Music Mondays

In my original Music Monday, I shared that my favorite all-time band was dc Talk. The first and foremost reason is their music. But a lot of bands have made great music and strung together several excellent albums.

One additional reason that helps clinch it for me though is their transparency and honesty. I'm realistic to know that on some level, that 'openness' could be faked. But I'm not cynical enough to completely chalk it up to marketing and brand management. Even in their promotional video for "Free at Last", there's a clip of renowned author Brennan Manning calling the guys out for not resolving some conflict within their group*. The quote ends up introducing 'What If I Stumble' on their next album. That song by the way, is the pinnacle of dc Talk's personal and transparent musical expression.

But the original work is the song featured below, "The Hardway".  It's real and honest. The theologian in me wants to ask, "Should people really always have to learn the hard way?" And the answer is of course no.

But that's not the point. The point is that more times than not, we as flawed followers of Christ are stubbornly sinful people who don't learn lessons very well. Brokenness is usually a very painful process, and that's what this song expresses.

*I am going off of my memory that this episode is from their 'Free At Last' video. It could be from their 'Jesus Freak' album, but I recall being suprised it was on the previous album's video before it was on the actual album introducing "What If I Stumble?". And I usually remember weird details like that. But I could be mistaken because I can't find the scene on the Internet. Feel free to correct me via comments.