Wednesday, May 29, 2013

More Than a Song

We were on our way home from a family camping trip.  The windows were down and we were all singing along, as joyfully noisy as possible, with Casting Crowns' Jesus, Friend of Sinners.  And as I let the line "A plank-eyed saint with dirty hands and a heart divided" roll from my lips, I stopped in my tracks.  Had I noticed that specific reference before...about the plank-eyed saint?  I immediately tied it to Jesus's teaching from Matthew 7:3-5 about judging others about the speck in their eye while we carry around planks in our own.  Then I wondered...do my kids process it the same?  Are they aware of that teaching from God Himself?  If so, do they make the connection to the song lyrics?  When we are singing Christian music, do they hear the lines pulled from King David's Psalms?

The world will throw plenty of music about its loves and treasures at them throughout their lives...so I need to make sure that I fill up as much of that mental real estate as possible with the Truth...with songs that they can sing in thanksgiving and praise...with songs that they can find solace in when heartbreak comes.  We have often talked about some of the classic hymns that we sing in church...but I had not spent much time on the tunes we drive around to or turn on loud while we clean house together.  So, for the summer, I decided to shift gears a little with our regular Bible study time.  Each week, one of the girls will propose one of our favorite contemporary Christian songs and we will take the song apart...looking for Biblical references...application...how it is rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  And my hope, as we tackle some of these songs, our discoveries will firm up the foundation of their faith and they will develop the skills of considering the lyrics of songs as they sing them, weighing their message and whether they are worthy of their time and personal hard drive space.

Today, we started with the 7-year-old's choice...Matthew West's Hello, My Name is.