The In Your Face, Messy Faith

I'm not sure when the concept of genres of music was invented. Maybe they've always been a thing. There are many different kinds of people, and different kinds of music are needed to speak to our souls, to reach into our hearts and give them a squeeze until they beat again.

I like a good banjo, so Country music draws me. I also like a sweet violin, so depending on my mood, I might listen to Country, Celtic, or Classical. When it comes to Christian music, I like Casting Crowns (jeez, what's with the Cs?), Mercy Me, and Big Daddy Weave. But then there's Zach Williams.

"Fear is a Liar" makes me weep. "Old Church Choir" is a romping good time. "Chain Breaker" makes my heart beat.

Zach Williams falls into the genre of Southern Rock Gospel. The three songs I named are rather tame. Check out some of his songs' videos on youtube, and you'll realize something very quickly.

Between the music itself and the lyrics, Southern Rock Gospel is a In Your Face, Messy kind of music. Hillsong? That's sweet and tame. Big Daddy Weave? Raw and honest but not shattering.

Third Day and Zach Williams? They shatter you. They leave you in pieces on the floor. Humpty Dumpty at the base of the wall. A puzzle without a box. How will I ever fit back together again?

This is when Jesus reaches out and says, "You're a Tin Man and you need a heart."

Southern Rock Gospel is like Mark 2, when the friends lower the paralytic into the room where Jesus is teaching. The friends want healing for him. Maybe the paralytic himself wants it, too, or maybe he's lived so long like this that he has given up on it ever being something else. They ask, tacitly, for healing.

Southern Rock Gospel says, "I forgive you."

Asking for forgiveness and receiving it is one thing. Asking for healing and getting forgiveness -- that shatters you.

Wait. Wait. Jesus. Wait.

Southern Rock Gospel doesn't give you time to breathe. The hit came out of the blue. The 300 lb. linebacker sacked the quarterback and he's not getting up.

In case you were wondering, Jesus isn't tame. Jesus is raw and honest and shattering. Not to leave you at the base of the wall like a broken egg, but to take the colorful shards of broken glass and turn them into something beautiful. Like stained glass.

"Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” Mark 2:9-11

Jesus didn't come to give you everything you ask for. He came to give you your greatest need. It requires an In Your Face, Messy kind of faith.