Sunday, March 23, 2014

"Thrive"

Casting Crowns has a new album out called "Thrive." There are a number of songs in it which really spoke to me. The description of the song "Love You With the Truth" made me think about the kind of friend I'm being:
“This song is about a person realizing that they’ve been a really cruddy friend because they haven’t shared the truth with the person closest to them. A lot of people will say, ‘I want to share the gospel with my friend, but I don’t want to ruin my friendship.’ What you are really saying is ‘I love my friendship more than I love my friend and I don’t want to lose them by giving them this to save them.’ That’s what this song says. It’s tough, but it’s truth.”
I grew up under the teaching that if you were a kind person and loved everyone then your actions were associated with Christ and that was enough to be a witness.  As I've matured I've learned that this isn't the case but I still haven't changed my interactions with my unbelieving friends to reflect this.  Not only do I have more unbelieving friends than saved friends, but there have actually been friends who have turned their backs on Christ.  Lately I've been discouraged by this, but this album made me understand that I'm the one responsible to doing something about this.  And in some cases that needs to be something more than praying for them.

Another song that spoke to me was "Heroes":
He walks the halls, against the flow
He sees his high school as his mission field
Hes broken cause he knows
The hopeless road that they are taking
The empty feelings they are chasing only lead to futures wasted
So hes willing to stand alone 
He lives what he believes when they all say its not worth believing
Every night on his knees, he prays God, wont You please help me reach them?
The final verse of "Love You With the Truth" convinced me that I need to change.  Now I need to bring this into my relationships even though it might be hard and I might lose friends over it.  I can't just do what is convenient or comfortable for me.
How Ive prayed for this moment, that you would finally see
That God is more than religion, a stained-glass fantasy
And how Ive prayed for the courage, for my silent faith to speak
Or that God would just send you a better friend than me