I've suspected for sometime now that my hunch was more than a hunch. I've been a Casting Crowns "fan" since their first, self-titled album came out while I was in High School. I found their music to be an eclectic style of rock that fit well into contemporary worship and their words to be inspiring. I don't know too many Christians, young or old, who don't enjoy listening to their music.
I have heard a few phrases here and there though that make me wonder. They seem to have a strong theological agenda- that doesn't always fit biblical themes and principles as I've interpretted them. As I began to enjoy their newest album, "Peace on Earth" a collection of Christmas songs, I came across one verse in particular that ticked me off. Here's the verse I'm talking about, it's the third verse and chorus of "While You Were Sleeping:"
"United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we're sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we're lying in the dark
There's a shout heard 'cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night"
"America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King
Will we be sleeping
Will we be sleeping"
To begin, it seems like they have a very different presupposition than I when it comes to scriptures and what they say about the Kingdom of God, a "kingdom" that has caused much death, pain, and oppression on this earth. Although many entries in the Bible make it clear that God's Kingdom is not tied to an earthly one, many Christians still believe in a righteous "manifest-destiny." They believe that God gave this land to Christians and to promote a civilization that does not maintain that foundation is to be anti-American. Anti-American and un-Christian are two very different things; politics and religion are seperate in this country for a good reason.
So this is where it becomes a personal offense to me... I believe that God's Kingdom is a heavenly one. I believe that America, in order to preserve freedom and civil liberty, must extend compassion and rights to those who think and believe differently than us. America is a pluralistic society and the best way for us to all get along is to be concerned with giving more freedom and rights to those who don't have them, yet deserve them.
And the stinging line... "as we're sung to sleep by philosophies, that save the trees and kill the children" rings in my mind and serves as an open sore for what the Christian church, my Mother, is doing to the rest of the world by serving as a mouth-peice rather than the hands and feet of Christ. I'm an enivronmentalist who believes in stewardship of resources and God's second greatest gift to man, nature (second only to the grace and mercy of Christ). I'm pro-choice, because I don't believe my personal convictions should dictate policy when so many Americans see a life in the womb differently than me. Although I veiw it as a precious life and son or daughter of the living God, not everyone does. They're entitled to that opinon and their right to exercise their opinion.
Saving the trees and killing the children will not be what pushes us away from God's purpose and love. Being unloving with our words and actions to the least of these is what will.
