Jennifer Knapp isn’t in Kansas anymore

Who doesn’t miss Jennifer Knapp?

I imagine the people who said she was just Alanis Morissette with Christian lyrics would even admit they would like another album soon. These days, her fans still praise (and buy) her remastered re-releases, they keep all her ancient chat-boards alive, and some even begin construction of new fan websites (which they never finish).

Wouldn’t any other musician take advantage of that opportunity in order to continue to produce more of his or her art?

Well I’ve never been much for the baring of soul in the presence of any man…

Knapp’s last album was released in November 2001. Think about that. Studio production (especially on really expensive albums like The Way I Am) takes a long time. Even after the artist has finished recording, production can often take months. So the last time Jennifer Knapp actually sat in a recording studio was probably while the Twin Towers were standing in New York. Is the world different now? Is the Christian world different now?

Knapp was a prolific song-writer who accomplished everything a Christian musician ever wants to, but in a much shorter period of time. Do not, for one second, wonder whether she was phased out by an industry that no longer sought her artistry. In her last studio album “The Way I Am”, Knapp is not only backed by rock musicians with a level of talent uncommon for any Christian artist to have the pleasure of collaboration with, the London Symphony Orchestra also accompanies many of her songs. Gotee records undoubtedly knew that even Knapp’s worst music would be worth a greater investment than the average Christian musician. Subsequent to her exit from the industry, Gotee is still squeezing all the juice from every session and live recording they can legally reproduce.

…Squeezing slowly, that is. They know a little Jennifer will go a long way. Her Kansas album just got re-released for its ten year anniversary. What other artist produces only three studio albums and lives to see them remastered? Heck, this album of hers was digital mastered in the first production! It took U2 20 years before they remastered & mass-produced Joshua Tree!

Knapp left because she wanted to.

But that doesn’t mean there would still be a market left for her if she came back.

Momma, I know I made you cry…

Is your Christian radio station different now? If it’s anything like the stations in Bellingham and Kent, Washington, chances are they are much more “family friendly”. In fact, I encourage you to google the phrase “family friendly radio”. You will see that Christian radio stations across the country have adopted this slogan in order to cater to a more secular, less specifically Christian audience. Stations have scaled back their time-allotments to preachers and teachers of the Bible since those programs (so the logic goes) will limit their audience. Instead, these slots are filled either with more music or yes, “family friendly” programs like “Focus on the Family” and “Family Life Today”.

While none of these programs are anti-Christian, they are far less confrontational than sermons when it comes to matters of belief. Furthermore, the songs played on these stations are becoming far more purely subjective than anything of Knapp’s that made airwaves. If you’re curious about this, visit Billboard’s list of “Hot Christian Songs” this week. Matthew West’s “You Are Everything“, Jeremy Camp’s “Let it Fade“, and Mercy Me’s “God With Us“. My desire isn’t to judge these people or their music. But I encourage you to read the lyrics and ask if the gospel is clear in any of them.

How much is said of sin? How much is said of the need for forgiveness?

Most importantly, how many lines of these songs qualify as avoiding Christianese in an attempt to make God’s holiness more clear? In fact, these songs are largely built on popular terms that are easily sung by sincere Christians, nominal Christians, and even non-Christians. In short, when it comes to lyrics, there are few distinctively focused on God, rather than self. When it comes to religious lyrics, there are few distinctively related to the particulars of orthodox Christianity. And when it comes to lyrics that are bout Jesus, there are few that portray him in any way that would strike an unbeliever as “offensive” in the same way Paul refers to the Christ in 1 Corinthians.

So I’m not sure Jennifer Knapp’s music would be particularly “playable” even today.

You’d think we would have grown to rely on a holy, sovereign God more because of events like September 11, but we haven’t. We have bought into the lie that tells us that people are brought unto the Lord by making him a lamb for children to cuddle than a just God to sacrifice.

Sacrifice and offering You do not desire of me…

It is my belief that the Christian community at large has no right whatsoever to expect Knapp to continue to make music for it. In too many ways it has turned its back on everything that made her a special musician. Its music praises a God that is easy for anyone to praise: he loves all, he accept anyone on any terms, he requires little distinctive knowledge of himself, and he has no particular expectations of his worshipers.

But if you examine her music, you will see a marked contrast: she recognizes the futility of her own attempts to re-make him, she addresses him on his own terms (often seamlessly weaving Scripture into her praise and lament), she deeply treasures every morsel of truth about him which she has gleaned from his word, and she fully recognizes her absolute inability to independently fulfill his righteous standard, relying fully on the grace that comes through faith in him.

Jennifer Knapp may very well be found somewhere over the rainbow; but even if she hasn’t left Kansas for good, I hope she doesn’t feel any anxiety about coming back just because Auntie Em and Uncle Henry miss her.

And if anyone is thinking about my upcoming birthday, I’d love the 10th anniversary “Kansas: Gold Edition” by Jennifer Knapp!