I'm often very displeased when people think of Christian rock as Creed, Chris Tomlin, Switchfoot, Casting Crowns, Toby Mac, Relient K, or any other of the many similar bands. While these bands produce music worth listening to, especially if you are "worshiping," but they are not Christian rock. The Christian radio stations are generally referred to as Christian rock stations, but they don't play the real Christian rock bands like Project 86, Norma Jean, Falling Up, Flyleaf, Thousand Foot Krutch, Underoath, Seventh Day Slumber, or Since October (some of these bands, my favorite Project 86 included, may at times sound too hardcore or metal for your taste, but I definitely suggest that you check them all out if you're interested in listening to Christian music that isn't just the fluffy, "Our God is amazing," type stuff. If you like any of these bands, I also suggest Killswitch Engage, though the jury is still out on whether or not they are "Christian"). As a result, a whole lot of good Christian music is ignored and simultaneously insulted by non-believers. Sad times. Clearly this is a topic that hits my heartstrings, but I won't take up more space with it; instead I point you to my posts from before we left on this trip (the week before May 19th) where I talk about slavery almost exclusively through the lends of Project 86.
I'm thinking about the status of Christian music and our attitudes toward it because I have been listening to Christian radio stations as much as possible on this trip. I've done this to try and broaden my horizons in every way possible as we cross the country. While I have noticed that some places run more Christian radio stations than others (in eastern Massachusetts where I'm from, I've failed for the past five years to find any Christian radio stations), I haven't really noticed a difference in the music played in different areas. And so, yesterday, I had the chance to listen to a Chris Tomlin song that is really popular at the moment, "Our God." (By the way, I should mention that nothing really happened today on our way to Amarillo except that I have a small leak in my front tire, which we think we've fixed with a patch kit. The kevlar is still intact, so it should be fine as long as the patch holds. In case the patch isn't enough, or if the kevlar isn't intact, then I do have a spare Gatorskin outer tube and a spare inner tube) You'll remember that Chris Tomlin is one of the artists I listed above as definitely not Christian rock but everyone thinks it is and then everyone who likes rock music won't listen to any of the real stuff and we (the dreaded E word) evangelism opportunities. Regardless, the lyrics in the song were powerful for this trip:
"If our God is for us, who could ever stop us? And if our God is for us, what could stand against?"
Those are the words to the chorus of Tomlin's "Our God." Hearing them over and over again you are wont to start thinking, 'Yeah, what can stop me/us? God is powerful so if I believe, well, clearly everything will work out.' Let's skip over the troublesome implication that if things don't work out then we must not be believing hard enough--it's worth talking about but I'm already rambling on. In Haugen's book that I mentioned awhile ago that I've been reading and reflecting on during this trip, he makes similar arguments to Tomlin: God is good, God is love, God is on the side of justice and those who work for it, so if we believe in God and work for justice then we have a very powerful advocate.
If you believe in God, of the Christian or any other variety, then I hope that you take hope and confidence from this very common assertion. From the beginning of our faiths we have proclaimed that God is indeed powerful and is indeed on the side of justice and those who work for it. Even in the Christian Old Testament, the Jewish/Hebrew Bible, the God who can often be violent and unforgiving is ALWAYS angry at the unrighteous and left confused when His people, the Israelites, don't act justly for the poor and oppressed. And when God gets angry, well, the Old Testament is one long witness to the power He has to change things. So really, if you believe in God, you should not feel overwhelmed or overburdened by the scale and complexity of modern slavery. If you believe, then you should also believe that you have the most powerful force ever conceived on your team playing quarterback ready to hit you with hailmary after hailmary. The quarterback just needs some receivers.
If you don't believe in God, then most of what I just said is useless. Well, not really, actually, because if you don't believe in God then I hope you'll have gained some of your unbelief from the likes of Feuerbach and Nietzsche (don't know what I'm referencing? First, let me know because it'll make me feel good, then second, either look up a summary of their philosophies or ask me about them if you can't inference from what I'm saying) and believe that each individual human is in themselves very powerful. If you don't believe in God, then I hope that on some level you think that religion holds us back from reaching our full potential (oh boy, am I really advocating this? Absolutely, I don't think that faith in God and the attitude I'm here encouraging are in any way mutually exclusive), which means that the more we believe in ourselves the more we can accomplish.
Moral of the story is, if we really put some thought and effort into ending modern slavery, what can stop us? Either we believe that we have Almighty on our side or we should believe that we are extremely resourceful, clever, and strong individuals. Whatever we believe, there shouldn't be anything that can stop a concentrated effort. So again, who can stop us? What can stand against?
Simple answer: we can stop ourselves. The lyrics to the Project 86 song, "Me Against Me," are among my favorite lyrics of all-time. The chorus to the song reads thusly:
"Grabbed hold my enemy's neck
And choked till he ceased
Blistered with disbelief I awoke dead
And when I awoke I couldn't believe it was me
All the time it was me"
All the time it was me. More often than not the only thing that hinders us from ending injustices like poverty and slavery is ourselves. People complain that they don't have enough money to the pay the bills let alone donate to a cause, yet they still buy new game systems, drive instead of carpooling or biking, buying new and too many clothes, partying on the weekends, etc. People get frustrated, depressed, and all sorts of negative when they hear that there are 27 million slaves in the world, but when they hear that a little bit of their time and effort and money can go a long way they are often more concerned about working enough to pay for the new game systems, cards, new and too many clothes, and partying on the weekends, etc.
The funny thing about Christian asceticism and discipline is that it's also very responsible, despite its bad reputation. By not drinking alcohol, going green and riding a bike as often as possible, owning fewer and fewer clothes and also washing them less often, I actually save a lot of money that other people would have spent. I don't mean to make myself out to be more of a hero than I actually am, if I am, but let's be honest with ourselves. What's stopping us from making the world a better place? Our own selfish, self-gratifying, self-absorbed desires. For some it's laziness or an insurmountable pessimism; but many of us work hard and want to make the world a better place, and yet we don't because we are our own enemy without even realizing it. We stand against ourselves.
Instead of asking, "Who could ever stop us?" we should ask, "What can I do to overcome myself?" I will be asking that question of myself over the next few days, and perhaps share with you some of the reflections, and so I hope that you will join me in asking the question. In what ways am I my own enemy? How am I, as my own enemy, hurting myself? hurting or ignoring others? What can I do to overcome myself and become a better person? How can I reach my full potential? What can I do to overcome myself and, in the process, help put an end to slavery? What can I do to overcome myself?
Some very cogent points, John, and I'd just add one thing--the communal nature of such an endeavor (which, to be fair, you've addressed several times) can't be ignored. We may often do more to stop ourselves than anyone or anything else ever could, but just because we've put ourselves in motion doesn't mean we can't be blocked by others action (or lack thereof). Something like ending human trafficking is something of a public good--few would argue against it, few (perhaps fewer) will put in the necessary work of their own volition. All of this is not an argument for fatalism, so much as an acknowledgement of the courage it takes to get up and do something, anyway. We do have to believe that some good will come of these efforts, and indeed, I think there will be. I don't know that we have truly know the full extent of our actions, but better to make those actions in as positive direction as we can. Which is to say, I appreciate what you're doing, John, I admire you for it and I'm proud of you for it. Keep it up, I know you've just about made it, and here's to the journey continuing long after you're finished biking.
ReplyDelete