Quite possibly my favorite anti-americanity musician (who am I kidding? He's the best!), Derek Webb came to campus last weekend for a small private acoustic concert for Fuller students. Yep, my roommate and I scored front row seats. Lucky Derek doesn't spit when he sings, we really were that close. Just sayin'.This man and his music are worth checking out, if you haven't heard (of) him before. His lyrics may push you, but take the time to examine what he's saying, and how it compares to your Bible. You may be surprised to find that He's giving us more Biblical truth than you favorite cable news network.
A word to my baby-boomer friends: this isn't the Christian music you may be used to, but it will shed some light on where we X'ers and Y'ers are coming from. It became infinitely more clear to me last spring, as I participated in a round of the Truth Project at my church, that there is a huge generational gap in perspective at work within the american church. So many still believe that this is a Christian nation, literally Christian. So so many of us know it isn't. At least not any more. I'm not saying we should pack it in and go into hiding; I'm just saying that our perspective has a huge influence on how we interact with others. If we are coming from the misapprehension that everyone already knows who Jesus is, and that we just need to get this country 'back on track' we're sadly mistaken.
There are so many people right next to us who don't know what our Jesus-lingo means, and the only representative of Christ that they are getting exposed to are defensive talking heads who condemn. Of course we all have sin, and I'm not saying that God's just fine with it. But stop for a moment and consider, if you didn't know what sin is from God's perspective, and someone pointed their finger at you and told you that you're terrible and that you're damned for eternity for being who you are, would you be enticed to listen to anything they want to call 'good news'?
We do everyone a disservice if we think we're all on the same page. Maybe fifty years ago the nation was churched enough to know what all the lingo meant. But we're not in Kansas any more. And America is not the New Jerusalem.
4 comments:
Made sense to me!
I think you make complete sense and that you are absolutely right!
I think that you hit the nail on the head......for a lot of people. I still feel that NO ONE but you and Jesus - knows what TRULY is in your own heart. Even if we try to verbally express how we 'feel' in our own personal walk with the lord, it can come up either sounding like quackery, hypocritical-ism, or insincerity. Words just fall too short, when it comes to expressing how it is that we FEEL with our own personal commitment to Jesus. So - I like when any teacher/preacher/friend/or fellow traveler down this scary journey called life says that - it's ok to not believe EVERYTHING we hear on TV in the name of Christianity, and it's ok when we maybe don't always agree with all of our Christian family and friends telling us "If you don't behave this way you're not a Christian..." I have always felt that the only one that matters in my relationship with God/Jesus - is God and Jesus!! So - when he knows how I truly feel - I don't feel the need to make it obvious to the world flamboyantly so, that I am a Christian. I want my faith to make that statment for me. :o)
Hells to the yes, sister.
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