She was the most plastic fabrication I had ever seen. She was sitting there across from me, her head bobbing gently to the beat of the music. I could only see her nose and mouth, because her perfect highlighted hair, not one strand out of place, covered her eyes. Her manicured fingers curled gently around the crook of her scruffy boyfriend's elbow, her legs were crossed beneath the short skirt, and I couldn't decide if the most attention-drawing thing about her was the figure created by the push-up bra or the almost-unbearable incredibly pointy shoes that could classify as a deadly weapon.
I instantly hated her, and almost simultaneously was convicted for it. It made me angry that she would spend so much money and energy on the way she looked. What was she doing, sitting in this concert where the musician challenged us all about our materialism? Did she not get it? Was she really that clueless?
"He's talking about you!" I wanted to shout. But it wouldn't have done any good. She was hearing a different message than the rest of us were.
And then I realized that I didn't know her heart. I didn't know what God was doing in and with her. I didn't know how she was learning and growing. Maybe this was more of a message for me than for her. It spoke to me, and it told me exactly what I don't want to fall into. Ever.
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I went to a concert last night. It was a man named Derek Webb, who used to be with Caedmon's Call. It was pretty small: maybe 100 people. He sang about ethics, about American life and how we as Christians get so stuck...
"my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
it's to a king & a kingdom"
I've never cried at a concert before, but Derek Webb made me do just that. I don't plan on often posting lyrics, but I think I need to. This man really spoke to me.
WEDDING DRESS
If You could love me as a wife
And for my wedding gift, Your Life
Should that be all I’ll ever need
Or is there more I’m looking for
And should I read between the lines
And look for blessings in disguise
To make me handsome, rich, and wise
Is that really what You want?
(chorus)
I am a whore I do confess
But I put You on just like a wedding dress
And I run down the aisle
I’m a prodigal with no way home
But I put You on just like a ring of gold
And I run down the aisle to You
So could You love this bastard child
Though I don’t trust You to provide
With one hand in a pot of gold
And with the other in Your side
I am so easily satisfied
By the call of lovers less wild
That I would take a little cash
Over Your very flesh and blood
(chorus)
I am a whore I do confess
But I put You on just like a wedding dress
And I run down the aisle
I’m a prodigal with no way home
But I put You on just like a ring of gold
And I run down the aisle to You
Because money cannot buy a husband’s jealous eye
When you have knowingly deceived his wife
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The idea of "putting on Christ's righteousness" is Biblical, but I never connected it with this idea of it being a wedding dress. Wow.
He also talked about loving your enemies and how incredibly counter-intuitive that idea is. He said that it helps to realize that you, with the right circumstances, all the ingredients mixed up just right, are capable of the exact same violence that anyone else could commit. "If you don't admit that, you don't really know yourself."
MY ENEMIES ARE MEN LIKE ME
vs. 1)
I have come to give you life
And to show you how to live it
I have come to make things right
To heal their ears and show you how to forgive them
(pre-chorus)
Because I would rather die
I would rather die
I would rather die
Than to take your life
(chorus)
How can I kill the ones I’m supposed to love
My enemies are men like me
I will protest the sword if it’s not wielded well
My enemies are men like me
(vs. 2)
Peace by way of war is like purity by way of fornication
It’s like telling someone murder is wrong
And then showing them by way of execution
(pre-chorus)
Because I would rather die
I would rather die
I would rather die
Than to take your life
(chorus)
How can I kill the ones I’m supposed to love
My enemies are men like me
I will protest the sword if it’s not wielded well
My enemies are men like me
(bridge)
When justice is bought and sold just like weapons of war
Tthe ones who always pay are the poorest of the poor
(chorus)
How can I kill the ones I’m supposed to love
My enemies are men like me
I will protest the sword if it’s not wielded well
My enemies are men like me
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We got to talk to this guy; he's bleeding for Africa and for the AIDS pandemic and the need for clean water. He was so kindly, really willing to share his soul with us individually. I was so glad to be able to hear his ideas, his point of view. Wow.
I gotta think about this stuff some more.
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