Whenever culture does, well, just about anything, somewhere a Christian committee springs into action!

“There’s a popular song on the radio…We need a Christian version.”

“There’s a movie people like….Get Kirk Cameron on the phone.”

“There’s a halftime show…Quick! Assemble the Praise & Production Team.”

Thus begins the sacred work of Christian alternatives. It’s become a parallel universe where everything exists, just slightly worse.

Over the years, we Christians have given the world Christian rock that insists it’s not worship music (but definitely is); Christian movies where the villain is almost always an atheist professor; Christian theater that mistakes volume for conviction…And yes, Testamints! The breath mint that boldly asks, “What if we offer the world salvation…but minty?”

The motivation is almost always sincere (with a few exceptions where people just see it as a quicker way to make money and/or rise to fame…see the Christian music episode of South Park for an example). We want Christian values represented. We want something wholesome. We want to protect our kids.

But instead of creating art that’s beautiful, complex, and honest, we often settle for art that is inoffensive, over-explained, and opposed to metaphor.

You know the look. You know the sound. Christian art is often identifiable within seconds…not because it’s daring, but because it’s desperately afraid someone might miss the point.

We avoid silence. We remove any ambiguity. We always resolve the tension. 

Every character arc is a sermon illustration with legs. Every song chorus sounds like it was approved by three subcommittees, a doctrinal statement and a greeting card company. If it isn’t under-produced, it’s over-produced.

Let’s be honest, many Christian films make even the most forgettable Hallmark movie feel like a bold, experimental risk worthy of an Oscar. 

This is wild, because Christians claim to be telling the greatest story ever told! We have a book filled with incredible stories about a God who enters suffering, embraces complexity, and refuses easy answers. We have tremendous source material.

Yet, our storytelling and songwriting often feels like it doesn’t trust either God or the audience.

Christian art doesn’t struggle because it’s Christian. It struggles because it confuses clarity with depth and calls it faithfulness.

In 2025, the top Christian streaming artist, Forrest Frank, pulled in 1.2 billion U.S. streams. That’s genuinely impressive. He writes fun and catchy songs that reach a large audience. I mean, even I learned the trending Forrest Frank TikTok dance! His theology and political leanings may not be everyone’s cup of tea…but his music is definitely better than most Christian offerings out there.

Then, there’s 2025’s overall top streaming artist, Bad Bunny, with 19.8 billion streams. In case people were wondering, this is a large reason why he was invited to the Super Bowl…he’s the most popular recording artist in the world right now!

This is not oppression. This is not spiritual warfare. This is not the mainstream culture silencing Christians.

This is what happens when something connects beyond a niche subculture. The Super Bowl Halftime Show Planning Committee didn’t overlook us. The charts are not persecuting us. They are simply unimpressed.

There was a time when the church didn’t make “alternatives,” it made masterpieces. It invested in the fine arts.

Bach wasn’t writing “Christian-adjacent” music. Mozart wasn’t trying to be “safe.” They were crafting beauty because the church believed beauty mattered.

Today, we sometimes replace excellence with branding and call it ministry.

The recent halftime “alternative,” which originally sounded like it was going to be a Christian praise and worship gathering, until it suddenly became patriotic, perfectly captured our confusion.

It wasn’t rejected by the mainstream because it was Christian or patriotic. It wasn’t rejected because the world hates Jesus and refuses to change the channel to TBN. It wasn’t rejected because of persecution.

It was rejected because it wasn’t compelling. Parading an alternative as family-friendly and patriotic and then inviting Kid Rock to sing “Bawitaba” seems anything but family-friendly! 

Calling something an “alternative” does not make it art. Insisting people should like it because it’s not the mainstream does not make it good.

Here’s a wild idea…Christians should be able to recognize goodness even when it wasn’t made for us. We should be able to spot and celebrate joy, talent, creativity, energy, and beauty whether it was created as an act of worship or not. 

Sometimes that shows up in a hymn or praise chorus. Sometimes it shows up in a novel. Sometimes it shows up in a halftime show that looks nothing like Sunday morning. And that’s okay.

We are not being persecuted because our favorite artist wasn’t invited to the Super Bowl. And if “family-friendly” is the goal, defending questionable picks with “But he also sang a song that reflects his personal growth” is not mature spiritual discernment. That’s just creative rationalization and justification.

At the center of Christian faith is the Incarnation…not God creating a safer, parallel universe, but God entering this one. This messy, loud, complicated, and real universe. Maybe we should follow Jesus, and instead of creating a safe Christian alternative, we should enter into the one that is all around us…with the light, love, goodness and creativity of the God who called it all into existence.

There are strands of Christian theology that insist that all truth is God’s truth, beauty is never wasted, and the image of God shows up in unexpected places.

The Gospel does not need to be dumbed down, sanitized, or rebranded to survive.

So maybe the call is simple. Maybe we should stop making Christian alternatives. Stop settling for “good enough.” Stop confusing safety with faithfulness.

Maybe we should make art that’s honest. Let’s make art that’s excellent. Let’s make art worthy of the story we’re telling.

Because the Good News doesn’t need breath mints. It needs beauty.