So many people are searching for answers to determine a meaning for life nowadays and with as many crazy and painful events going on and the mind blowing number of different paths to choose from and follow, it's no wonder that we are all a part of a world that is just plain confused about life in general.
This thought has been on my mind for quite a while and it became even more of a forefront sort of thought for me just last night as I was reading a post on the Internet from a band that has really grown on me the last few years. They were a band who played rock music but also openly claimed to be Christians and have been very open in discussing their faith with people at shows and on web chats and social media sites. In fact they have been engaged in quite a few conversations that unfortunately resulted in many people tearing each other down and doing so quite harshly with their views on life and religion. The band has also taken A LOT of heat from everyone, Christians and non-Christians both for their methods in sharing their faith and initiating spiritual conversations while at the same time coming under fire for their own short-comings as human beings in living up to the principles they set forth in talking about Christianity.
This is of course something that has been going on for a long time between people of differing systems of belief and almost everyone has their own opinion on it. As a Christian musician in a rock band that is Christ-focused, I'd like to offer a little encouragement for everyone on this sort of thing.
This is for EVERYONE to know. And it's important. CHRISTIANS ARE NOT BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE. A lot of them, including Christian musicians, are seen as forcing their beliefs down someone else's throat in a harsh, condemning, and unloving manner and if anyone who has ever claimed to be a Christian has done this to you, I want you to know right now that my heart aches for you. This happens way too often and is not at all what our God has called for us to do according to our beliefs. I also must make it very clear that Christians are not perfect. No one is. Here's a good way to summarize it: "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23. That passage says ALL. All people. All races. All walks of life. All systems of belief. All political parties. Your Kindergarten teacher. Your best friend. You. Me. We have all messed up somewhere in life. The playing field is level and not a single one of us is perfect. This includes Christian musicians too. We're all messed up people. The only difference between messed up people and Christians is that Christians are messed up people who happen to know Jesus.
Christian bands like us are definitely different from other genres. But we also are very similar. We're a rock band. We play with super loud amps and drums and swing our heads, jump around, bump into each other on stage occasionally, and laugh a lot just like many other bands do. I happen to know a lot of other rock bands who are believers in Jesus too, even heavy metal screamo bands who love the Lord. Our music is similar in sound to much of what is already out there in the music industry. What's different? Our reason for why we're musicians. We do what we do for our beliefs, which is Jesus and making him known. But we're also there to rock out and have fun at shows, jump into mosh pits, crowd surf, hang out with people and have a good time like everyone else. What's the point of saying all this? Christian musicians are people too, just like everyone else. We are messed up too. We've got more issues than a stack of newspapers. We all have struggled with depression, anxiety, pain, hopelessness, hate, anger, substance abuse, addictions that are sexual or substance related, and much, much more. Yet somehow we get out of bed in the morning and go on doing what we do and do so joyfully. Why? Jesus.
We write and play music that is a message of...you may have already guessed it, LOVE. Not just the typical, "Jesus loves you, have a nice day" and I certainly pray not the "I'm going to Heaven because I'm better than you." The latter message is certainly not one Jesus desires for us to deliver because it is simply not true. The message we aim to deliver in our music is a message that says "yeah, I love Jesus, and because of Him I have the freedom to live this life abundantly and not as a slave. And He loves you too, more than you could ever imagine. He's with me wherever I go and He wants me to do fun stuff that I enjoy like snowboarding, alligator wrestling, skydiving, and whatever. I was broken, I met Jesus and now I get to be with Him forever because I accepted His gift of the sacrifice He made in dying and rising again for me and now I'm living for Him. I'm still messed up and I'm still a regular dude and I guarantee you I'm going to mess up again somewhere along the line, but there is forgiveness and grace for me in whenever I mess up. Every time I mess up. NOTHING I could ever do could make God love me less and the same goes for you. Even if you don't believe in Him, there's nothing you can do that would make Him love you less either. You're His creation and He wants to be in your life. If you want to talk about it all, let's talk. If not, that's fine. Let's go rock out and go do something fun."
The next time you hear of a Christian band that is around, I want to encourage you to know that they're regular dudes or ladies just like you. They've had problems before and are going to continue having problems again sometime. And I certainly hope you know that the real thing that makes a Christian band a Christian band isn't the number of "Jesus points" (by the way they don't exist) they get by playing for you. The thing that makes that band isn't even who they are as a band. It is all about Jesus and how each member is loved by Him, just as you are, and how they are following Him. And WHEN they do mess up, that doesn't mean their God isn't real or that they're not Christian enough or that they're fakes. It just means that they're regular people who are not perfect but who are also loved and forgiven because of the gift of grace given to them that they have accepted. And even if you don't believe in it, I pray those bands are around at some point to hang out with you, talk with you, and share how their lives are changed because of Christ and offer you encouragement and love you for who you are in God, not for what you've done. After all, that's the Jesus people should hear about.
Love you guys, stay rocking
--Rob Smith
This thought has been on my mind for quite a while and it became even more of a forefront sort of thought for me just last night as I was reading a post on the Internet from a band that has really grown on me the last few years. They were a band who played rock music but also openly claimed to be Christians and have been very open in discussing their faith with people at shows and on web chats and social media sites. In fact they have been engaged in quite a few conversations that unfortunately resulted in many people tearing each other down and doing so quite harshly with their views on life and religion. The band has also taken A LOT of heat from everyone, Christians and non-Christians both for their methods in sharing their faith and initiating spiritual conversations while at the same time coming under fire for their own short-comings as human beings in living up to the principles they set forth in talking about Christianity.
This is of course something that has been going on for a long time between people of differing systems of belief and almost everyone has their own opinion on it. As a Christian musician in a rock band that is Christ-focused, I'd like to offer a little encouragement for everyone on this sort of thing.
This is for EVERYONE to know. And it's important. CHRISTIANS ARE NOT BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE. A lot of them, including Christian musicians, are seen as forcing their beliefs down someone else's throat in a harsh, condemning, and unloving manner and if anyone who has ever claimed to be a Christian has done this to you, I want you to know right now that my heart aches for you. This happens way too often and is not at all what our God has called for us to do according to our beliefs. I also must make it very clear that Christians are not perfect. No one is. Here's a good way to summarize it: "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23. That passage says ALL. All people. All races. All walks of life. All systems of belief. All political parties. Your Kindergarten teacher. Your best friend. You. Me. We have all messed up somewhere in life. The playing field is level and not a single one of us is perfect. This includes Christian musicians too. We're all messed up people. The only difference between messed up people and Christians is that Christians are messed up people who happen to know Jesus.
Christian bands like us are definitely different from other genres. But we also are very similar. We're a rock band. We play with super loud amps and drums and swing our heads, jump around, bump into each other on stage occasionally, and laugh a lot just like many other bands do. I happen to know a lot of other rock bands who are believers in Jesus too, even heavy metal screamo bands who love the Lord. Our music is similar in sound to much of what is already out there in the music industry. What's different? Our reason for why we're musicians. We do what we do for our beliefs, which is Jesus and making him known. But we're also there to rock out and have fun at shows, jump into mosh pits, crowd surf, hang out with people and have a good time like everyone else. What's the point of saying all this? Christian musicians are people too, just like everyone else. We are messed up too. We've got more issues than a stack of newspapers. We all have struggled with depression, anxiety, pain, hopelessness, hate, anger, substance abuse, addictions that are sexual or substance related, and much, much more. Yet somehow we get out of bed in the morning and go on doing what we do and do so joyfully. Why? Jesus.
We write and play music that is a message of...you may have already guessed it, LOVE. Not just the typical, "Jesus loves you, have a nice day" and I certainly pray not the "I'm going to Heaven because I'm better than you." The latter message is certainly not one Jesus desires for us to deliver because it is simply not true. The message we aim to deliver in our music is a message that says "yeah, I love Jesus, and because of Him I have the freedom to live this life abundantly and not as a slave. And He loves you too, more than you could ever imagine. He's with me wherever I go and He wants me to do fun stuff that I enjoy like snowboarding, alligator wrestling, skydiving, and whatever. I was broken, I met Jesus and now I get to be with Him forever because I accepted His gift of the sacrifice He made in dying and rising again for me and now I'm living for Him. I'm still messed up and I'm still a regular dude and I guarantee you I'm going to mess up again somewhere along the line, but there is forgiveness and grace for me in whenever I mess up. Every time I mess up. NOTHING I could ever do could make God love me less and the same goes for you. Even if you don't believe in Him, there's nothing you can do that would make Him love you less either. You're His creation and He wants to be in your life. If you want to talk about it all, let's talk. If not, that's fine. Let's go rock out and go do something fun."
The next time you hear of a Christian band that is around, I want to encourage you to know that they're regular dudes or ladies just like you. They've had problems before and are going to continue having problems again sometime. And I certainly hope you know that the real thing that makes a Christian band a Christian band isn't the number of "Jesus points" (by the way they don't exist) they get by playing for you. The thing that makes that band isn't even who they are as a band. It is all about Jesus and how each member is loved by Him, just as you are, and how they are following Him. And WHEN they do mess up, that doesn't mean their God isn't real or that they're not Christian enough or that they're fakes. It just means that they're regular people who are not perfect but who are also loved and forgiven because of the gift of grace given to them that they have accepted. And even if you don't believe in it, I pray those bands are around at some point to hang out with you, talk with you, and share how their lives are changed because of Christ and offer you encouragement and love you for who you are in God, not for what you've done. After all, that's the Jesus people should hear about.
Love you guys, stay rocking
--Rob Smith