Sunday
Aug142005
The Third Commandment
Sunday, August 14, 2005 at 12:44PM
So I thought about breaking the Third Commandment yesterday. (Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, Thy God, in vain.) I looked at our bank statements, and then at the pile of bills on the counter, thought "and this was a good month!" and sat down to figure out what to do. Of course, I could have prayed and said "Lord, I will trust you to provide for my family and me, as you have done so many times before" but instead I thought of a Christian singing group that played after us the other night, and how they sell tons of records. I eventually did stop and pray and work to hand my trust over to God, but here is what I went through to get there.
I started thinking that they sell tons of records, and that their songs really weren't very good, and so I should write a couple and make some money. For the most part, they were the sort of quasi-self-help, whatever-theology-rhymes-here-will-work sort of Christian music that is what the radio stations play. The kind that intends to be encouraging, but usually comes across as pretty self-righteous, when seen from the outside.
And I am definitely on the outside.
But there I was, on my couch with a guitar, watching Ella grab at her toes, sometimes getting them, sometimes not, and trying to think of something stupid that people who don't want to think would enjoy. And I'm not trying to be mean, just honest here. It seems like that's what the radio plays, songs that you don't have to think about, that aren't very interesting, lyrically OR musically.
Now my friends and I have gone back and forth for years over what that means. What does that say about the Church? Is marketing taking away from discipleship? Is it more important what we look like than who we are? Is bigger always better? Does music that doesn't say anything to US still minister to other people? Will they ever like us!!!?!???!
I don't know that we have definitive answers. We're all a bunch of 20 and 30-something kids trying to figure out our calling. But I do know this about my calling. God has called me to write songs, and He has given me some gifts to be able to do that. I believe He fully intends for me to use that gift to provide for my family. Otherwise, He'd have sent a day job as well.
So what does this have to do with the Third Commandment: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, Thy God, in vain."?
Well, when I sat down to write that song, I fully intended on writing something that I wouldn't really believe, about God, so that I could make some money. That, my friends, is taking the name of the Lord, Thy God, in vain.
Growing up, I was taught that Commandment meant we shouldn't say "Oh my God," or watch movies where somebody did. I would still agree that's pretty disrespectful, and I don't use the phrase, but I don't think that's really what it means to take His name in vain.
The swindling televangelists seem to be the most obvious example of what I'm trying to say. Our good friend Robert Tilton has been exposed, TWICE, planting people in audiences to come up and recieve "healing by the power of Jesus" while raking in the bucks. Benny Hinn's been accused of it, too. Now, I honestly don't know much about these guys barring a few cringing moments spent watching their shows when I can't sleep, the occasional 20/20 Expose', and of course, that farting preacher video (http://www.ebaumsworld.com/fartingpreacher.html), so I don't want to go accusing people without a clue what I'm talking about.
But you get the idea. The sad thing is, in a lot of ways, Christian music has turned into this thing where you succeed, not by being good at your music, by being a good writer or performer, but by being the most "christian." I know, I've been to like fifteen Christian music festivals this Summer. It is very obvious, walking around the merch booths, sitting through some of the concerts, that these people are marketing God (i.e. using HIS NAME IN VAIN!).
T-shirts, jewelry, and yeah, even the songs, are sold, not because they're good, but because they have some sort of marginally spiritual-sounding slogan slapped on them. I don't believe this is why God gave us the ability to create. But this culture has become so supportive of these types of sloganeering that it becomes impossible to make a living trying to sell anything else.
Frankly, it seems that there is a large number of believers, though in no ways all of them, who really feel they are in some battle to prove their validity to the rest of the world, and their weapon of choice is t-shirts with hijacked logos and songs that preach "Thank God we're not like the rest of them."
And it's people like me who've led us here.
There are a growing number of people who have become "professionally Christian" but who are not clergy, and who lack their training and knowledge. We have created products intended for people who believe in the resurrection of Jesus, and thus created a subculture that either feels it needs these products to have their own good and safe thing, or that would feel guilty if they didn't support. Hence the current christian/secular music split, something that has only existed in the last 50 years.
There are many problems with this system, some of the main ones being that Christians have, in many large ways, removed themselves from relevancy politically, economically and artistically. Also, the Church now has a dilemma of having to support its own economy. Not only do they need people to tithe and support their home churches, its staff, and missionaries, but now the added "Christian" financial burdens like rock bands, movies, romance novels and clothing lines.
The people who create these products then need to find a way to make them stand out above their competitors. So you've got to think, what do all the people we're trying to sell this to have in common? Well, it's obvious, they love Jesus. So if we put Jesus on our breath mints they'll want to buy them! Then when there are two Jesus breath mint companies, they have to start telling people how these breath mints are more "Christian" than the others. You see where this gets us. Then you might have a Christian who God has given incredible gifts in the area of breath mint making, but he feels uncomfortable about the marketing aspect of it, so he either fails in the christian bookstores because his mints, although better tasting, don't appear as holy, or he works harder to get his mints sold in regular stores to everybody, not just Christians. "Holier than Thou" has gone from being an attitude despised to being the only way a company can survive in a certain market. This is not healthy.
This is why I was sitting there trying to write a "Christian" hit. I've written a lot of songs, some of which I think are very good. Some of which were even, by bookstore standards, pretty "Christian." But I've had record labels, every single time, telling me they weren't "Christian" enough.
True story: There is a song on the new Caedmon's album, that's not coming out until March, unfortunately, that I had pitched earlier for another band to perform. The band loved the song, the label felt it had a good beat, melody and "message", but they had one qualm: it had the word "sad" in the chorus. Here was the lyric:
O, can you tell me the story,
of all of your glory, of your rising again?
cause I, I'm in love with the mystery
of how our sad history can turn out for good.
They said radio would never play it because of the word "sad"! Now, if the song sucked that would be one thing, but that wasn't it. Just that word. I refused to change it, and the band never recorded the song. I wouldn't change it because, to me, that word was just as true as the rest of it, and the whole thing wouldn't have been as true without it! The Gospel is the good news that Jesus died, rose again, paid for our sin (which is a word I'm SURE they're scared of) and turned our mourning into dancing! The sad is as big a part of the story as the happy. But when you have to out-christian bands that are very willing to say whatever they know will sell, every little un-radiant-beams-of-glorious-light word can cost you.
So what's a boy to do?
Well, I didn't write the song. And it wasn't the first time I tried to, and unfortunately, it probably won't be the last. But something has always held me back. I believe it's the Holy Spirit. God called me to write songs, and He put on my heart the songs He wanted me to write. T-Bone Burnett said "when you believe Jesus is the true Light of the world, you have two options: you can write about the Light, or about what you see by the Light." I'm not going to stop writing about what the Light shows me, just so I can make some money. He will provide. He always has and He always will. He'll be providing way longer than I do "Christian" music, that's for sure.
To be honest, it's pretty scary doing this for a living. Playing in churches and selling things specifically to Christians. I believe, because of the Bible, that there are some pretty harsh punishments for people who knowingly lead people places other than the Gospel, but saying it's what God has said. This, to me, is what the Third Commandment is really about, and it's why I wouldn't want to be Bruce Wilkinson or Hal Lindsay on Judgment Day.
The thing is, I've been around, and I know how it works. I've even done it a few times, sometimes just to see if it would work. I did a tour once where I added or left out a few sentences in the introduction to a song, the real Jesus-y part of it, and would see how that reflected in my cd sales. It was frightening. When I said that stuff, I sold more than double what I did otherwise, but I played the same songs, and said pretty much the rest of the stuff exactly the same. I really don't know what to make of that when I know God has called me to this, and given me these specific gifts to provide for my family. More than anything else, if I stop playing "Christian" music, this will be why.
Sorry about the length of this here rambling post, but it's stuff that's been weighing fairly heavily on me these days. I want to do what is right, and I want to write songs about what the Light shows me, if not about the Light itself. I don't want to ever entertain writing untruthful songs about what the Light is, especially not just to make money. How dare I not trust God to provide, and then blaspheme to do it for Him! I hope you understand I'm not trying to point fingers at anyone, except for myself, and I didn't provide any specific examples of what I'm considering this "untrue Gospel" music. If you want some, just listen to a few songs of a Christian radio station, especially the listener supported ones with five minutes of "not commercials" between songs. You'll see what I mean.
But let us not rest on being frustrated and cynical. This is not the Truth God is calling us to either. Please pray for me, I will pray for you. Let's pray for the people who do write those songs, and the people who sing them. Let's pray for the people who sell them in their stores and play them on their stations. We're not going to change a flawed system by complaining and making fun, but by loving the people involved and praying for the truth to make itself more evident where we've stopped being able to see it. Most of all, let's pray that we, as the Church in America, will let go of our desire to be validated and safe, and embrace the people in the world around us, so that "they shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set them (and us) free."
I started thinking that they sell tons of records, and that their songs really weren't very good, and so I should write a couple and make some money. For the most part, they were the sort of quasi-self-help, whatever-theology-rhymes-here-will-work sort of Christian music that is what the radio stations play. The kind that intends to be encouraging, but usually comes across as pretty self-righteous, when seen from the outside.
And I am definitely on the outside.
But there I was, on my couch with a guitar, watching Ella grab at her toes, sometimes getting them, sometimes not, and trying to think of something stupid that people who don't want to think would enjoy. And I'm not trying to be mean, just honest here. It seems like that's what the radio plays, songs that you don't have to think about, that aren't very interesting, lyrically OR musically.
Now my friends and I have gone back and forth for years over what that means. What does that say about the Church? Is marketing taking away from discipleship? Is it more important what we look like than who we are? Is bigger always better? Does music that doesn't say anything to US still minister to other people? Will they ever like us!!!?!???!
I don't know that we have definitive answers. We're all a bunch of 20 and 30-something kids trying to figure out our calling. But I do know this about my calling. God has called me to write songs, and He has given me some gifts to be able to do that. I believe He fully intends for me to use that gift to provide for my family. Otherwise, He'd have sent a day job as well.
So what does this have to do with the Third Commandment: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, Thy God, in vain."?
Well, when I sat down to write that song, I fully intended on writing something that I wouldn't really believe, about God, so that I could make some money. That, my friends, is taking the name of the Lord, Thy God, in vain.
Growing up, I was taught that Commandment meant we shouldn't say "Oh my God," or watch movies where somebody did. I would still agree that's pretty disrespectful, and I don't use the phrase, but I don't think that's really what it means to take His name in vain.
The swindling televangelists seem to be the most obvious example of what I'm trying to say. Our good friend Robert Tilton has been exposed, TWICE, planting people in audiences to come up and recieve "healing by the power of Jesus" while raking in the bucks. Benny Hinn's been accused of it, too. Now, I honestly don't know much about these guys barring a few cringing moments spent watching their shows when I can't sleep, the occasional 20/20 Expose', and of course, that farting preacher video (http://www.ebaumsworld.com/fartingpreacher.html), so I don't want to go accusing people without a clue what I'm talking about.
But you get the idea. The sad thing is, in a lot of ways, Christian music has turned into this thing where you succeed, not by being good at your music, by being a good writer or performer, but by being the most "christian." I know, I've been to like fifteen Christian music festivals this Summer. It is very obvious, walking around the merch booths, sitting through some of the concerts, that these people are marketing God (i.e. using HIS NAME IN VAIN!).
T-shirts, jewelry, and yeah, even the songs, are sold, not because they're good, but because they have some sort of marginally spiritual-sounding slogan slapped on them. I don't believe this is why God gave us the ability to create. But this culture has become so supportive of these types of sloganeering that it becomes impossible to make a living trying to sell anything else.
Frankly, it seems that there is a large number of believers, though in no ways all of them, who really feel they are in some battle to prove their validity to the rest of the world, and their weapon of choice is t-shirts with hijacked logos and songs that preach "Thank God we're not like the rest of them."
And it's people like me who've led us here.
There are a growing number of people who have become "professionally Christian" but who are not clergy, and who lack their training and knowledge. We have created products intended for people who believe in the resurrection of Jesus, and thus created a subculture that either feels it needs these products to have their own good and safe thing, or that would feel guilty if they didn't support. Hence the current christian/secular music split, something that has only existed in the last 50 years.
There are many problems with this system, some of the main ones being that Christians have, in many large ways, removed themselves from relevancy politically, economically and artistically. Also, the Church now has a dilemma of having to support its own economy. Not only do they need people to tithe and support their home churches, its staff, and missionaries, but now the added "Christian" financial burdens like rock bands, movies, romance novels and clothing lines.
The people who create these products then need to find a way to make them stand out above their competitors. So you've got to think, what do all the people we're trying to sell this to have in common? Well, it's obvious, they love Jesus. So if we put Jesus on our breath mints they'll want to buy them! Then when there are two Jesus breath mint companies, they have to start telling people how these breath mints are more "Christian" than the others. You see where this gets us. Then you might have a Christian who God has given incredible gifts in the area of breath mint making, but he feels uncomfortable about the marketing aspect of it, so he either fails in the christian bookstores because his mints, although better tasting, don't appear as holy, or he works harder to get his mints sold in regular stores to everybody, not just Christians. "Holier than Thou" has gone from being an attitude despised to being the only way a company can survive in a certain market. This is not healthy.
This is why I was sitting there trying to write a "Christian" hit. I've written a lot of songs, some of which I think are very good. Some of which were even, by bookstore standards, pretty "Christian." But I've had record labels, every single time, telling me they weren't "Christian" enough.
True story: There is a song on the new Caedmon's album, that's not coming out until March, unfortunately, that I had pitched earlier for another band to perform. The band loved the song, the label felt it had a good beat, melody and "message", but they had one qualm: it had the word "sad" in the chorus. Here was the lyric:
O, can you tell me the story,
of all of your glory, of your rising again?
cause I, I'm in love with the mystery
of how our sad history can turn out for good.
They said radio would never play it because of the word "sad"! Now, if the song sucked that would be one thing, but that wasn't it. Just that word. I refused to change it, and the band never recorded the song. I wouldn't change it because, to me, that word was just as true as the rest of it, and the whole thing wouldn't have been as true without it! The Gospel is the good news that Jesus died, rose again, paid for our sin (which is a word I'm SURE they're scared of) and turned our mourning into dancing! The sad is as big a part of the story as the happy. But when you have to out-christian bands that are very willing to say whatever they know will sell, every little un-radiant-beams-of-glorious-light word can cost you.
So what's a boy to do?
Well, I didn't write the song. And it wasn't the first time I tried to, and unfortunately, it probably won't be the last. But something has always held me back. I believe it's the Holy Spirit. God called me to write songs, and He put on my heart the songs He wanted me to write. T-Bone Burnett said "when you believe Jesus is the true Light of the world, you have two options: you can write about the Light, or about what you see by the Light." I'm not going to stop writing about what the Light shows me, just so I can make some money. He will provide. He always has and He always will. He'll be providing way longer than I do "Christian" music, that's for sure.
To be honest, it's pretty scary doing this for a living. Playing in churches and selling things specifically to Christians. I believe, because of the Bible, that there are some pretty harsh punishments for people who knowingly lead people places other than the Gospel, but saying it's what God has said. This, to me, is what the Third Commandment is really about, and it's why I wouldn't want to be Bruce Wilkinson or Hal Lindsay on Judgment Day.
The thing is, I've been around, and I know how it works. I've even done it a few times, sometimes just to see if it would work. I did a tour once where I added or left out a few sentences in the introduction to a song, the real Jesus-y part of it, and would see how that reflected in my cd sales. It was frightening. When I said that stuff, I sold more than double what I did otherwise, but I played the same songs, and said pretty much the rest of the stuff exactly the same. I really don't know what to make of that when I know God has called me to this, and given me these specific gifts to provide for my family. More than anything else, if I stop playing "Christian" music, this will be why.
Sorry about the length of this here rambling post, but it's stuff that's been weighing fairly heavily on me these days. I want to do what is right, and I want to write songs about what the Light shows me, if not about the Light itself. I don't want to ever entertain writing untruthful songs about what the Light is, especially not just to make money. How dare I not trust God to provide, and then blaspheme to do it for Him! I hope you understand I'm not trying to point fingers at anyone, except for myself, and I didn't provide any specific examples of what I'm considering this "untrue Gospel" music. If you want some, just listen to a few songs of a Christian radio station, especially the listener supported ones with five minutes of "not commercials" between songs. You'll see what I mean.
But let us not rest on being frustrated and cynical. This is not the Truth God is calling us to either. Please pray for me, I will pray for you. Let's pray for the people who do write those songs, and the people who sing them. Let's pray for the people who sell them in their stores and play them on their stations. We're not going to change a flawed system by complaining and making fun, but by loving the people involved and praying for the truth to make itself more evident where we've stopped being able to see it. Most of all, let's pray that we, as the Church in America, will let go of our desire to be validated and safe, and embrace the people in the world around us, so that "they shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set them (and us) free."
Reader Comments (28)
Thanks for this post. It is is definitely some needed food for thought. It's so easy to just take it as it is...as the radio stations and bookstores and web sites present it to us...and not give it a second thought.
I worked behind the scenes at a Christian music festival this year, and I was almost disillusioned by some of the stuff I encountered and learned. I don't say that to be judgemental, but almost as a lament for music and people who are the banners for Christianity in our day. The Lord used it as a warning in my own life...
BTW, love your music...and the little of the heart I know behind it. God definitely raised you up for such a time as this!
So interesting...we JUST returned from having dinner with a friend who isn't a Christian but has been visiting a church for several months. Their most recent topic of study (I think it was a series of sermons) was called iGod and she said they were using very iPod-ish marketing with it, and that she was so turned off by the 'packaging' of the whole thing. This was probably the third series that they'd given some catchy name to, and she just didn't feel it was relevant...she prefers for the themes to just be about whatever the sermons are about...what a novel idea! Our conversation made me think of a few comments that Bono has made about our "bumper sticker Christianity"...the trend these days seems to be that Christianity should fit in a neat little package with a cute logo.
Thanks, Andrew. This is open, honest, and heartfelt ... and it rings true.
I couldn't agree more. Keep being honest and being about Truth-telling!
Wow this is so what i've been dealing with lately in explaining my passion for music to my friends and family. They feel that my songs should be more overtly "christian" and i try to tell them that i am just writing honestly about the things that God shows me and brings into my life. Thanks for your words.
WOW Andy! You hit a whole lot of nails on the head with this one! I was around in the early 80's when the late Keith Green was preaching the same thing. He was making a living also using his musical gifts and alot of his writings really touch on the struggle to make a living in this "industry" while trying to be true to what God had called him to do. The issues were the same then. Unfortunately, the marketing part of it has just gotten a lot more sofisticated now days. Keep struggling with this and asking God to guide you. You have great gifts that He has given you and He wants you to use them in the way that you are called specifically. So remain true my brother!
Yeah, I agree whole heartedly about the things you bring up in this post. I happened to be playing in Nashville and hanging out at a venue this year during GMA week and it was an eye opener. Everyone running around trying to be seen with "somebody" who was "somebody" in the Christian music world. While people onstage singing worship songs and merch tables selling "God." It made me sick and feel tiny and insignificant, not loved at all. Very sad, indeed. I almost felt like going around asking people if they knew how I could find peace and about this "Jesus" just to see what reaction I would get. Thanks for bringing this to light.
[...] Andrew Osenga has an excellent post today that basically sums up everything I’ve been trying to say about the uneasy link between faith and commerce, and says it far more eloquently than I could. [...]
Great, though provoking post. I have to say I've been there myself. I've caught myself numerous times thinking I should write a song that says the same thing as xxx or yyy song since it's proven to be so popular to listeners. I must also admit that when I talk myself out of it, it's usually more because of pride than anything else- I want to be original and say things in a new way! So, you got me on two points. Thanks for being used to sharpen us fellow artists!
this is probably the best post yet. i am sure my wife gets tired of hearing the same thing from me day in and day out. where i live we have one Christian radio station that plays "Christian power pop" 24/7. i feel like they try to guilt listeners into tuning in. like if you love Jesus, and i do, you should support them. the state of Christian music is pretty bad. a joke even. i have never understood why, with all the good christian music out there, it is not as popular as it could be. writers like marc byrd, derek webb, andy, and others are writing some truly great music, by any standards. it just seems to be over shadowed by the "radio friendly" christianity. some ministry, preaching to the choir. not to mention that a crappy job is being done of that. if we are indeed called to minister, we need to minister to the lost as well as to the believers. maybe we should be less concerned about the "Jesus" count and more concerned about ministry.
Great, great words, bro. Been thinking so much of the same stuff (www.mrpreacher.com). Listened to your single--good stuff.
We're talking about this post and others on the same subject over at SHLOG.COM. not trying to steal anyone away from Andy or spam you with my site. Just suggesting another site interested in the same things. See you there.
SG
Holy, holy, holy. Holy Flakes
If you're a Christian, act like one and eat your holy flakes
Wow, man. That's just amazing. I couldn't agree more.
While I do agree with you about a lot of the post, I want to defend the Christian shirts. I know some of them are cheesy, but they still get attention of unbelievers. And in that moment, they offer an opportunity to wtiness. Also, are you not supporting a Christian company? Seems kinds pointless to me to support a company like Abercrombie and Fitch that promotes the filth they do while coming down on those that are putting out religious oriented material.
I disagree with making the shirts just to turn a profit off a cliche or slogan that happens to be popular at the time. But I will always support a nice looking and unique Christian shirt that gets people to read it and opens the door for me to talk to them about God.
Steven,
Thanks for your comment. I appreciate you sharing that. I'll share with you, though, what informs my thoughts about those shirts.
You raised two different ideas in your comment: good shirts and christian companies. I'll reply to each at a time.
First of all, about the shirts, if there are quality shirts that do really welcome people to the Kingdom, then I'm all for it. Seriously. The thing is, I've rarely seen those. "A Bread Crumb and Fish" isn't going to make some one ask about Jesus, though. I think it's going to make someone think "why are those people ripping off Abercrombie?"
There are two different aspects where this is troubling. First off, using a slogan or logo that is the world's and then subverting it to be about Jesus seems really to be trying to say "Hey Look! Jesus is as cool as Abercrombie!" But that point could not be less relevant. We shouldn't be trying to show how God is as cool as Air Jordan or Lance Armstrong or Abercrombie or Gold's Gym or whatever is hip now. We should be showing how the very nature of Jesus' love means that cool is worthless. What does it matter if you're cool when Jesus loved you and died for you? Don Miller has some excellent thoughts on this in his book "Searching for God Knows What" specifically the chapter about the "Lifeboat" theory.
Also, it seems to me as if people are not wearing the shirts to evangalize as much as they are to identify. You see somebody else in a crowd wearing a "Life is Short, Pray Hard" shirt, and you know they're on your team. I know that's why I used to wear that stuff. Honestly. And I have a feeling more non-believers are turned off by what they probably see as self-righteousness, even though it might not be, when they see those. Just like a hard-core Republican is turned off by a Kerry Edwards shirt. They separate, not unite. Those kinds of slogans and electioneering sometimes seem more like uniforms for battle than invititations to conversation. And I know this because I've heard these thoughts from my non-believing friends. They feel condemned, not welcomed.
A shirt doesn't take the time to get to know someone. It doesn't love them or ask them where they hurt. It doesn't offer to serve and earn the right to be heard. Unfortunately, we don't do these things enough either.
Still, the Word of the Lord does not return void, and I am sure that God has used them for His Glory in many ways. But He's used some very terrible things for His Glory as well, and that doesn't mean it's the wisest thing to do.
Secondly, your question of "Don't you want to support a Christian Company?" is a pretty interesting question. Should you support a company because of the beliefs of its owners rather than the quality of its product? Personally, I don't think so. I don't think that's the right way to look at it.
If a company is going to be run by Christians, then they have a responsibility to have high quality in their products. They should do everything excellent, as it is an offering to the Lord. I hope people want to me to play on and produce their records because I'm a good player, not because Jesus loves me.
I think Chik-Fil-A and In-N-Out Burger are great examples of this. They are consistently rated two of the best companies to work for in magazines. Their food tastes good, and is generally healthy for you, at least for fast food. It shows me they care about people. They show a pride in their service and product that you don't see at McDonald's or Taco Bell. But in the end, I eat there because it's good, not because they're Christians. However, I appreciate and recognize that they have done what they've done for the Glory of the Lord, and I think that shines through. It just so happens, doing that often leads to quality products and service, and therefore a more popular business, and an excellent witness.
I worked at a Christian Bookstore in high school for a year. I won't lie to you, Steven. A lot of the stuff they sold there was total junk. The T-shirts were cheaply printed and of rough material. The magazines were poorly edited. The TestaMints tasted like dog food. I quit because I felt guilty about selling products that I knew people would take home and would immediately break or discolor or whatever. That probably leans me harder against the Christian t-shirt people than I probably need to be, but that's my history.
I see a lot of towns have "Christian Yellow Pages." This has always struck me as wrong in that same way. If you're a plumber, and a believer, the best thing you can do is do a great job in the house of a skeptic, and be loving and kind while you do it. How dare that guy say he's the plumber for the job because Jesus loves him??!? That's not right. Whether he's good or not never enters the equation, yet he also never enters the house of a non-believer. Jesus should never be a marketing tool.
Man, it's late and I should be in bed. I'm sorry to kind of go off on this, but I really feel these are important questions to talk about. Thanks for asking and for sharing your view. Please forgive me if I came off a little harsh.
Oh, and I'm not saying we should support Abercrombie either. We don't, because I believe their stance on sex is pretty wrong and they are very public about it. But that doesn't intrinsically make the christian product any better or more worthy of our money. Does that make sense at all? Maybe I'm just mad cause I had to work that ugly blue shirt all year at that bookstore...
[...] His most recent post has gotten a lot of attention. I don’t want to simply repeat what he said in his post, for you can go ahead and read it yourself, so I’ll try to sum it up and add a little of my own thoughts to it. [...]
[...] Second, I recommend this blog post by Andrew Osenga and this addendum post by Shaun Groves on his blog as well. [...]
[...] Andy Osenga really hit it on the head with some thoughts here about “Christian music” and “Christian culture”. His interaction with Shaun Groves (another artist and blogger) is well worth the read. [link] [...]
I see your point. And I just wanted to say that I agree with you on the A Bread Crumb And Fish. I don't agree with the using God to rub off on something that is chiche and catchy at the time. The shirts you see me wearing are the ones with good graphic design that catch the eye. And I look for that in any shirt I wear.
I also worked at a Christian bookstore for a year or so. And agree totally that there is some junk that is located within the walls of those stores.
I guess I worry we are all getting to be on different teams. We say "be bold in your faith" yet turn around and then say "don't wear chiche t-shirts that identify you as a Christian because we don't want to be like the world."
You'd be surprised how much I agree with you on a lot of stuff. You can click my name and read my blog to get a better understanding of me.
My desire as a Christian guy is to save as many people as possible. I want unbelievers to feel comfortable coming to me because I am not the "Christian guy that alienated himself from everyone." I want to love like He did. Teach like He did.
And don't worry about coming across too harsh. You really have no idea how much I have desired to have this dialogue with someone. stevenunc at tmail dot com is the e-mail address. We can discuss on here or wherever. But I would like to continue the dialogue.
Have a great rest of the week.
steven, thanks for being honest and open, i appreciate it. one thing you said that made me want to reply is the "be bold in your faith" line. i have been thinking about this for a while because growing up in church, you are told to be bold in your faith to take a stance for Christ. So like Andy said about putting on battle gear, we wear our T-shirts and use our faith like a weapon. At least I did. Like when someone would ask me why i was a virgin or something, and i said "because i'm a christian", the attitude behind it was like "yeah, that's right. i'm a christian. i said it. so what do you think of that? are you going to hate me now? i bet you will because you're not a christian like me. but that's ok because i'm not supposed to be like you anyway. in the world but not of it, baby."
where is the love in that? oh man, i cringe when i think of how many people i have given awful impressions of Jesus too. just awful.
which brings me back to "being bold in our faith". i agree with the sentiment in that we should not be scared of telling others how wondeful Jesus is. But for me i need to be careful, because its not about being bold for the sake of being bold.
if we're living by the Spirit and loving people with crazy passion like we should be, then our lights will shine so bright, it won't matter if we're wearing Gold's Gym, God's Gym, or the Abercrombie Moose. Just like taping a few flashlights to a lighthouse to aid with the light, our lives of love should far outshine what clothes we wear in pointing people to Christ. personally i have SO FAR to go with this, but i pray God is working in me every day.
so thanks again for your thoughts, they have encouraged me.
My point is we have to walk a fine line between going too far as Christians and having too much of a laid back apporach to it. While I don't agree with thumping people over the head I do believe we need to go a little further than just living a good life and letting our light shine. Isn't it in Acts 1:8 where he says to go to "the ends of the earth" to preach the gospel?
I struggle with trying to walk that fine line. But I so desire the flame on my candle to light a fire that burns both out of control and consumes everything around it.
Steven,
thanks, man. I really appreciate your thoughts, and will continue to spend some time with them. It's good to hear a coherent argument FOR something in this arena. I can tell you've really spent some time thinking and praying about these things, and I feel like I've learned a little something from it. Thanks for the challenging questions and your kind attitude.
Thanks Andrew. I really have learned a lot rom reading your thoughts as well. I think Christians could cause a lot more noise in this crazy world of ours if we would just take the time to listen to each other.
God bless you and all you do on stage each and every night.
[...] One of the best essays I’ve seen on this subject is Andrew Osenga’s blog post “The Third Commandment“. Check it out when you have some time. [...]