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| Do you really gotta do what you wanna do? |
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I was going to add another entry to my Debate One-Liners thread, but it didn't fit quite right and required a little too much explanation, so I turned it into a blog post.  The past week I've been grooving to Chicane's 2000 album "Behind the Sun," which can be classified as secular chilled techno. One song on the album, "Don't Give Up" has a line in the lyrics that goes, "Gotta do what you wanna do."
Now, generally, lyrics in techno are secondary (although there are some fantastic exceptions), but this line caught my Christian ear and struck me as interesting. "Gotta do what you wanna do." This line speaks of free-form autonomous self-rule, freedom, the battle-cry of teenagers across the globe. Adults and teenagers everywhere should recognize the spirit behind this line. But what struck me was the imperitive word "gotta." Did you notice that? In other words, "must," or "have to." It's a command, or an instruction that must be followed no matter what, as a master would command a slave. Isn't that interesting? This lyric espouses total freedom, yet the line must be followed whether you want to follow it or not. Can you imagine forcing a kid: "You have to go hang out with your friends right now!" It's a bit strange. But it gets stranger! Imagine how this plays out in life: You wake up. Today is another day. What's on the agenda? Well, I gotta decide that. What do I want to do? Well, I gotta prioritize that. There are three things I wanna do at the same time, but I can't be in three places at once. This is gonna anger a few people, but that's okay because I really wanna do this. This other thing is illegal, but I really wanna do it so I'm gonna do it. There's a great party coming this Saturday but I've gotta repair some damage made to a relationship from last Saturday. There are two things I'd like to do equally, one would help someone out, but another would get me some cash, but I don't know which to do and I've been up all night trying to decide, as they're both fun.... 6:16 Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 6:17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 6:18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. . . . 6:20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 6:21 But then what return did you get from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. When you "do what you wanna do," you are a slave to this mantra, and you will be rewarded with death. But oxymoronically, the Law will set you truly free. James 1:25 and James 2:12 both have the phrase "the law of freedom," referring to God's Law. And of course, John 8:32 says "the truth will set you free." Follow God's two greatest rules: love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love others as yourself. Give God the wheel. The Counselor will guide you in sanctification.
So much has been written and preached on this area I really don't want to repeat any of it. All I wanted to do in this blog was lift out the law of slavery of death from one of the songs that I enjoy listening to, and connect it up with this commonly-preached area. It's not a matter of doing what you wanna do, but doing what God wants you to do. Beware of secular philosophies woven in music. 2:8 If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well. |
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JessIAm |
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November 13, 2007 at 9:41am |
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I'd want to jump into Romans 8 as well, which talks about the law of the Spirit: Romans 8:1-4
1 THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.
3 For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],
4 So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit]. |
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Eric |
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November 13, 2007 at 10:02am |
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| Excellent contribution, Jess! Thanks! |
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Eric,
Gotta tell ya, that's one of the main reasons I almost never listen to secular music anymore. The secular philosophies of life are so thick, you peel off one layer and you gotta deal with the next. We have a hard time recognizing them when we hear them b/c we are inundated with them every day, everywhere we go.
This is a great analysis of one line in one secular song (by one band). Christian folks who listen to the stuff all the time really handicap themselves in the Christian life, IMHO. Life imitates art imitating life! |
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Eric |
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November 14, 2007 at 9:12am |
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Aye, I see what you mean, Mike. Unfortunately, Christian music really doesn't impress me on an artistic level. Perhaps it'll change in the future, but Christian music seems to "lag behind" the secular world by a few years to a decade. I enjoy secular music for their creativity and artistry. (Chicane has put out a few great tracks.) I'm also not so much a lyrics person, so I tend not to listen to music with lyrics, so I suppose this is less of a problem for me, as music without lyrics created by a non-Christian can facilitate worship of God at times. But that raises another point. Who says Christian music has to "follow" the secular world? Well, even if it doesn't have to, it is right now. Christians are not the driving force in the world's culture these days. I pray this changes. Upcoming Christian artists need to not follow secular trends but make their own. Sounds like another blog topic! Thanks for making me think, Mike. |
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Eric |
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November 14, 2007 at 9:16am |
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| Oh, and one more thing about Christian music. Not all Christian music needs to be "praise & worship" music. I desire Christian music with a more varied topic, touching on real-world matters like bosses, work, girlfriends, boyfriends, traffic, hanging out, apologetics (yes, there's Apologetix), and the strife of living and making ends meet. God can be in all of that, and God can be praised for being with us in all that, but why not sing from more than one angle? I dunno, that's just me. I really should write a blog on this. It's been bugging me since before I became a Christian. |
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