What a Tangled Webb #1

No, it's not a typo. No, it's not a misspelling. No, it's not a sticky "b" on my keyboard (only because I haven't spilled ice cream on it yet - but give me time). No, rather the Webb to which I am referring is a singer/songwriter by the name of Derek Webb. Heard of him? Neither had I, until about two months ago. Some of you may know him as former lead singer of Caedmon's Call, now out on his own, doing solo work (which I guess is the kind of work one would do if one was out on one's own - duh).

I first heard Derek Webb interviewed on a Relevant Magazine podcast (search for "Relevant Magazine" under Podcasts in iTunes), and I immediately went over to iTunes and purchased the "Mockingbird" album, ironically participating in the very American Consumerism against which Derek Webb himself preaches.

So let me get one thing out of the way right up front. Musically speaking, I give it a 93, it has a good beat, it's easy to dance to, (I defy you to listen to the song "Mockingbird" without at least tapping your toes), but the purpose of this post is not to discuss the music, but the words.

Just a few general comments first. Whatever else I say about DW (I will use the acronym from now on, to save time and space and precious bandwidth) in the following paragraphs and posts, whether good or bad, (and I do not agree with him, or even "get it", 100% of the time), I will say that his is the most thought-provoking music I have heard in a long time.

Be forewarned, DW has a lot of hard things to say about the modern Western church. On first listening it is easy to say "go get 'em, Derek, tell it like it is!", until I realize that I am part of that Western church. At that point I am no longer a passive listener. I am involved. I am thinking. I am arguing. I am convicted.

To review the entire album here would take a tediously long time to write, and even a more tediously long time to read (I congratulate you for getting this far). So I came up with the brilliant idea of discussing one song at a time (thus the #1 in the title), not necessarily in order, and not necessarily consecutively. So if and when the creative well runs dry for other stuff, I will pull out another Derek Webb song and talk about it.

So that said, first song up for discussion is - "A King and a Kingdom".

(vs. 1)
who's your brother, who's your sister
you just walked passed him
i think you missed her
as we're all migrating to the place where our father lives
'cause we married in to a family of immigrants

We are just passing through this world, on our way to a better one - "where our father lives" - but on the way we are ignoring the need around us. That's my take, anyway, and I guess all I have to say about that is, he is right. As in anything, there are individual exceptions, of course, but as a generalization, we in the 21st century American church could be doing more. Myself included.

(chorus)
my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
it's to a king & a kingdom

These are fighting words to some. (Just wait, it gets better). I have to say that I agree with him on this one, but it doesn't come easy for me, as a flag-waving patriotic American, who grew up saying "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America..." every day in school, to remind myself that my first allegiance is not to my flag, my country, my President, my government, or even my family (my interpretation of "blood"), but to a king, Jesus, and to His kingdom, both now ("your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven"), and for eternity - in the New Heaven and the New Earth (Rev. 21-22). Of this kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:33). I don't think I can say the same about my country.

And probably my favorite verse on the entire album:

(vs. 2)
there are two great lies that i’ve heard:
“the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die”
and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him

So how does that grab you? Did you stand up and cheer? That finally someone has the courage to say it? Or are you screaming "BLASPHEMY!"? Did you just put your fist through your monitor? (BTW, if so, I am not legally responsible for any injury to person or property). There was a time when I myself would have been right there with you, in the market for a new monitor.

My view of the world was simple. There were good people and bad people, and it was roughly split along party lines. Just ask my kids about their vivid memories of Dad sitting on the couch with the clicker, clicking up and down between CNN, FOXNews and MSNBC, and yelling "Commie!" whenever one of my archnemeses (generally anyone with a "(D)" after their name) came on the screen.

But my tranformation from political animal to spiritual animal is recent and profound, and is perhaps a topic for another post. But just to provide an example of what I mean, I am going to say something here that might lose me some friends, and probably some relatives, and cause my kids to ask who kidnapped their Dad and hacked into his blog....

Jesus loves Democrats too. There I said it. Wow. What a relief. Can you say catharsis? I knew that you could. But I think that is DW's point. Jesus does not look at the world in terms of Democrat and Republican or anything else. He came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). Period. That's it. And that's my neighbor. That's my Muslim friend. That's my colleague over the cubicle wall, regardless of political persuasion or religious affilliation or economic status or anything else. Am I willing to look at the world, then, as Jesus sees it? I had better be, if I claim to follow him.

Then the chorus again - "My first allegiance...", and then the bridge. To be honest, part of my motivation for this post is to solicit help on this last part. I admit, I just don't get it. Help me out.

(bridge)
but nothing unifies like a common enemy
and we’ve got one, sure as hell
but he may be living in your house
he may be raising up your kids
he may be sleeping with your wife
oh no, he may not look like you think

So who is it that is living in my house, raising up my kids, sleeping with my wife, and may not look like I think? To quote the church lady, "could it be...Satan?" Or is it a case of "we have seen the enemy and they are us"? Is he saying "look at the man in the mirror"? What is your take?

For Tangled Webb #2 (not necessarily the next post), I'm thinking "Rich Young Ruler". Study up.