When I was a teenager me and my friends called it interpretive christian music. You never really knew if they were referring to God or the the girl that guy was trying to lay.(Examples: Jars Of Clay, or how bout a song that started on secular radio and years later we decided it was actually about God, and made a skit to go with it) Cause let's be honest in acknowledging he was trying to do both, write a song that sounds like it is about God and trying to get the newest groupie he met on his tour into the hotel room. That kinda burst my CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) bubble when I was younger when I learned that all of these artists that I put on a pedestal next to God weren't too much less of a sinner than I was. I mean, I am pretty screwed up. And when we are screwed up we look for that person or group that says, "Hey, I'm not screwed up. I have all my crap figured out."Just so we can know that it is all going to be ok. But it rarely ever goes like that. We learn that these guys can be just as unhappy as we get sometimes. Looking at an artist in general for personal stability is about the equivalent of looking to Mormons to learn about contraceptives. It's just not a good idea and you are not going to get anything out of it.
I think this is why I quit listening to Christian Music for the most part. Or at least music that is particularly aiming for the Christian market. There is a whole tirade against Christian subculture that I have but I am sure that I will go on and on about that on another day. But I think I just got tired of bullcrap in my music. I got tired of people writing stuff that had no semblance to my relationship with God. Cause while I love God it is very rare to never that I have wanted to sing him a song that sounds like it would fit in best on a front porch of a frat party being played by "that guy". My relationship is rarely that clean cut and easy. And me, as a person, I am never that clean cut and easy. It often seems to be the purpose of a lot of Christian subculture to make us look like we are all ok and we never doubt this God that we follow. I have never been there.
The older I get the more I am finding Christian themes in music that is obviously secular and could care less if it ever reaches into the Christian subculture of the bible belt. One of my favorite themes falls into the honesty of the human condition. It is an issue that many of us believe that we are innately good people and God is just there to forgive us of our every now and again mistakes. This is definitely part of the "thoughtful/heartfelt lyrics on God/humanity" Why lie to God? He knows how screwed up we really are. So let us be honest on our condition. That we are a lot of people that pretty much messes everything up. The antithesis of Midas. Everything we touch merely withers away instead of turning to to gold like we had originally thought.
A band I will probably speak about a lot is Arcade Fire. A song that you have no doubt heard has lyrics that I love that pertains exactly to what we are. It has these lyrics:
I love the idea that we are all just little god's in our lives. It brings idolatry so much closer to home. You know, we try to do good in controlling everything. We try to make rainstorms. To make stuff grow. To make beauty. But all it does is cause all the good things we have in life to turn into rust. To turn to worthless crap. I feel like that a lot in my life. Like I try to control everything. I try to set my life in a good direction and it all just falls to crap. Even when I thought I was doing good."If the children don't grow up our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up. We're just a million little god's making rainstorms turning every good thing to rust."
One of my favorite shows is a show that I watch on Netflix that comes on BBC America. It is a show called Skins and if you get easily offended then you probably shouldn't even go close to it. Just saying for all my conservative friends out there. But it is these stories of this group of teenagers whose lives are absolutely falling apart at every turn. And typically to no fault but there own. I like the authenticity of it. While I don't think that many people I know are to the degree of these teenagers. We all still have this bit of self destruction in us. Whenever we start playing these little god's. When everything is going well and we look to God and tell him that we are ok without him for a while.
It's ok though. If you are sitting here with me and thinking about how screwed up life is and you are tempted to beat yourself up about this little god mentality you should stop now. It is alright. We have all done it and we will do it again. We try to act as though there is one way all the time and we better walk this straight and narrow or it is all going to go to crap. Well, here is a news flash. It may go to crap. But sometimes it is good to cry a little bit. Sometimes it is good to only want a book and a cup of coffee and a couch. Sometimes it is good to yearn for that one record that will restore you. These are the things which have been given to us.
Don't deny true, authentic art. It is man's reaction to God and himself.
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