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tjservant Member
Joined: 2006/8/25 Posts: 1658 Indiana USA
| Theyll know us by the T-shirts that we wear | | Heard this song on the radio the other day and thought I would share it. Please dont respond about the singer/author/artist Derek Webb on a personal level
just the lyrics.
Lyrics: Theyll know us by the T-shirts that we wear Theyll know us by the way we point and stare At anyone whose sin looks worse than ours Who cannot hide the scars of this curse that we all bare
Theyll know us by our picket lines and signs Theyll know us by the pride we hide behind Like anyone on earth is living right And isnt that why Jesus died Not to make us think were right
[Chorus] When love, love, love Is what we should be known for Love, love, love Its the how and its the why We live and breathe and we die
Theyll know us by reasons we divide And how we cant seem to unify Because weve gotta sing songs a certain style Or well walk right down that aisle And just leave em all behind
Theyll know us by the billboards that we make Just turning Gods words to cheap clichés Says what part of murder dont you understand? But we hate our fellow man And point a finger at his grave
[Chorus] Theyll know us by the T-shirts that we wear Theyll know us by the way we point and stare Telling em their sins are worse than ours Thinking we can hide our scars Beneath these T-shirts that we wear
_________________ TJ
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2008/7/12 14:11 | Profile |
Compton Member
Joined: 2005/2/24 Posts: 2732
| Re: Theyll know us by the T-shirts that we wear | | Hi TJ,
Quote:
Just turning Gods words to cheap clichés
...said the young songwriter.
Cynicism has often been good material for song writing. (3 chords and the truth...) It is all too easy to paint the whole group with the various problems of individuals. We create an amalgamated straw man, a stitched together character that has all of the individual flaws of different people sewed into stereotype. Then we say this is the church.
In truth we may be commiserating, but we are not really communicating to anyone with these types of rants, because no single person fits all of this description very well. As a result, the audience usually thinks Derek is talking about someone else.
Perhaps I simply think he's too young and inexperienced to have earned the right to be cynical towards the whole church.
A friend of mine told me about his teenage son one afternoon, who was sighing and despairing over the church, making a cynical comment about how uncommitted everyone is. His father rightly scolded him, "Oh no you don't son. You don't get to make comments about other people's lack of commitment until you've tried yourself to sacrifice something."
As you can see, I'm not too moved by twenty-something pop-singer angst. :-(
MC
_________________ Mike Compton
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2008/7/12 14:42 | Profile |
tjservant Member
Joined: 2006/8/25 Posts: 1658 Indiana USA
| Re: | | Quote:
I'm not too moved by twenty-something pop-singer angst
:-)
Nor am I, but the sad part is that some folks, at least a few I spoken with, see the Church (Christians in general) exactly as Derek has portrayed them
as people who point out everyone elses problems (sins) while turning a blind eye toward their own.
For what the world sees as the Church
this shoe often fits. _________________ TJ
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2008/7/12 15:27 | Profile |
roaringlamb Member
Joined: 2003/6/11 Posts: 1519 Santa Cruz California
| Re: | | Just so you guys know, Derek Webb is not a twenty something singer. He was in the band Caedmon's Call, and if I remember rightly is around 33 years old.
Just so you have the facts before jumping to unfair conclusions in this.
_________________ patrick heaviside
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2008/7/12 16:15 | Profile |
tjservant Member
Joined: 2006/8/25 Posts: 1658 Indiana USA
| Re: | | Quote:
roaringlamb wrote: Just so you guys know, Derek Webb is not a twenty something singer. He was in the band Caedmon's Call, and if I remember rightly is around 33 years old.
Just so you have the facts before jumping to unfair conclusions in this.
Thanks for the information brother. I believe the song has the same message whether written by a 15 or 55 year old. The fact of the matter is that much of the time the world does not know us by our love.
I think the song provided some insight into the view from the other side. Its how I viewed much of the Church and many of the Christians I knew before being saved. If they werent like this
then they did nothing at all. The Christians I grew up around were over the top
or nothing. Maybe the ones I knew were false converts or perhaps just immature and over zealous, but either way, this is how I viewed many of them.
Thought the lyrics would make us think a little about what we look like to the world. As I stated in the first post I didnt want this to end up about Derek Webb
oh well.
_________________ TJ
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2008/7/12 16:59 | Profile |
mackaymarsh Member
Joined: 2007/5/21 Posts: 132
| Re: | | Quote:
tjservant wrote: For what the world sees as the Church
this shoe often fits.
Another view of how the world views Christians (and other 'religions') is depicted on MSNBC.com. It a photo essay of the world's major religions. To me it is a very, very sad commentary, but it is probably true of how what the world's view of Christianity really is.
Here is the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5114929/
I wonder if he or someone could write a song to go with the photo essay?
Anyway...just thinking out loud...
Wayne
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2008/7/12 17:08 | Profile |
Compton Member
Joined: 2005/2/24 Posts: 2732
| Re: | | Quote:
Just so you have the facts before jumping to unfair conclusions in this.
Thanks Roaringlamb, I appreciate the correction about his age. My apologies to Mr. Webb...I was more or less expressing the poor impression I took from the lyrics...I obviously don't know the man himself. And I'm sure this isn't the only song he's written...
Quote:
but it is probably true of how what the world's view of Christianity really is.
I'm not so sure we can always put stock in what the world thinks of us. Some of their critiques are fair, other opinions are just outright prejudice. Maybe someone can explain to me, when has it ever been cool to be a Christian?
Well, in any case, I apologize for associating his lyrics with twenty-something angst. (To my credit, at least I didn't suggest that he get a haricut and a job...)
MC
_________________ Mike Compton
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2008/7/12 17:20 | Profile |
tjservant Member
Joined: 2006/8/25 Posts: 1658 Indiana USA
| Re: | | Quote:
Maybe someone can explain to me, when has it ever been cool to be a Christian?
According to the world? Never.
According to God? Always. ;-)
I do get what you are saying brother MC.
Just bummed by how some folks view Christianity and Christians...thats all.
_________________ TJ
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2008/7/12 17:36 | Profile |
tjservant Member
Joined: 2006/8/25 Posts: 1658 Indiana USA
| Re: | | Quote:
(To my credit, at least I didn't suggest that he get a haricut...
That is funny. He has no hair! :-P _________________ TJ
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2008/7/12 17:38 | Profile |
Compton Member
Joined: 2005/2/24 Posts: 2732
| Re: | | Quote:
Just bummed by how some folks view Christianity and Christians...thats all.
I completely understand.
Yet, public perception is a funny thing. I've been learning that stereotypes are not all they are cracked up to be. For instance, I am thinking now of the many Native American Christians in this country. Whose stereotype do they belong to? How about the financially poor caucasian Christian...who has a stereotype for this person?
Even my twenty-something stereotype tripped me up.
Oh well...it's probably a song with some really good music too. Next week I'll try to give it a listen. :-) No big deal. My comment was just a off-hand opinion.
MC _________________ Mike Compton
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2008/7/12 17:53 | Profile |