I’m a huge fan of music. I listen to a LOT of music. I grew up with music playing in my house basically all the time, I learned to play like five different instruments (which I then forgot how to play), and as a kid, I wanted to be a singer when I grew up. I really really like music.
When I was about 13, I started buying CDs all the time. I probably spent most of my time and money on music. Every time a band I liked released a new album, I had to have it that day. I also had to buy all of their older albums, which sometimes meant ordering online and paying extra. I didn’t care, though, as long as I got every CD by every band I liked.
Of course, I never got EVERY CD I wanted, but I ended up buying about 50 CDs over the next three or four years. Somewhere around 2010, I realized that I was slowly but surely falling away from my love of music and becoming a fangirl. I was buying CDs I didn’t even like that much just because I liked the band that made them.
Once I realized this, I started thinking about the time I bought Thousand Foot Krutch’s “The Flame In All Of Us” and Hawk Nelson’s “Smile, It’s The End of The World.” I listened to those albums constantly for months, and I loved them. But no matter how hard I tried, I could no longer find a CD that I still completely loved three months after I bought it. Then I discovered the band Anthem Lights.
My friend Joy texted me one day and mentioned them. I had never heard of them, so I immediately looked them up. They seemed like nice people and some of their songs were catchy, but I thought their music wasn’t really my style and I would never be a huge fan. They would be releasing their debut album in a few months (they had released an indie album under the name Yellow Cavalier, but I didn’t know that at the time), and they had a few songs on their website. I kind of liked them, so I was interested to see if the album would be any good.
I ended up buying the album a few days after it came out, but I knew it would be another mediocre attempt at making something “popular.” I was so, so wrong. I liked the album. I listened to it again, and I liked it even more. It didn’t take me long to realize that there was something different about these guys. They didn’t just copy the typical “Christian band with four guys” sound- they have their own style and some seriously crazy talent. On top of that, they have passion that’s so obvious, and you won’t find any shallow lyrics on their record. I can’t even explain it, but it’s one of those albums that you listen to, and it just feels good.
Simply put, I’m a fan of Anthem Lights, not because they’re like all the other bands, but because they’re different.
Too often in “Christian society,” we say that we have to be more like people who aren’t Christians, because then they’ll realize that we’re all super cool and they’ll want to be just like us. We become God’s little fangirls and fanboys, walking around saying, “Hey, I’m a Christian and it’s really fun! You should be a Christian, too, and you can keep doing all the stuff you’re already doing!” We think people will be more likely to accept Jesus if we tell them they won’t have to give up anything.
In that case, we’re trying to sell people a fancy title, not showing them actual salvation. In fact, we’re cheating ourselves out of God’s plans for us. It’s like listening to your favorite band’s terrible new album and telling everyone else to do the same when you could be falling in love with something completely new and different, and a million times better. People aren't looking for more of the same. They want something different- something better.
God can use us to reach people, but we have to be willing to follow Him instead of trying to be as much like the world as possible. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2, NIV). FYI: You can’t change anyone’s heart. Only God can.
If you try to be just like everyone else, then you’ll end up being like everyone else. If you want to reach the lost, then let them see the difference.
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