends of mine deal with it constantly, and some do it naturally and others fail miserably. I watched a particular friend stop his act while up on stage, chastise an audience for being stargazers and to put the cameras down and join in the worship, and then hear these same people say “did you hear that, he spoke to me!!”.
Unfortunately for the famous people, there are fans out there that are going to attach themselves to artist no matter what that artist does or say. For whatever reason they feel it is their mission in life to be known for knowing that particular artist and they will do all they can to accomplish that, and make sure everyone knows it by bragging about it as often as they can.
As long as there are bright lights and more than one person in the audience, there are always going to be someone that is the “bigger fan” and wanting to prove it. I think it’s probably more a competitive thing in human nature than psychological misfire. You can tell the nuts jobs immediately and deal with them accordingly. It’s those incremental fans that constantly have to ‘out-do’ the other in devotion and dedication to the artist that are a problem. Seeing the same person at venues all over the country should be a sign that something is wrong, or at a minimum, not normal. Unless that person is a personal friend of the artist and it IS normal behavior for them, I’d be inclined to think the fan has crossed the line.
I don’t think the artist can fix it, although they do play a part if they continually encourage the behavior by granting these same people time and picture opportunities.
I Pray you artistic people have continued success and of course, less stress.