The liberal gospel courtesy of Nickelback:

Nickelback’s message much like John Lennon’s Imagine is a declaration of faith in the basic goodness of humankind and the hope that through humanitarian effort human beings can liberate themselves.

The conservative gospel Arcade Fire style:

I love The Arcade Fire. And it pains me to point out the gnostic tendencies in a band whose music I love so dearly. There music is beautiful, achingly melancholy and spiritual, perhaps too spiritual.

The Good News via Sinéad O’Connor:

I do not mean to imply that Sinéad O’Connor is any more Christian than the boys in Nickelback or the good kids in The Arcade Fire. I am no more privy to the religious life of rock stars than you are. But the messages of all three artists (at least in these particular songs) are certainly spiritual. And in this instance Sinéad(with a little help from the prophet Jeremiah) is the closest to Christian orthodoxy .

The good news is not separable from the message of judgment.

We cannot save our selves. But we are not fallen to the point that our bodies are useless cages. And our salvation is not in some form of intellectual assent or spiritual escape.

Sinéad reminds us that anything beautiful that we make with our hands is a gift from the one from who all beauty flows. We do have a responsibility to dress the wounds of God’s people and fight for justice and peace. But we are not the ones who will establish peace once and for all.

May we not forget who we are or whose we are.

Blessings,

Wayne