Shortly after writing the “15 Songs Every Christian Needs to Hear” post, something struck me about a few of the songs chosen in that list.
Steven Curtis Chapman, who has at least 10 more Dove Awards than days and nights during the Great Flood, released a song titled “For Who He Really Is” in 1988. The song contains this lyric:
He slips into church and he puts up his guard;
They look so happy but his life’s been so hard.
He keeps his distance so they won’t see the scars;
It’s just a religion that’s all dressed up in white,
And God is love as long as you’re living right.
But does he know that Jesus also has scars,
And His love can reach Him no matter how far.
The song then asks if others can see God for who He really is when they look at us. Fast forward about two decades to the present, and we have Casting Crowns. Here are some lyrics from “Stained Glass Masquerade”
Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation’s open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade
That’s not all. Take a look at “Does Anybody Hear Her” also by Casting Crowns.
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even knows she’s going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that’s tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
And one more from Casting Crowns called “If We Are The Body”
It’s crowded in worship today
As she slips in trying to fade into the faces
The girls teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know
Each song addresses issues of isolation in the church as well as the inauthentic aura that covers the vast majority of church attendees. What kills me, is that these songs are 20 years apart, and these are not unknown artists— or songs for that matter. Every self-respecting Christian in the 80’s and 90’s owned at least one Steven Curtis Chapman CD, and Casting Crowns has been the top of the Christian charts since they debuted a few years ago. These artists are among the most influential in the church.
It’s been two decades and our top Christian song writers are still writing about the same unresolved issues in the church. This is heartbreaking. It means that not only are we aware of the situation, not only have we been told about it, but we’re not dealing with it. We continue to be fake, we continue to build walls, we continue to pretend we have it all together, we continue to exclude others, we continue to put on a self-righteous front and we continue to ignore this problem.
Where did we lose our ability to relate to other people? What does it take turn this around? Will another 20 years pass only to see a world of changing values and technology but the same issues plaguing the church? We need to love and serve one another and the outside community better, I know that much. I’m not sure exactly how to do that, but I’d definitely be willing to try.