Christian music is sometimes passed over and stereotyped as sub-par. To many music fans, the term “Christian music” implies songs with religiously sappy lyrics about salvation and God. For these reasons, five bands comprising the lineup for the “See Spot Rock” tour are out to change music fans’ minds and, quite possibly, their hearts.

The tour features Pillar, O.C. Supertones, Relient K, rapper John Reuben, and newcomers Sanctus Real. The tour will span nearly 50 cities between February and May and makes a stop at 7 Flags Event Center in Clive on Sunday.

“It doesn’t bother me that we are labeled as a Christian rock band,” says Pillar vocalist Rob Beckley. “That was our intention from the beginning. Our focus has always been to glorify God through our music.”

Beckley says each band on the tour represents a different style of Christian music, which he hopes will make the show more appealing to a broad range of fans.

“In Christian music, [tour directors] try not to have bands from the same genre tour with each other,” Beckley says. “They want to reach as many people as possible, and having a diverse lineup of music will appeal to a larger audience.”

Even though the musical styles are different, the overall message is the same, says Sanctus Real lead guitarist Chris Rohman.

“Our truest passion is to proclaim the name of Christ,” he says. “We take our faith seriously. We want to see people encouraged and come to Christ through our music.”

Beckley agrees, and says that Pillar receives many e-mails about the positive impact their music has had on people’s lives.

“We have received e-mails from people who have gone home touched after one of our shows,” Beckley says. “We have heard about people going home and ripping up divorce papers after our shows because they realized that they hadn’t given their marriage a chance. We even get calls from teenagers who have completely turned their lives around because God touched their lives through us.”

Beckley says the members often don’t realize how well the impact their music has on the fans because members can get so caught up in the affairs of everyday life.

“When you aren’t on the road, you kind of lose focus,” Beckley says. “I am painting my house right now, so it is easy to forget how we are doing musically and how many copies of the album we have sold.”

Through Cornerstone, Sonshine, Festival Con Dios and other major Christian music events, Christian bands have reached thousands of people with the message of God and have gained critical acclaim in both the Christian and mainstream music industries. Pillar and Relient K have had recent commercial success, selling a combined 300,000 copies of their recent albums.

“Our success goes a lot further than just God himself,” Beckley says. “I think it has more to do with our faith. The Bible talks about God blessing those who are faithful to Him. We have been faithful to God from the beginning. We haven’t really strayed away from [God’s] plan for us at all.”

Christian rock music offers a positive alternative to sour, angst driven music, Beckley says. The themes in the lyrics do often pertain to Christianity — however, Rohman says God isn’t the main focus of all the songs.

“We don’t really try to write from a Christian perspective,” Rohman says. “A lot of times our songs deal with personal relationships. We write what is in our hearts.”

What: “See Spot Rock” tour

Where: 7 Flags Event Center 2100 NW 100th St. Clive

When: 6 p.m. Sunday

Cost: $19.95 advance, $25 day of show