the domino effect

it's interesting that we find it very easy to criticise church and different styles of music that are used during the 'worship time'. tonite doug came and spoke at our new group for 18-30's about music and the impact it's had on his life. it was a real eye opener and it struck me the ways in which music can be used positively and negatively. the Apologetix are a band who take secular songs and change the lyrics to christian based ones, and whilst my jury remains out on them for now, it was strange to hear Papa Roach's 'Last Resort' with the new lyrics of "Plug my life into Jesus – this gets my life restored".

if God gave us the gift of music then do we have to write songs about him specifically to glorify him, or is it enough to use our musical talents to produce the best songs we can about whatever is real to us, whether it be relationships, events, God, etc? if we are to honour God and point others to God in all we do this should include our attitudes, behaviour, language, body language and thoughts. therefore should all music produced by christians point to God blatantly? it's an area that some artists seem torn over... being a christian in a band, or being a 'christian band'. there's a distinct difference, and some watery lines between the two emerge on a regular basis. last year i was into a band who branded themselves as a christian band but actually, none of their lyrics made mention of God, Jesus and other key aspects of the christian faith. this surprised me. their music was based on relationships gone wrong, relationships gone right, yet maybe they haven't missed the point because relationships are key to what christianity is all about.

it comes back to the basic call to love God and love others. to be in relationship with God and relationship with others. interesting point made by Rob Bell in his book, 'Velvet Elvis' that nowhere in the bible does it say that we have to have a relationship with God. it's something that's inferred from what we know of God's character and the way he relates (key word there!) to His people.

so how did i get here?? i guess that it goes full circle. we write or sing about what we know. relationships are what we know- everyone is in a relationship with someone. they're funny things that change and develop and change us in the process. they can be positive or negative, or both. either way, they are a huge, unmissable part of life. pouring out into songs is a creative outlet. so whether songs are written to God, about God or have no mention of God, if we know him then what we write about, or our perspective, will be affected, perhaps without us even realising it!

i dont know if i reached any conclusions on that... i keep coming up with different ideas that aren't directly related to my previous ones!