it’s so weird to me how even within christianity, people have so many different takes on God. i think that it’s a common problem that people try to fashion God to validate their identity rather that wanting to get to know God for who he really is. there’s this atheist argument that i heard the other day- when you take out the mass genocides, corrupt popes, loose interpretations of thou shall not kill, (and on and on)…religion is actually a force for good. i think these are extreme examples of what happens when we try to fashion God to our agendas. the other, probably more common thing that happens is that at some point we lose faith in the straw houses we’ve put up. and one day we decide that the God we know doesn’t really fit in the real world, so the whole thing begins to seem suspiciously made up. another way to look at it is that we can become the center of our own theology. in other words, everything in my faith needs to pertain to me, must benefit me in some way. it’s a very easy trap to fall into, really. yet another reason why i believe it’s so crucial for our churches to be completely God-centered.

i wrote this song based on an experience i had with a friend the other day in the checkout line of the grocery store. it caused me to think about the disappointments i can feel with christianity as a religion from time to time, and how i contribute to the very things i hate. its intriguing to me how God can speak to us in all sorts of ways if we can listen. even maybe through good hearted people who preach the word without love.

i guy i saw in the store today said jesus died to save me/then walked away and left us standing there/he left me feeling kinda burned without a trace of true concern/he left me with a question for myself

in and out of apathy, a blistering inside of me/what does it really matter what i say/ i jump on all the latest trends and act as if my faith depends on bumper stickers, churches and our songs/to think that all this time i’ve had it wrong

what gives? what gives?/you promised there’d be more than this/is there nothing left to live?

in and out of feeling down enough to spin my head around/and leave me wondering why i tried so hard/another time, another place i could have walked right off this stage/and lived without the pressure to perform/and lived without the impulse to conform

so what gives? what gives?/you promised there’d be more than this/is there nothing left to live?

do i really buy what i am selling?/or is this all a story just for telling?