Wresteling at the Concert

Hi friends,

I had one of those paradoxical experiences last weekend, that you only get when you are involved in the Christian Church.

We went to the Casting Crowns concert here in Portland, with some friends from our congregation. Now just to start off, Casting Crowns is not really my style of music. I don’t mean that in a snobbery kind of way, so please don’t interpret it that way. I actually love the lyrics of many of their songs, and in fact we use quite a few of their songs in our worship services at Orchards. But they kinda have that “Big Church - Worship service “ feel that doesn’t really connect with me.

The concert, for the most, part was really geared towards a typical church worship service, so it definitely had that Big Church worship feel.

I don’t want this to sound like a “ream on Casting Crowns” rant. I know that they connect with lots of people, and their music has very missional themes that I think churches (especially big churches) need to hear. They, like a lot of Christian bands, were partnering with World Vision to help sponsor kids and give money to clean water projects. At one point Mark Hall said, “Don’t buy a t-shirt, sponsor a kid” WAY COOL in my opinion. I wasn’t too into having the band pray for all of us that we would be “Men who reclaim our faith” and for the “Mommies” to raise good christian men at one point in the concert. During the “prayer time” my wife leaned over and said “I’m starting to feel like chopped liver here...” I think Jennifer and I have a different idea of a christian home and Christian parenting and gender roles than Casting Crowns but , hey get in line... We have different views than a lot of our evangelical friends.

I guess what I need to process in the whole experience, is not the concert in and of itself, but the culture or sub culture we get sucked into as people of faith. It’s not much different than a ghetto, but with bigger houses and nicer cars.

The band I think (or I hope) wrestles with it as well. Mark Hall addressed it from the stage. I’ll sum up his comments. I guess their new album (I almost typed “record” there - remember those?) is called “The Altar and the Door”. The reasonbehind the name lies in the phenomena, that we can have these miraculous “altar moments” (like at a concert) and feel like all the world is right, and feel God’s presence so profoundly - yet somewhere between the altar and the door we loose the meaning of it all. On the other side of the door we live no differently.

I was struck by the sight (that included me) of a couple thousand people, most of whom confess to being christians, leaving memorial coliseum with t-shirts and CD’s and newly acquired World vision sponsorship info, stepping over homeless people on the way back to their lexus (or Ford Taurus in my case) or to the 35K youth van with “Big Church Youth” painted on the side. I want you to know that I am in the middle of that group stepping over people on my way back home from the downtown venue.

I’m not against concerts or gatherings of people of faith or Casting Crowns. It was at one of those type gatherings that i first started to hear a call to ministry. It’s not Casting Crowns fault (or in my case as a young man it was Mylon LeFever and Broken Heart). It’s just the conflict between wanting to be a disciple that follows Jesus, and the comfort and convenience of a culture our church’s perpetuate, that makes me feel disappointed in my self. Events like the concert last Friday just put it in my face more than usual.

I’m still wrestling with it.

Have a great week friends!