The Christian music industry has always had its share of bands that value proselytizing over genuine artistic statement. Many Christian bands have merely aped popular secular musical trends in an effort to bring their evangelistic message to the huddled masses.

Since the release of its self-titled debut in 1995, Jars of Clay has effected a massive shift in the tectonics of our understanding of what Christian music is, challenging rock music fans, no matter their religious affiliations, to give “Christian rock” a second chance.

Dan Haseltine, vocalist for the quartet that also consists of Stephen Mason, guitar, Matt Odmark, guitar, and Charlie Lowell, keyboards, thinks that much labeling is ambiguous and ultimately irrelevant.

“Overall, I think the Christian label is not accurate. It’s such a broad brush anyway that it sort of invalidates everything, because to some people Christianity means abortion doctor killers; to some people it means blue-hairs on the Christian broadcasting network,” Haseltine says. “But to other people it means things like U2, artists like Bono.”

In response to the vague label of “Christian” that the band has received, Haseltine asks that people “Call us a rock band – that’s what we are. If you present a record and you say `Hey, you’ve got to check out this rock group and what do you think of them,’ they’re going to listen to them and have a real opinion.

“But if you say, `Check out this new Christian rock group,’ there’s all this stigma attached to it, and it’s just very unfair to anyone who as musicians has any sort of a philosophy.”

The new album, “The Eleventh Hour,” continues to showcase Jars of Clay’s penchant for venturing out into new sonic territory, including refreshingly honest lyrics that aren’t afraid to probe deep into the troubling regions of an authentic faith. Take for example, the song “Silence,” which wrestles with the problem of evil in the world.

“I’ve never felt so cold. I thought you were silent. I thought you left me for the wreckage and the waste. On an empty beach of faith/ I got a question – Where are you?”

It’s clear that the band is not spewing out the same old contrived, tired clich‚s that have plagued much of what comes out of the Christian music industry.

“We’ve never been a group that has desired to have an agenda or do anything with our faith except express life as we see it,” Haseltine explains. “We were never a band that wanted to give quick fixes or pat answers.”

Over the past couple of years Jars of Clay has visited countries like China and Vietnam and spent time with believers who have been intensely persecuted for their faith.

“We talked to them and heard their stories, and there’s an element to some of that where you just go, `I really don’t understand where God is in the midst of that,'” Haseltine says.

“We’ve gotten really involved with what’s going on in Africa with a lot of the AIDS orphan situation, where there is going to be, by the end of the decade, 40 million kids that will have been orphaned because their parents have died from AIDS, and you just realize that this is a situation where an entire village is being wiped out by this virus, and `God, where are you in the midst of these things’ took on a much deeper meaning after Sept. 11, where it just felt like everyone was asking that question.”

It’s a fitting irony that in remaining true to its musical integrity and pursuing its music and faith on its own terms, Jars of Clay, whose self-titled release sold over two million copies, has vastly outsold most of the Christian trend-followers combined.

As for why the band has gained such widespread acceptance and appreciation by the mainstream music industry and fans, Haseltine believes that it is because the band is genuine.

The Jars subscribe to the notion that a good song is undeniable. After citing musical influences ranging from the Beatles to Peter Gabriel to Sting, Haseltine says, “If it’s a great song, it’s going to transcend. It’s going to be a good song and people can’t argue with it.”

The combination of the Jars’ lyrical honesty, the members’ passion to continue to hone their catchy folk-pop songcraft and the group’s social consciousness will continue to win new fans and challenge old fans, regardless of their worldviews.

“We’re real people and there is a real God to us, and this is kind of what he looks like, we think,” Haseltine said.