|
|
Listen and you will hear...someone's always worshiping here
There’s one song that’s always buttered my bread on the wrong side, proverbially speaking. Until now.
That song is “What if God was One of Us,” as sung, and I think written, by Joan Osborne. I never listen to Joan Osborne, but it was hard to miss this song when it first began to air. Just a few days ago I saw a live taped performance of this particular song by this particular vocalist on a rerun of Saturday Night Live. Which is why my view on this song has suddenly changed.
At first I always cringed when the chorus came around. I wanted to scream “You idiot!” God was one of us. His name was Jesus. He was God. He was man. He still exists. He probably was “a slob like one of us.” I can’t imagine someone who so frequently traveled in the dust and grime of the middle east while wearing a robe and sandals to be worried all that much with hygiene. And with twelve other guys no less. You know what a group of guys like that do to kill time? I refer to Blazing Saddles, the campfire scene.
The song irked me. She even referred to Jesus at one point, but I’m guessing she thinks He was ‘just a good guy.’ Right. And I’m just a monkey.
While watching her sing, an impossible thought entered my brain.
“What if she’s worshiping?”
I’d always thought only Christians could do that.
But we know, everybody worships something. God’s hardwired that need into our very beings. We have to have something we adore, follow, look to, admire, worship.
If we don’t find something we like, we make our own. Take Aaron for example. God left the Israelites alone for a few days to chat with Moses and the Israelites made a golden idol.
What are the idols you fashion for yourself? When you don’t think God is near, what do you create to take His place?
Back to the song. She was searching for truth, asking a question that’s unbelievably already been answered. We shouldn’t be afraid of questions when we know the way to the answer. Jesus isn’t the answer for the world today, but He is the way to the answer.
The next time you hear a song you disagree with get past your superficial judgements and try to listen to what that artist is really trying to say.
Many of us once were blind but now can see.
Too few of us were deaf that now can hear.