2. They're A Rock Band Made Up Of Christians, Not A Christian Rock Band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NgC2GeBRuY At the beginning of their career, Anberlin was unfortunately and unfavorably lumped into the category of "Christian rock." It wasn't completely without merit: after all, their label Tooth & Nail has been home to proud Christian rock groups like Thousand Foot Krutch and Hawk Nelson. And the members of the band are technically of the Christian faith. (It probably doesn't help that the lead singer's name is Stephen Christian and the guitarist's name is Christian McAlhaney. Or that people are incredibly stupid and would take that to mean something.) Still, Anberlin is adamant that they don't specifically write music for any particular religious sect. But that doesn't mean their faith doesn't inform their lyrical content. Being religious likely informs most aspects of their lives, giving them a different outlook on certain topics and shading their opinions, which naturally seeps into the songwriting process. Let's put it this way: If you grew up in a big city, you're perspective on crime will be different than someone who grew up in rural Iowa. If both of those people wrote a song about crime, the tone of those two songs would be wildly different. References to God, heaven, and biblical passages are certainly there, but they're not preachy. When it comes to songwriting, the band prefers ambiguity over directness, so don't expect to hear phrases "Holy is the Lord" in an Anberlin song.