interlínc : Maximizing Music and Media in Youth Ministry

Quick note from Mark: I tend to laugh ahead of others. And when I do, I'm suddenly a little over-aware of myself. You see, I kind of have this heightened sense of sarcasm. I'm not smarter - there's long line of teachers and college professors that will arise and testify to that. I'm just a lot like Radar from the tv show M.A.S.H... I just tend to see and hear sarcasm coming before anyone else can.
So when I heard "The Good Album" a quick smirk piled up on my face... but as the CD hit some youth leaders desks, there were calls about lyrics and themes. So please, before you take too many of ASU's lyrics at face value, let me run ahead of you and point out the choppers in the sky. The tongue-and-cheek delivery from Ian and the boys is meant to prod and nudge us to think about how we live. I do understand, though... it's been a while since Steve Taylor's brand of communication was popular. Steve really didn't want us "to give up hope and feel a lot better" ... in the same way ASU doesn't really "wish you good luck with the girls." And I am sorry for giggling first.

In case you were a little fuzzy on what each song was about, here's a Song By Song Explanation from the band:

"Hi Everyone,
Thanks so much for giving a listen to our latest ASU effort "The Good Album". Hopefully our latest batch of songs will make you ponder your existence while simultaneously giving you a good belly laugh. Ok, maybe that's a bit much. But, we do like to think our brand of faith focused social commentary will move you. And to help you go a little deeper, here's a song by song synopsis that should shed some light on where we're coming from.”

Enjoy,
Ian Eskelin/All Star United

ALL STAR UNITED - THE GOOD ALBUM -

SURFACE OF THE SUN
John 8:12
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
Matthew 5:14-16
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

As followers of Christ, we aren't the source of the light, just the reflectors of it. We aren't the source of the love, just the conduits. So if we don't continually return to the source, we have no light to give and no love to share. This song is a restatement of that “abiding in the vine” idea, making the point that we can never love too much, and that we should be inviting others to make the journey with us to the ultimate source of all truth and love.

IS THIS THE MOMENT?
John 7:37
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink."
Joshua 24:15
"...choose this day whom you will serve."

None of us are given an endless supply of moments in this life. Our span of time here is very brief and uncertain. And in that context, each of us comes to that point where we must choose what we’re going to do with the truth God has revealed to us. Will we submit to it, and see the course of our lives forever changed? Or will we resist, refuse, and continue to live as if we were the gods of our own lives. Everything hinges on that choice. And how many times in a lifetime are we at that point where our heart is being stirred and drawn to a place of surrender by the invitation of Christ? Is this the moment?

THE BLAME
1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God...
2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

In the single most astounding act in all of history, Christ took the full weight of our sin and guilt upon himself. The just freely chose to suffer for the sake of the unjust. He willingly accepted our blame and our pain. Was that fair? Of course not. It was grace. And grace is the opposite of “fairness”. How much love, we might ask, does it take for a person to bear the weight of another’s guilt? And if Christ took the blame and the punishment on my behalf, is it possible I learn to live as an echo of that grace that was extended to me? Might I learn to care more about other people than I do about my own ego? Can I learn to just say “I was wrong, I’m sorry,” without feeling the need to add “But you were more at fault than me?”

LIGHTS OUT
Matthew 5:29
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
James 5:19-20—
My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Habitual sin in our own lives can’t be coddled, it has to be dealt with aggressively, and rooted out, even though the process is painful. This is the reason Christ used such strong imagery when he discussed dealing with sin in Matthew 5:29. Likewise, we’re not loving our brothers and sisters well if we stand silently by, watching them slowly destroy their own lives through some habitual sin, and never confront them with truth spoken in love.

ONCE AGAIN, WITH FEELING
Matthew 18:21-22
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”
Galatians 5:13-14
... through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Despite what the prevailing ethos of our culture would say, if it’s not a commitment, it’s not really love. Love doesn’t “cut and run” just because the relationship gets a little difficult or painful or disappointing or because someone offends us. God uses our relationships to bring us face to face with our own selfishness, and to give us opportunity to learn to serve, forgive, and love, even when it costs something to do that. And the truth is, God isn’t nearly so concerned with our transient happiness as we are. He’s much more focused on our eternal good, and on seeing that we are conformed more and more to the image of His Son. The kind of selflessness that marriage, deep friendships, and committed relationships within the body of Christ require of us, is part of that ongoing sanctifying process.

CRASHING CARS
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

We're all broken, and in our brokenness we damage one another. But if the reconciling work of Christ on the cross is the central focus of our lives, it allows us to make a radical choice when we're wounded. Instead of hating, instead of striking back, we can forgive. And when those we have wounded extend the same forgiveness to us, reconciliation and redemption can happen, and love can flourish and grow despite, and even in the midst of, our brokenness. This lyric admits the painful truth that we're all going to disappoint and hurt each other, but looks forward to the hope that forgiveness, given and received, will restore us.

DUDE...THAT’S FREAKING AWESOME!
Proverbs 16:25
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
Proverbs 26:11
As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

You remember that crazy twenty-year-old guy you knew who ten years later is still acting like he's a crazy twenty-year-old? Well, this song is a rousing reminder to that guy (and to all the rest of us too), that we've only got one life, and that it might be time to consider whether we're investing our lives in things that matter, or simply wasting them in an endless cycle of folly.

PRETTY FAMOUS
1 Samuel 16:7
The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

In our image-based, media-saturated culture, the only thing that seems to matter
sometimes is how appealing someone or something looks on the surface. All of us fall prey to the lie at times. But when there's no substance beneath the surface of a thing, it will quickly crumble beneath the weight of any hope placed on it. "Pretty Famous" is a satirical first-person expose' of how shallow we can become when we judge by outward appearances without looking at the heart.

GOOD LUCK WITH THE GIRLS
1 Cor. 13:4-7
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love isn't what most of us think it is when we're teenagers. It's not self-serving. It's not about pleasure, and it's not about the ego-boost we get when someone’s attracted to us. True love, the kind God calls us to, is about giving ourselves away in service, devotion, faithfulness and delight. Anything less is not truly love. "Good Luck With the Girls" pokes fun at that adolescent view of love, dating, and romance (which unfortunately extends far into adult life for some people!), and points the way to something better, to a true expression of love based on real commitment.

I’M A KILLER
Romans 7:21-25
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work wihin my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Sin isn't so much something we do, as being a sinner is something we are. It's intrinsic to every part of our lives and thoughts. Even our best actions and intentions are no better than rubbish when compared to the righteousness of God. That's why we need a saviour. The first step to salvation comes when we recognize the depth of our own sinfulness and guilt. Not just for the things we’ve done, but even for the things we’ve thought, the idolatrous desires of our hearts, and our failures to love God and other people perfectly. It was for all such sins that Christ went to the cross. So in that very real sense, all of us are killers, responsible for his death.

GOOD TIMES
Luke 12:19-21 (Jesus' parable of the rich man)
And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

The pursuit of happiness, enshrined as a right in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, is an interesting proposition considering that the surest way to long-term misery seems to be making your own immediate happiness your goal. Better to spend our lives investing in things that are eternal, like God and other people, than to keep living for the next thrill, the next diversion, the next good time, the next little bit of temporary "happiness".