Music: The Ringing Bell by Derek Webb

With Mockingbird, Derek Webb already entrnched himself as an artist willing to ask hard (and some would say controversial) questions. With this CD, Webb has continued in this same vein and continues to ask some hard questions that challenge the typical Christian view of, well, just about anything.

Webb has called this his first “rock” album and he’s right as long as you hearken back to the sound of the British Invasion in the 60s. For many today, this is not exactly the sound they conjure up when the term “rock and roll” are spoken. Still, it’s a great sound and it fits his voice and poetry quite well. It’s a nice departure from the folk-oriented style he’s so well-known for.

Covering topics ranging from being a prisoner to our own closed minds (”The End”) to the culmination of Christ’s glory (”This Too Shall Be Made Right”), Webb weaves a great set of songs that are designed to challenge as well as entertain. My favorite songs are the songs dealing with harder hitting issues and my least favorite are the love songs - no surprises there. The politically charged “Savior on Capitol Hill” and “Love That’s Stronger Than Our Fear” will surely raise some eyebrows, but they both address issues that most Christian artists are afraid to even touch in fear that they might upset the party line. After all, Christian = Republican, right? I told you I liked the harder hitting songs.

All in all, I truly enjoy this album with my foremost complaint being its length… it’s too short. At just slightly over 30 minutes, this album recycles itself too quickly in a CD player. Other than that small complaint, I find much to like on this album and heartily recommend it. It’s probably Derek’s strongest album yet.

Book: Being Human by Macaulay and Barrs

This book written in the 1970s is a Scripture-filled paradigmatic revolution for the missionally-minded Christian. (Wow - sorry about that… but really, all those big words mean something.) The book is written by two alums of L’Abri and written very much in the spirit of the teachings of Francis Schaeffer. What Barrs and Macaulay do is to make Schaeffer-esque concepts more approachable (many who have attempted to read some of Schaeffer’s work have found his writing a bit daunting). They also do something that is somewhat lacking in Schaeffer’s writings… Being Human is heavy with Scriptural references. Seeking to bring the concepts of human spirituality into focus, they reference much of what the Bible has to say about the nature of humanity.

Tracing the history of Christian thought regarding human spirituality they bring two ways of looking at the human equation: 1) the Biblical view and 2) the Platonic view. They do an apt job of tracing these two concepts and proving how the Platonic view has infected the Christian subculture. Another L’abri alum, Nancy Pearcey, penned the book Total Truth which also deals with the same false dichotomy between the physical and the spiritual. While Pearcey’s book deals with worldview, Macauley and Barrs deal with humanness.

Having read Pearcey’s book, I thought I was well-prepared to just nod my head through the book with few experiences that would be revelatory… I was mistaken. In almost every chapter, preconceptions I didn’t know I had began to surface and I was challenged to look much deeper at how I viewed my fellow man - Christian or not. I was stunned to find such deep prejudgment about people within me. My mind was opened to recognizing what it means that man was created in “the image of God” and how that should affect the way I think.

I highly recommend this book as serious reading for anyone who is interested in having their own preconceptions laid bare - what surprised me was that I was pretty sure I’d already had my major paradigm shift… this book proved just how deeply my incorrect view of human spirituality was ingrained.

Listening outside the bubble

For most Christians, popular music falls into two categories: Christian or Secular. Youth groups are told they should promote Christian artists and music as the artists are better role models than their secular counterparts. Christian radio stations exist to provide positive and uplifting entertainment to the churched masses as an alternative to the “sin-saturated” channels that make up the majority of the dial.

The Christian music industry is a fast-growing slice of the Christian subculture (or “bubble” as some of us call it) - our own stores, our own food, our own music, our own television channels, and even our own logo (the fish). We live in a world where, if you wanted to, you could ensure that your children are only taught lessons sanitized from anything that is not deemed holy, you could ensure that you never have to listen or watch anything that isn’t specifically Christian in nature, and you could ensure that everything you purchase in some way goes to further the Gospel somewhere. Friends - there is no way this is a good thing.

While there is nothing wrong with an artist specifically and explicitly writing songs that are moral and uplifiting and there is certainly nothing wrong with a song specifically and explicitly worshiping God for what He’s done - the categories are false. Historically, the only categories have been songs specifically designed for corporate worship and… everything else. Today’s categories don’t reflect this in any way. (In fact, we created a third category called “worship” for the stuff explicitly written for corporate worship.)

Music is music. Worldview is worldview. Some music is incredibly creative while the worldview espoused is incredibly depraved. The creativity in the music and lyric belong to God - all creativity is borrowed creativity. Just because someone isn’t glorifying God with their content… they’ve completely missed the fact that what makes their song “good” is something that only God can enable… the creative spark.

I like music. I listen to a wide variety of musical styles and worldviews. I’m amazed at the insight that I’m granted when I hear something that so obviously espouses an incorrect worldview. I’m also amazed at how my singing and playing are improved when I expose myself to other influences. While we should be discerning about what we pump into our brains… we should not allow another person’s label to exclusively determine whether or not we should listen to something. We must be guided by the Spirit of God in wisdom without labels.

What is Biblical Evangelism?

Evangelism has turned into somewhat of a dirty word in culture. It evokes connotations of uncomfortable high-pressure conversations in order to bring you to a decision point regarding your eternal soul. The discomfort exists for those being proselytized as well as the average joe Christian - and why shouldn’t you feel uncomfortable? Evangelism in its stereotypical portrayal relegates the evangelist into being a multi-level marketer for Jesus: determine your prospect, ready your script, anticipate objections, close the sale.

In Scripture, you don’t see this model explicitly shown. In fact, it seems the Bible is more concerned about speaking truth than it is about proselytizing in general. The Great Commission tells us to preach the Gospel and make disciples. There is no script and there is no urgency to close the sale. So, the Christian who fears he is being asked to bludgeon somebody with great arguments of apologetics and archaelogy or a rapid-fire memorization of the Romans road or spiritual laws can rest easy. These are not the requirements of evangelism. We’re called to preach the Gospel.

Now, if preaching the Gospel brings up pictures of a sweaty man standing on a street corner waving a Bible, it’s an understandable, though imperfect, generalization. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is both much simpler than street preaching while at the same time much more mysterious and complex. The Christian responsibility is to speak the truth in love. We are to proclaim the goodness of God and the dire state of man and the fact that the death of Christ purchased a miraculous thing: any person who calls on the name of Christ can be transformed from death to life.

Telling people about Jesus is not a scripted process - it is a relational and active one. We love them with the love of Christ and the fruit of our lips speak of His wonder and our love of Him who saved us should be evident in all that we do. This is at once simpler and far more difficult. It’s simple because we don’t have anything to memorize and get “just right.” It’s far more difficult because it’s about living a life of worship where His life is evident in our life and His name is always on our lips because we love Him that much. A script would be far easier… that’s why people create them.

Living for someone other than yourself

Looking out for number one is almost ingrained in the American psyche. While there are leanings away from this ingrained mentality, typical behavior seems to point to self-infatuation still taking center-stage. What’s funny is that most of us probably believe that this is true… except for us. We all believe that the road is filled with selfish drivers but believe ourselves to be reasonable. We believe that other people should follow the rules but expect grace when we slip up.

The Bible teaches us a different standard. We are to consider others more highly than we consider ourselves. We are to live at peace with others (at least when it comes to our own actions). We are to love one another. The only way to do this is to live for someone other than ourselves. That someone else, of course, is Jesus Christ. When we place our trust in Christ, He does not leave us in a vacuum and tell us to fend for ourselves. No - we are given help by the Holy Spirit who Christ sent after His resurrection to give us comfort and to empower us to live the life we are called to live.

What is Truth?

Truth. In a day where it seems more people than ever are clamoring for truth, it remains elusive and indefinable. Truth must be more than mere fact. Facts provide a window into truth. Facts provide contours for truth. Facts rarely define truth.

Can truth be defined? Some people say that truth is different for every person. Scrutinized, this view is either naïve or an attempt at accommodation. Mere whimsy. Fanciful notions. Relative homogeneity. We know truth is out there… somewhere. We feel it in the core of who we are (unless, out of hopeless frustration, we’ve become jaded into believing it can never be found and therefore must not exist).

Veritas is the latin word for truth. Our vision and goal is to be a place where truth is declared openly and honestly with no apology - that truth is Jesus Christ.