What if...

I love what if's. Some what if's are preposterous and even so far off, they're comical. But the what if's that intrigue me are the ones that sort of hover over the island of possibility. The could be's and should be's. Like this one, what if the next movement of Christians in music wasn't really about raising the bar in the genres of Christian music? In other words, what if the next movement involved the redemption of all genres of music? What if God called the Christian artist to simply be an artist who's a Christian with an eternal message that could be told through the voices of the joys and pains of love and life? In essence, to be relevant and accessible to a culture and community of people who may never set foot in a church.

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD. Psalm 40:3

What happened to our new song? What happened to our voice? Is it lost in the play lists of our vulgarity and depravity? Or is it weakened and strained due to the lack of proper use? Where are we? It's not that we don't exist. I believe we've lost our distinctiveness in music. We've lost our voice in the wilderness.

Here's another "what if." What if Jesus, who was led by the Spirit in the desert had failed miserably? What if a tired and hungry Jesus turned those stones into bread and bowed down to Satan to avoid the suffering and cruelty of the cross? How powerful would his voice be on the mountain top? How deep would his love be for humanity? The Christian is called to walked as Jesus walked( 1 John 2:6). Just as the Spirit empowered Jesus, so too will His artist be empowered in the desert of this world. But if the voice of Jesus in the wilderness echoed in the halls of the Kingdom of God, why do we suffer from spiritual laryngitis? Why have we lost our voice?

I'm not surprised when a blind man proves to me that he can't see. The godless musician does not shock me. What offends me is when those of us who claim to see, have no vision. What shocks when me is when the Spirit-filled artist lacks the depth and width to impact the human condition in his music. Where is the soul in her songs? Where's the love in his soul? You want to take me to the club? Fine, let's go! But tell the truth about the club. "There's a party over here", but is everybody in heaven? What about the guy who just put his wedding ring in his pocket? Or the girl who secretly vowed to sex the first guy who buys her a drink? What about that girl on the pole? What's her story? Was there an abusive father at home? Was she molested? Does she really feel empowered when a man tucks a twenty in her g-string? Who's telling her story? Why aren't we writing their songs? Why are we singing the same old songs that everyone else does?

Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD all the earth. Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. Psalm 96:1-3

I believe it's harvest time for the Kingdom of God. We have the power to share the story and glory of our God with a freshness that the godless artist cannot imitate. We don't have to hide behind a "higher power" or a faceless god who has no impact on the depravity of man. We can illustrate our need for the resurrected Savior in the midst of our stories of romance and broken relationships. Our songs of the joys and pains of love could be composed by the light of the magnificence of the Holy Scriptures!

That doesn't mean we that give Jesus a shameful plug in our lyrics or hide our sin behind the curtains of our faith. We should be honest and sincere about sin and death. We should boast in our weaknesses. We should be courageous and unashamed to celebrate the love of life as well as the life in our love. The man without God can only dream about love that lasts forever. The man with God can pour the Scriptures into his lyrics and envision love in the New Heaven. She can write about a love that never falls asleep in the arms of a shameful morning after. What if, when we sing about a forever, end of the world kind of love, we actually meant it. It's time we reclaimed our voices and shared the heartbeat of God with a world that's plugged into pace makers. It's time to clear our throats and sing a new song. What if that time was now?

And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priest to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. Revelation 5:9-10