Anyone who knows me knows that I like my music. I heard two songs while driving yesterday, and my brain fired off the post alert. Each song is packed with meaning if you listen to the words. I’ve found it hard sometimes to sing songs when I’m not quite sure of my agreement with them. For example, the first song, I Refuse by Josh Wilson, is great; yet, sometimes, I don’t feel like I’m being honest when I sing it. Here are the lyrics to explain:
Sometimes I
I just want to close my eyes
And act like everyone’s all right
When I know they’re not
This world needs God
But it’s easier to stand and watch
I could say a prayer and just move on
Like nothing’s wrong
But I refuse
Cause I don’t want to live like I don’t care
I don’t want to say another empty prayer
Oh I refuse to
Sit around and wait for someone else
To do what God has called me to do myself
Oh I could choose
Not to move
But I refuse
Now, that’s just a bit, but you can see what I mean. It’s easier to say a prayer and move on, yet that’s why our world is such a mess. I say this as my conscience knocks on my door. There are many times in this week alone that I should have spoken. Yet, I shrunk back and became a coward for my Lord. I don’t want to be a bench warmer, but it takes so much effort to go on the field. What if I make a wrong move? What if this person, that I will NEVER see again, doesn’t like me? Jesus wasn’t liked by many. Why should we expect anything less? The next song goes with the response to this song:
You’re the feeling I cannot deny (deny)
You’re the fire that makes me come alive (alive)
It’s a love that I can’t hide
It’s burning deep inside wherever I go
Wherever I go
I’ve got that good feeling
Kicking me out of my chair
Dancing like I don’t care
I’ve got that good feeling
Shouting it out ’cause I can’t contain it
I got to tell somebody
I got to tell somebody
…
This is what we are told to do. Do you remember the post with all the Acts references? Well, one verse that was not on there is very relevant to this song. In Acts 4, Peter and John were told by the religious leaders to not proclaim Jesus, and what did they say?
And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. (…) For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
Acts 4:18,20
Let this be the true church of America’s response. The one that rises up as the dusk comes… Stars shine brighter at night.
The Wanderer 