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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for
“This Thing of Transparency”
Hello, I’m
We interviewed the group
You’ve probably heard them sing “everything rides on hope now.”
Yes, they are known for their song about hope, but it wasn’t always that way. Go back to when they were still trying to land their first recording contract.
Back then they wanted to be very transparent in their art, they said. They wrote about their struggles and difficulties.
Then one day someone asked, “Where is the hope? As Christians we should be singing about hope.”
Well they took that admonition to heart, and out of that came the song “Hope Now.”
And I’m glad, because you know what? I don’t want to hear songs about struggles and difficulties. I don’t want to hear about how weak someone feels.
I know, some people call that “transparency” and being authentic in their art. “I’m just being honest,” they say. “I’m just relating to real life people out there.”
My kids used to listen to a song by dcTalk. It said, “What if I stumble? What if I fall? What if I lose my step and I make fools of us all?”
Now I’m glad that dcTalk thought about that, the negative impact if they “fell.” But I wish they would have addressed the topic, then sang this chorus, “I’m not gonna stumble, I’m not gonna fall. I won’t lose my step and make fools of us all.”
See the difference? Lyrics can point your mind in one direction or the other. The message rambling around your head can say, “What if I stumble?” or “I’m not gonna stumble!”
Colossians 3:2 tells us to set our mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
I want music to inspire me, to lift me up, to point me to things above. I want it to challenge me to be the best Christian I can be. I don’t need songs that wallow in despair and weakness.
“But Doug, I’m a Christian artist, and I do things like worry. I want to be transparent, so I’m going to sing about worries.”
What? I would rather listen a secular song like “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” than listen to Christians sing about their worries.
Why would you want to spread worry? What if some Christian artist worries about dying? Are they going to come out with an album called, “We’re All Going to Die”?
Can you see the song titles on that one? It opens with a fast number called “Car Wreck,” which leads right into a song called “Skydiving Accident,” and then a slower number entitled, “Faulty Wiring in my Trailer.”
I’m just sayin’, there is such a thing as being too transparent. Honestly, to me that just sounds like artsy nonsense.
Let me use this word, “wallow.” We don’t wallow in the negative.
Yesterday I heard someone say, “You’ll never move into the palace talking like a pauper.”
“But Doug, I am a pauper.”
Maybe you are, and that’s where you’ll stay if you wallow in it. You can sing the blues about how poor you are, or you can sing, “I’m a child of the King!”
I’m talking about music today because songs have a powerful influence on us.
I read an article this week called, “How the iPod Became a Tool of War.” It talked about how music has been a military motivator for centuries, and now soldiers motivate themselves with the music on their mp3 players.
And what kind of music do you think they are listening to? Do you think it’s songs like, “Tomorrow I Get Captured,” or “50 Ways to Leave Your Unit”?
No. They listen to songs that pump them up.
I like this phrase in Second Timothy 2, “a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Verse one says, “be strong.”
That’s how I want my music to motivate me – to be strong, to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
Look. If you are a song writer, and you want to be transparent, fine. Write about something you struggle with, that maybe we all struggle with. Stick it in the verses. But then give us a chorus that turns our mind to God’s truth, that sets our mind on things above. Give us a chorus that motivates us to be as close to the Lord as possible, a chorus of hope, a chorus of higher things.
And if you aren’t a songwriter, this still applies. We all give off messages. We all communicate. The question is, what are we communicating?
Ephesians
That is what we should all be communicating, what is helpful and beneficial.
So let’s learn the lesson from
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision App
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