JESUS IS JUST ALRIGHT
SESSION 4: If I Believe You
Pop songs include some of the most honest and powerful examples of spiritual searching that you can find. Whether they are doubting believers, faithful doubters, unwilling atheists, or simple humans hungering for meaning, pop musicians bring to life approaches to faith that rival the psalms in their depth and nuance. This session will use these songs to help us understand and articulate the various ways we consider “belief”, and how that relates to our identities as modern Christians.
QUESTIONS:
1.) Do any of these songs articulate questions or struggles you have faced in your walk of faith?
2.) How do these songs affect how you think about faith or belief?
Part 1: Seeking
The 1975: If I Believe You (2016)
Click for video
I've got a God-shaped hole
That's infected
And I'm petrified of being alone, now
It's pathetic, I know
And I toss and I turn in my bed
It's just like I lost my head (Lost my head)
And if I believe you
Will that make it stop?
If I told you I need you
Is that what you want?
And I'm broken and bleeding
And begging for help
And I'm asking you, Jesus, show yourself
I thought I'd met you once or twice
But that was just because the dabs were nice and opening up my mind
Showing me consciousness is primary in the universe
And I had a revelation
I'll be your child, if you insist
I mean, if it was you that made my body
You probably shouldn't have made me atheist
But, oh, I'm a lesbian kiss, I'm an evangelist
And if you don't want to go to hell, then, Miss
You better start selling this
And if I believe you
Will that make it stop?
If I told you I need you
Is that what you want?
And I'm broken and bleeding
And begging for help
And I'm asking you, Jesus, show yourself
If I'm lost then how can I find myself?
If I'm lost then how can I find myself?
If I'm lost then how can I find myself?
If I'm lost now, then how can I find myself?
If I'm lost now, then how can I find myself?
If I'm lost then how can I find myself?
Then how can I find myself?
If I'm lost now, then how can I find myself?
Yeah, yeah, yeah
If I'm lost now, then how can I find myself?
Yeah, yeah
Nirvana: Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam (1994)
Children’s song
Click for song
Jesus, don't want me for a sunbeam
Sunbeams are never made like me
Don't expect me to cry
For all the reasons you had to die
Don't ever ask your love of me
Don't expect me to cry
Don't expect me to lie
Don't expect me to die for me
Jesus, don't want me for a sunbeam
Sunbeams are never made like me
Don't expect me to cry
For all the reasons you had to die
Don't ever ask your love of me
Don't expect me to cry
Don't expect me to lie
Don't expect me to die for me
Don't expect me to cry
Don't expect me to lie
Don't expect me to die for me
Jesus, don't want me for a sunbeam
Sunbeams are never made like me
Don't expect me to cry
For all the reasons you had to die
Don't ever ask your love of me
Don't expect me to cry
Don't expect me to lie
Don't expect me to die
Don't expect me to cry
Don't expect me to lie
Don't expect me to die for me
Part 2: Questioning
Parker Milsap: Heaven Sent (2016)
Click for video
Raised me straight and raised me true
Spent my days becoming you
Sunday morning, evening too
Sitting in your second pew
Torn apart, my spirit's spent
I fell in love on accident
Wondered just what Jesus meant
When He said all love was Heaven-sent
Papa I don't need a preacher
I ain't some kind of creature
From some old double feature
I just want to make you proud
Of the kind of love I've found
But you say it ain't allowed
Say that its a sin
But it's how I've always been
Did you love me when he was just my friend?
Tried my hardest not to be
I locked the door and I broke the key
Jesus died upon that tree
Daddy, do you think that covered me
Red and yellow, black and white
We are precious in His sight
Why can't I sleep through the night?
Daddy do you think I turned out right?
Papa I don't need a preacher
I ain't some kind of creature
From some old double feature
I just want to make you proud
Of the kind of love I've found
But you say it ain't allowed
Say that it's a sin
But it's how I've always been
Did you love me when he was just my friend?
Papa you're the one that taught me
By his strap He sought me
And with his blood He bought me
Daddy you're the one that claimed
That He loved me through the flame
Now why can't you do the same
Well I've been born again
But first was born in sin
Did you love me then?
Did you love me then?
Hopsin: Ill Mind of Hopsin 7 (2006)
Click for video
It's us, find power
Live life, mind power
It's us, find power
Live life, mind power
Yo, fuck anybody I might alarm
Life is a tour, I sit and ride along
Taking some notes and then I write the song
I'm staring down the road my life has gone
Is this where I belong?
Is it wrong to not believe in right and wrong?
My mental state is fucking me up
And I cried a pond while asking you for some answers
But we don't have that type of bond
That my desires gone with the way that I've been living lately
If I died right now, you'd turn the fire on
Sick of this bullshit, niggas call me a sell-out
Cause I hopped on Christianity so strongly then I fell out
Now I'm avoiding questions like a scared dog with his tail down
Feeling so damn humiliated because they looking at me like I'm hellbound
What story should I tell now? I'll just expose the truth
I'm so close to the fucking edge, I should be close to you
But who the fuck are You? You never showed the proof
And I'm only fucking human yo, what am I supposed to do?
There's way too many different religions with vivid descriptions
Begging all fucking men and women to listen
I can't even beat my dick without getting convicted
These ain't wicked decisions, I got different intentions
I been itching to get it, I've been given assistance
But the whole fucking system is twisted
Now I'm dealing with this backlash because Marcus isn't a Christian
And I've been told that my sinful life is an addiction
But I can't buy it, it's just too hard to stand beside it
I need an answer and humans can't provide it
I look at the Earth and Sun and I can tell a genius man designed it
It's truly mind blowing, I can't deny it
Is heaven real? Is it fake? Is it really how I fantasize it?
Where's the Holy Ghost at? How long it take Man to find it?
My mind's a nonstop tape playing and I can't rewind it
You gave me a Bible and expect me not to analyze it?
I'm frustrated and you provoked it
I'm not reading that motherfucking book because a human wrote it
I have a fucking brain, you should know it
You gave it to me to think to avoid every useless moment
It was a mission that I had to abort
Cause humans be lying with such an inaccurate source
It's gon' be hard to put me back on the course
Next Jehovah's Witness to come on my porch
I swear I'm slammin' the door
A lot of folks believe it though, but I'm not surprised
Humans are fucking dumb, still thinkin' that Pac's alive
I ain't trying to take your legacy and torch it down
I'm just saying: I ain't heard shit from the horse's mouth
Just sheep always telling stories of older guys
Who were notarized by you when you finally vocalized
Now I'm supposed to bow my head and close my eyes
And somehow let the Holy Ghost arise
Sound's like a fucking Poltergeist
Show yourself and then boom it's done
Every rumor's gone, I no longer doubt this shit, you're the One
I'll admit that my sinful ways was stupid fun
And all my old habits can hop onto of a roof to plunge
I'll donate to a charity that could use the funds
Fuck the club, instead of bitches I'd hang with a group of nuns
And everyone that I ran into would know what I came to do
I wouldn't take a step unless it was in the name of You
I hate the fact that I have to believe
You haven't been chatting with me like you did Adam and Eve
And I ain't seen no fucking talking snake unravel from trees
With an apple to eat, that shit never happens to me
I don't know if you do or don't exist, it's driving me crazy
Send your condolences, this is me reaching to you so don't forget
If hell is truly your pit of fire and I get thrown in it
I'mma probably regret the fact that I ever wrote this shit
My gut feeling says it's all fake, I hate to say it but fuck it, shit I done lost faith
This isn't a small phase, my perspective's all changed
My thoughts just keep picking shit apart all day
And in my mind I make perfect sense
If you aren't real then all my prayers aren't worth a cent
That would mean that I could just make up what my purpose is
And I could just sit in church and say "fuck" in the services
Man what if Jesus was a facade? Then that would mean the government's god
I feel like they've been brainwashing us with a lot
So much that we don't even notice that we're stuck in the box
Man everything is "what if", why is it always "what if"
Planet Earth "what if", the universe "what if"
My sacrifice "what if", my afterlife "what if"
Every fucking thing that deals with you is fucking suspect
I'm fucking done, I'm fucking done
This is my fucking life and I'm living it, I'm having fun
If you really care for me, prove that I need to live carefully
But I'll be damned if I put my own pleasure aside for an afterlife that isn't even guaranteed
We are you, and you're us, stop playing games
My life's all I got, and heaven is all in my brain
And when I feel I am in hell, my ideas are what get me through pain
Do as you please, and I'll just do me, I'm a human, I'll stay in my lane
Ill mind
It's us, find power
Live life, mind power
It's us, find power
Live life, mind power
Part 3: Hoping
Andy Mineo: Clarity (2018)
Click for video
Sometimes you can just be in a funk creatively or you know
As a person and it's like there's a fog around you
And you can't see out of it, but, that's part of the journey
Hm, patient, this beat done took its time
Well, then so do I
Look, uninspired, undefined
Now somebody's gettin' fired
Terrified, paralyzed, Twitter game verified
Married life, very fire
Understand I'm on demand
Undermanned the Son of Man or Son of Sam
I'm somewhere in between the two, the meaning too
Spend the evening, be with you
Oh I know, I need it too
Do I believe? Believe I do
On my faith walk, took the sinnin, I mean the scenic route
Get lost, I be aloof, Adidas on, still need the boost
What was the Eden fruit? I'll ask Him when I see Him
Daily bread, that's Paidiem, but I'm fastin' like a BM
Ridin' past ya in the P.M.
In a stolen car, that's fleein' from the scene of a crime
Apollo Creed, in his prime
Rocky verses, I'm a person that's tryna believe I'm worth it
I'm workin' through it, but work is, well, work, but well worth it
It's hella churches still hell is workin' fine
What's that tell us? Fellas hurtin', it's like melanin or crime
That's the elephant we hide
Truthfully, we probably lied
Rather have a tribe then unity, so you and me divide
I'm hellish and divine
I'm trillest and divine
I'm tellin' me, "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm, I know better"
All I, all I want is clarity, clarity
'Cause all of my heroes are frauds just like me, just like me
So let every man be a liar, let only God be truth
And all of your heroes are frauds just like you
I can't see through that smoke in the air
That's the smoke in the air
That's that smoke in the air
All that smoke in the air
A mind of doubt is to keep you open to God's revelations
When you don't doubt, you don't change
If you have to have finite answers to infinite questions
Uh, you're not gonna move
Yeah, built my life on this (huh)
Half my adult life like unlearnin'
Lies that I heard in a dumb sermon
What I unearth got me uncertain
More knowledge and more sorrow
Worryin' that never fixed tomorrow
Just take away all my strength today
It was black and white, not paved with gray
Maybe that cloud that I've been stuck in
I construct it, I conduct it
Orchestra of noise, I don't hate your voice
I done made a choice, mic assumption
A TV cabinet, tweetin', twerkin', grand man, gamin', rappin', workin'
Fashion work, and work, and work, and work, and work, and
Can't tell if lost
My mind or just made it (lost)
My faith or misplaced it (lost)
My pain or upgraded
Lost my happy thought, then I got jaded (lost)
Focus in my direction (lost)
In details and perfection (lost)
All my faith in white Jesus and my leaders (found)
They aren't who I thought all these years (found)
They weren't even worthy of tears (found)
The opposite of faith ain't doubt
It's when I get it all figured out
Some days it get in all my trust
Some days I can feel so empty
Some days I feel like You love me
Some days I feel like You left me
The second I'm furious with God, I'm tumbling close
Because you cannot be furious someone if you're not there
All I, all I want is clarity, clarity
'Cause all of my heroes are frauds just like me, just like me
So let every man be a liar, let only God be truth
And all of your heroes are frauds just like you
I can't see through that smoke in the air
That's the smoke in the air
That's that smoke in the air
All that smoke in the air
Through that smoke in the air
That's the smoke in the air
That's that smoke in the air
All that smoke in the air
I want God to wrap me in the everlasting
Wings and say "There there, it's alright"
And that cosmic affirmation of "Yes
I know it's terrible
I know it hurts, but be patient, it's gonna work out
I'm not gonna lose, I'm gonna win, it's alright."
And that's the, the
The basic affirmation that I think only true doubters can come to
U2: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (1987)
I have climbed highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire
I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
But yes I'm still running
You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Oh my shame
You know I believe it
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for