In the Darkness
Switchfoot Made a Banger
I’ve always liked Switchfoot.
Most artists who are labeled as “Christian music” tend to be pretty…
…what’s a good word? Bland? Cheesy? Lame? Terrible?
It feels like the mantra for a lot of Christian artists historically has been: “Put twelve ‘God is great’ songs on an album, slap a cover on it, and ship it out to the Christian bookstores. Quality, lyrical depth, musicianship, interesting chord progressions, production value, those things aren’t so important. Just give us twelve songs.”
Switchfoot, though, would often take a scalpel to the Church and the Western world as a whole, calling out its greed, racism, and hatred.
A few weeks ago, they put out a new album, and so far it’s my favorite album of the year.
One song in particular has captured my imagination in a way I didn’t expect.
In a prearranged marriage
The youth pastor from my parish
Pledged to marry the 10th grade girl from down the street
Strange way to start a song
Even stranger to belong
To that same youth group when I was just fifteen
How do you stick with your faith, when your primary faith leader essentially groomed your friend when you both were in the 10th grade?
Your brain still has 11 years before it’s fully developed, and your youth leader pledges to marry your 15-year-old friend.
What your still-developing brain has internalized about adult male church leaders is that they prey on underage girls.
I don’t think someone ever gets over that.
To this day I still don’t understand
All the things that masquerade as God
But talk like businessmen
The problem goes beyond the one toxic youth leader.
So many church leaders claim to speak for God, but their main focus seems to be on building their own empire.
One line in particular hit me like a truck:
Apologetics that rarely apologize
I used to be a part of a Facebook group made up of pastors of small churches. For years it was terrific.
People shared ideas about how to cope with the rigors of ministry. That was it.
Then two people started grandstanding.
Always about queer people, no matter what the original post was about.
Every time someone posted anything, two people would start railing against LGBTQ folks with pretty horrifying levels of vitriol, and whenever called out for it, they would double and triple down.
One pastor asked for these guys to stop, and shared about his own kid who died from suicide because of homophobic attacks. One of the guys responded (I really wish I was making this up), “I’m not responsible for anyone’s suicide.”
A couple of things:
That’s gross, right? Responding to a grieving father by defending the language that took his kid. Disgusting. Vile.
Being unwilling to own and recognize the harm that your theology has caused others is pretty common in the Church these days. That really needs to change.
To any queer friends reading this: God loves you and I love you just as you are, and I’m sorry that a-holes like this often have the kind of platform that they do.
Crucifix collisions Paradoxical traditions
And theodicy that keeps me up at night
When the tide is full and I can't sleep
I hear the deep is calling out the deepest parts of me
My glass house ammunition casts
The first stones of ambition past
The stained glass of the mission
Between Christendom and Christian
But at night I know the sun is still there
Even in the dark when I'm undone with despair
Where I sing these broken songs
Like a candle, like a prayer
"Meet me in the darkness"
Come meet me in the darkness
The Church and the world have a lot of problems.
The problems with the Church that I saw and experienced growing up are still negatively impacting my own Christian faith.
And between war, racism, unjust deportations and killings, and abusers in places of power, things seemingly haven’t gotten better in the world.
But I’m still captivated by a God who’s present in the midst of the pain.
A God who’s meeting me in the darkness.
Outstanding David! Well said!....Well read!....Well done!