Perspective...

In a recent note I talked about Zo Rachel's address at a Dallas Tea Party and his admonishment that we should focus not so much on our shrinking wallets but on the One Who gave us the tools to fill those wallets. In this note I'd like to focus on a similar theme.


Over the last few years I've become a fan of the band BarlowGirl. On their first album is a song called "Pedestal." You can read the lyrics here. As you'll see if you follow that link, this is how Lauren describes the meaning behind the song:

"This song touches on how we put celebrities up on pedestals. On the surface, they seem perfect so we look up to them in almost every way. God really showed us that He put that need inside us for Him, because He is the perfect person who will not fall. That we need to, in a way, idolize God, because He is perfect and we want to strive to be like Him every day."

I wanted to write a note about this because after listening to that song over the last few days, recently I decided to do an internet search for John James, the former lead singer of the Newsboys, and I discovered something about John I didn't know: Contrary to the official story at the time, he did not leave the band to become an evangelist; instead, he had been removed from the band by the label because he had become addicted to alcohol.

Now, I wouldn't say I "idolized" the Newsboys or John personally, meaning I didn’t have posters of them adorning my room (I did have a small autographed photo, about 8x10, but nothing bigger). However, I've been a fan of the band since around 1991 (before they hit it big with the song “Shine”), and in a sense I did have them on a pedestal. So to hear that John had had to deal with drug and alcohol abuse was, as you can imagine, quite a shock to my system.

Another song that’s been on my heart lately is “That’s What Matters” by Rebecca St. James, which is based on the book of Ecclesiastes. You can read the lyrics of that song here. As she concludes, echoing the sentiment expressed by King Solomon, “Life holds new meaning when God becomes the center of it all.”

So what am I trying to say here? Let me sum it up with a couple other lyrics:

“There’s a God-shaped hole in all of us/And the restless soul is searching/There’s a God-shaped hole in all of us/And it’s a void only He can fill” (Plumb)

“Don’t look at me if you’re looking for perfection/Don’t look at me, I will only let you down/I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction/But don’t look at me/No, no, no/Don’t look at me, look at Him” (Stacie Orrico)