Walking the Journey

Music

I’m a neophyte when it comes to pop culture music. I usually trust my high school daughter to interpret the words for me, especially rap. She helps me decide whether we can listen to it in the car with her 5 year old sister present. Although I grew up in Santa Monica/Venice in the 60s, I was relatively sheltered from the hippie movement which provided the fertile ground for rock music. I didn’t even listen to the Beatles (I say this with a bit of shame) So when we took time in class to express the accolades of Eminem, my comfortable world of “turn that off” came crashing down. Can I honestly believe in a common grace that draws from the general revelation of God, even in an artist such as Eminem? Honestly, I still turn off the radio when Eminem plays; however, my appreciation for the way that he and other musicians connect to and reflect our culture causes my hand to pause before the channel changes.

While I may be ignorant of most pop culture music, I do know the power of music, from the emotion that changes a heart to the memories recalled of significant realities. Resonating with the journey Nick Cave traveled, I found myself wanting to sit down with the guy to ask the question, “how did this happen to you?” In an entirely unorthodox way, he found the Jesus who transforms us. By Cave’s freedom in creativity with music, he discovers a route that brings him from cynicism to an exhortation to remember Jesus Christ’s call to “fly.” The power of music crosses all boundaries. Isn’t that what God does in his own surprising and mysterious way? I guess that’s where common grace comes in.

Okay, so I’m letting “common grace” settle in. But what about this statement, “Followers of Jesus must embrace those who are searching and seeking. We must honor their search, misguided though it may be at times, and join them as co-pilgrims, walking and dancing beside them” p. 151 Is the kind of patience that Cave needed to figure out his journey? For someone to step in during the middle of his search by describing what kind of relationship he needed with Jesus, all would have been lost.