Knowtown…

As an amateur musician, a fan of various genres of music and a spiritual pilgrim I was very intrigued by the title of the new book from RelavantBooks — Spiritual Journeys: How Faith Has Influenced 12 Music Icons. Even though I had read a previous book from the publisher (Walk On: The Spiritual Journey Of U2) and liked it very much I approached this book with some reservations. Too often books with this subject matter tend to use the stars of the music industry as propaganda for a not-so-subtle, evangelistic message. However, this book blew me away and left me pleasantly surprised. There are no hidden agendas here. The authors (there are more than one, making the book read like a discussion between friends) claim to show how faith influenced these artist and that is exactly what they do.

So how has faith influenced them? The answers may surprise you. While you expect musicians like Bono to be here, the inclusions of greats like Johnny Cash, Moby, Lenny Kravitz and Lauren Hill make this book instantly multifaceted. The book is well researched digging up rare interviews and supplementary documentation to illustrate what we all intuitively know. Spiritual Journeys are not always clean cut, tourist itineraries put together by AAA. They are more often messy, unpredictable works in progress. I like that the authors did not try to arrive at a spiritual “destination” but let the artist stories unfold as they happened. They are not repackaging the debates about contemporary Christian music artists or trying to label anyone or figure out which side of spiritual fence they are on. They simply tell the stories in a way that illustrates the deep connection with the artists and their sometimes enigmatic faith.

I am sure that there are many faithful who will be disappointed that we can not easily take the artist from this book and make them the next spokespeople for our particular brand of faith. But for those looking for a deeper understanding to the music of these “icons” and how spirituality and art continue to intersect this is a great read.

I have posted earlier in this blog (April 4, 2003) about a thing that the youth group of our church hosts every month called Friday Night Loud–a.k.a. F’N Loud. The basic idea is that we open up our church for various local youth bands to come and play. Last night was the fourth time in 5 months we have done this. Last night was an acoustic night that was billed as F’N Quiet. Like I said in the previous post, the fact that God is in this is very obvious to me. We had a slightly smaller crowd last night than previous nights but it was truly incredible. I would like to talk about some of the people that God is using to make F’N loud happen.

First, there is Chris Shroeger. Chris pretty much is the promoter who makes it all come together. He contacts the bands and sets up the line up each night. He makes fliers and canvases the neighborhood with them. He is a great, hard working guy who gives 110% every time. He is also very creative. He has great relationships with all of the bands and all the kids respect him. He will soon be leaving us to do an internship with Disney in Florida.

Next is Nick Savino. Nick is a singer in one of the bands that has played at each F’N Loud. Not only is he talented, he is a great person. He has been a great role model to all the people who come to the show. He is always quick to pump up the other bands and thank all those who make the events possible. He has offered to help with the stuff Chris did in his absence.

Then there are all the guys who make up the local (right here in Parker) band, Whitlock. I do not remember all their names but this is a great crew. The two front guys are named Matt and Brian and they are great. Because they are popular here in Parker they bring a lot of area kids to the show.

I should also mention the guys from the band, Barefoote Mackenzee. The rhythm guitar/lead vocalist is Andrew and he is very good. All of the musicians and bands are really good but I like the style of these kids the best. They have a harmonica/guitar player and a sax player named Justin who is really good. They have played the last two shows and I have loved them both times.

All in all, last nights acoustic show has been my favorite one so far. The atmosphere was quieter and the audience seemed to connect with the musicians in a very genuine way. I got to talk to several of the band members and some of their parents who came to check out the show. I had a nice short conversation with Brian from Whitlock about how the art of music is a creative tool that points to The Creator. He was tracking with that idea. We talked about how to communicate that idea to all the people who come out to F’N Loud and he had some really good insights. He said if we had someone who was 20 saying that kind of stuff the kids would love it but he did not know any 20 year olds who were that brave. He brought this whole evangelism down to one thing–bravery.

It reminded me of some stuff I have been writing about the Lewis and Clark expedition and what a great metaphor that is for the emerging church. I have always wanted to write something about church that uses the same title of the biography of the Lewis and Clark adventure, “Undaunted Courage”. So while no sermon or altar call was made last night there was some great creativity, some genuine community and some small pockets of meaningful communication. God was at work. I could feel it. Maybe we should just call it F’N Church. Wouldn’t it be great to hear a bunch of young, suburban kids telling everyone, “I love to go to F’N church! I would go every week if I could.”

Dare to dream…

The dictionary defines:

con•flict n.
1. A state of open, often prolonged fighting; a battle or war.
2. A state of disharmony between incompatible or antithetical persons, ideas, or interests; a clash.
3. Psychology. A psychic struggle, often unconscious, resulting from the opposition or simultaneous functioning of mutually exclusive impulses, desires, or tendencies.
4. Opposition between characters or forces in a work of drama or fiction, especially opposition that motivates or shapes the action of the plot.

This is a strong word. It leads me to believe that forces, people or ideas that are in conflict will not be able to reconcile. The fight needs to continue until one side wins and the other is defeated. So imagine my surprise when I read in Robert E. Webbers book, The Younger Evangelicals the following:

“Right now these two paradigms—the older evangelicalism built around twentieth-cetury culture and the evangelicalism being formed around the twenty-first century—are in conflict. This clash is birthing a new set of leaders—the younger evangelicals.” (page 14)

If you would have asked me even as recently as 6 months ago if I agreed with this assessment I would have been unsure. But now I feel like I am involved in the conflict and so I would answer much differently and more concretely. It is like the difference between being “aware” of conflict in Africa and being “involved” in the conflict in Africa. When you are detached or removed from the conflict, even though we know better, it doesn’t carry as much weight. I long to see a revolutionary (in that it revolves around the center, which is Christ, as He moves through history) church that stewards the faith once and for all delivered to the saints and willingly passes the baton to the next generations. I desire to experience the continuity of the faith in my own history. The idea that this continuity could be broken by conflict with the previous generation of evangelicals breaks my heart.

I consider myself one of these younger evangelicals, as described in Webber’s book. I hang around with younger evangelicals right here in the Denver area. I travel to gather with other younger evangelicals from around the country/world at various conventions or meetings sponsored by organizations like Emergent. I read blogs (listed at the left) and correspond with other younger evangelicals from around the world who fuel my passion to follow Christ in a brave way. These people sharing their lives and thoughts with me are making me a better follower and providing encouragement and accountability to my ecclesial dream. In a very real way they are my community of faith and I belong with them.

But I am currently attending a church that is primarily made up of and led by the “other” paradigm. As I struggle through what that means for my next steps I am beginning to realize that this really is a conflict. (if you are not a younger evangelical stuck in an older paradigm church you may not understand that) The way the “other” paradigm is structured is making it very difficult to follow my calling as a younger evangelical. If I stay there it will most certainly lead to conflict for the whole community. But leaving does not eliminate the conflict. It feels like no matter how hard I try to follow my calling those from the “other” paradigm see it as “divisive” or interpret my choices in a judgmental way (”right” or “wrong”). From my perspective I want to be encouraged and supported by them as I follow where God is leading me and to stay reconciled to this community. But because of the different ways of thinking about and doing church I am not sure this conflict can or will end that well.

So maybe conflict is too strong a word. As I continue to follow Christ as a younger evangelical I will let you know what I think about that. Meanwhile if anyone out there has some wisdom and/or experience in this, I would love to hear from you. Is this a conflict? Can it end gracefully? Are continuity and reconciliation possible?