[ALERIS] Christian Lyrics--A Positive Take

[Dr. Alan Seymour]

I want to do a follow up to the previous blog, so if you have not read that one yet, read it first and then read this one as it will only make partial sense if you do not.

In the last blog I was working through the issue of some songs and how their delivery did not seem to line up with Scripture, though some of the message could be seen as a plausible message. I still do not see anything plausible about his message regarding Heaven though.

On the other side there are groups out there that challenge the Christian church, and do it without shock value, such as vulgar language and videos that promote the very thing they are singing against. Remember I mentioned the video that has his friend smoking a cigarette while he is singing worrying about people dying everyday. The message becomes garbled and incoherent in its delivery and as mentioned does not glorify God.

But if done right, there is a way to challenge with song and glorify God, and I think Casting Crowns gives us a great example of this, as seen from the two songs below. Interesting enough, I think the two songs are the same message that Derek is trying to get across, but because of his delivery his is lost in translation. Casting Crowns does it in a way that hits you in the face with what we as the church should be doing, but does not use vulgar language to make their point. Nor does Casting Crowns make a mockery of the Gospel by doing what it says not to do in trying to tell people to do what it says.

I think Casting Crowns applies 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 well, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. . . .” They try to get the church to wake up by asking questions through a song and challenging what they see the church doing in an honorable way.

What if His People Prayed

What if the armies of the Lord/Picked up and dusted off their swords/Vowed to set the captives free/And not let satan have one moreWhat if the church, for heaven's sake/Finally stepped up to the plate/Took a stand upon God's promise/And stormed hell's rusty gatesChorus:What if His people prayed/And those who bear His name/Would humbly seek His face Yeah/And Turn from their own wayAnd what would happen if we prayed/For those raised up to lead the wayThen maybe kids in school could pray/And unborn children see light of dayWhat if the life that we pursue/Came from a hunger for the truth/What if the family turned to Jesus/Stopped asking Oprah what to doWhat if His people prayed/And those who bear His name/Would humbly seek His face Yeah/And Turn from their own wayHe said that they would hear/His promise has been made/He'll answer loud and clearIf only we would prayIf My people called by My name/If they'll humble themselves and pray/If My people called by My name/If they'll humble themselves and pray

What would happen if we followed the song? It would be a good thing, more prayer. They challenge the aspect of what the church body is truly doing in communication with God and not bashing the Church for shock value. Basically the essence of “eating our own,” as seen in my previous blog.

There song follows the command of God (Jeremiah 29:12; Acts 8:22; 1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Peter 3:15-16).

If We are The Body

It's crowded in worship today/As she slips in trying to fade into the facesThe girls teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know/Farther than they knowChorus:But if we are the body/Why aren't His arms reaching?/Why aren't His hands healing?Why aren't His words teaching?/And if we are the body/Why aren't His feet going?Why is His love not showing them there is a way?/There is a wayA traveler is far away from home/He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back rowThe weight of their judgmental glances/Tells him that his chances are better out on the roadJesus paid much too high a price/For us to pick and choose who should comeAnd we are the body of Christ

This song definitely is challenging the church with the great commission seen in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”

It is easy to see this in their songs and the challenges are very clear and is not offensive in language or using some form of shock to try to be like the world.

I think it important as anyone thinks through it to consider that there is a way to write a song without using foul language, or denigrating Heaven as a self-proclaimed Christian, and this is where the world could cry out – Pharisee or Hypocrite.

Let’s be like Casting Crowns in writing lyrics. Music applied can be different, as I liked a lot of the beats from Derek, but that is where a lot of it ended. Time to be of the world, but not in the world, including in our “Christian” lyrics!

John 15:19, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

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Posted By Dr. Alan Seymour to ALERIS at 3/02/2010 07:30:00 PM