Occasionally, when people I meet find out that I am a pastor, they ask "Oh, do you listen to [fill in the name of a "Christian" radio station]?" I'm not a big fan of what is marketed as "Christian." My car radio is set to MPR and whatever local classic rock/folk/blues station I can find. I like that I can almost get "The Current" (89.3 FM) here. I'll listen to anything but the "Christian" station; the theology offends me and makes me angry. "Secular" music is often more deeply spiritual (and almost always better artistically) than the products of the business that promotes itself as "Christian."
German theologian Karl Barth (one of the giants of the mid-20th century) encouraged pastors to preach the gospel with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. To put it simply, get real, preachers. Help people make the connection between the Word and the world. God speaks not only through ancient scripture, God speaks through prophets still. We hear God speaking through nature, through art, through writers and poets and musicians, all the time. God is certainly not confined by labels.
When I listen to music, I am often struck by the religious assumptions and undertones of the lyrics. For example, the last verse of "Who Are You," in the long version anyway, is deeply spiritual. I don't know who Pete Townshend was thinking of when he wrote the song, but I hear scripture. I hear a psalm.
And who are you? Come and explore the question in worship, every Sunday, 9:30 am.
There's a place where I know you walked
The love falls from the trees
My heart is like a broken cup
I only feel right on my knees
I spill out like a sewer hole
Yet still receive your kiss
How can I measure up to anyone new
After such a love as this
... Who are you?
