Yes apparently Charlie Daniels isn't the only one to have met Satan on the road to Country and Western Glory. It appears that not only Georgia, but Nashville as well is a favored vacation spot for the "hot" celeb. Apart from playing a very influential role in the most popular book of all time (bible), he also dabbles in Hollywood, where he likes to wear prada apparently, and Nashville from time to time.
So what other major Country icon has met the fabled prince of darkness? Kenny Chesney. Oh yes Kenny and Lou are on very personal terms as of late, but where Charlie Daniels walked away with one message.... Kenny has walked away with something a bit different.
After losing his fiddle v fiddle with Johnny boy, Satan must have had a re-think on his soul stealing strategy. The result was to stop challenging humans at this whole music thing, and instead...help them. Nowhere is this more evident than in Kenny's latest masterpiece: "Everybody wants to go to Heaven." This song speaks to the very condition of the Americanized Christian heart and reveals what I believe to be the very foundation of why our Church, and thusly our belief system, has become so weak. Here is a sampling of the chorus, and therefore the heart, of the song:
Everybody wants to go to heaven
Get their wings and fly around
Everybody want to go to heaven
But nobody want to go now
Everybody wanna go to heaven
It beats the other place there ain`t no doubt
Everybody wanna go to heaven
But nobody wanna go now
Everybody wanna go to heaven
Hallelujah, let me hear you shout
Everybody wanna go to heaven
But nobody wanna go now
I think I speak for the crowd
What's so bad about that, you may ask? Well, compare this premise to the sharp contrast of the bible in these verses:
Phl 1:21 For to me, to live [is] Christ, and to die [is] gain.
Phl 1:23 For [fn] I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, [which is] far better.
24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh [is] more needful for you.
Ecc 7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment, And the day of death than the day of one's birth;
Here are just a few scriptures that show us a Christ centered worldview of heaven and the great here-after. However; Our popular culture has invaded Christianity, as of late, and left a trail of destruction that no amount of inventive fiddle playing will get us out of. We have watched as generations of God's children have walked into his sanctuary, picked up the overturned tables, and bought into the lie that our goal and hearts desire should be to believe and live good enough so that we don't go to hell when we die. What we don't realize, many times, is that Jesus called it a "den of thieves" for a reason. The exchange is not fair. Souls cannot be bought and sold, only stolen, there is no price worthy.
When a Christian, so called, is convinced that his/her goal should be set on escaping hell rather than inheriting heaven,that Christian has just suffered a terrible blow. It' a simple analogy: Which kids make better grades, those just trying to pass with a C or D-, or those striving to be valedictorian? In every area of life we are taught to set the bar high, shoot for the stars, sky's the limit, set lofty goals. Every area but our faith. Kenny outlines it perfectly, everybody wants to go, because it beats the other place, but nobody wants to go now. Essentially what we just said is that Heaven is more desirable than hell, but less so than Earth.
We Just told the creator of the universe that we honestly believe that we have taken the raw materials that he created, and crafted ourselves a dwelling that surpasses anything he is able to produce. And we did it out of the love we have for ourselves, the depth of which can be seen on the nightly news, Versus the love that he has for us, the depths of which were shown on the cross.
How has this happened? It happened when we lowered our expectations. It happened when we listened to the truth laden lies of the enemy, instead of the love laden Truth of Jesus Christ. Hell is no good, true. Heaven isn't much fun either, false. It's the old image of floating around on a cloud all day singing praise songs to God, and maybe getting some wings. Woo hoo. But this isn't it, this is not the heaven described in the bible. The heaven in the bible is described as a paradise full of people that recognize one and other, people with memories and desire for fellowship. A place of great meeting halls filled with white linen tables prepared for a feast. Crowns of glory, streets of gold, every precious stone, tame animals, children, new colors, bright light, rivers of all sorts, jasper walls, trees, healing fruits, and the whole knowledge of God. The bible goes on and on, but this is not the answer to the real problem. Our lack of desire, as Christians, to be in heaven at this very moment, and every moment of our lives, is not rooted in a misunderstanding of what heaven is. Its rooted in a misunderstanding of the Gospel and who Christ is.
You see once upon a time relationship was replaced with religion. Then over a number of years, the understanding of how a husband should treat a wife and how a wife should treat a husband was lost. The family unit slowly crumbled and the friend unit was erected in its place. The value of sex was stripped away and replaced with a condom and a pill. The nature of what a relationship is was lost. And then God's people caught a revelation: Religion has replaced relationship with the Lord, and we need to bring relationship back. Problem is we don't know what relationship means. With the split family and the advent of the Gay Marriage the relationship dynamic has taken a major blow to the head, and our "relationships" with Christ are mimicking our relationships with each other. And they have been found wanting.
We have to get back to the core of Christianity. We have to desire the Lord in a real way. A hands in the air, stand on your feet, dance in the aisle, sobbing and wiping the snot from your nose kind of way. A pray for an hour, fast for a week, get a malaria shot because of where you are about to go preach, play soccer barefoot on broken glass mixed with a little dirt field so the people will listen to you kind of way. Not because you felt, or want to feel, some Holy Ghost goose-bumps and chills up your spine, but because you need Him. Because you desire him, because your very soul yearns for him and all your thought is bent on him. Because of the cross. When you gain true relationship with the Lord, there is nothing you wouldn't trade to be with him. Now, not a hundred years from now, NOW. When we get to that place, when we get others to that place, when Heaven is our goal and Hell is an after thought....we can take our Church back. So, all that being said I don't know what crowd Kenny Chesney is speaking for, but I for one am not in it. Nor am I impressed. Nothing personal Ken, but I hope everyone finds their way out of that particular crowd.
Post a Comment