God has really been speaking to me through secular music at the moment: Both challenging what I listen to and also the division I put between the spiritual and secular. So often I'll listen to Christian artists and leave myself more open to God yet in doing this I'm confining God to a box. I rarely put my thoughts into words outside of my journal but these are some ideas on a song I've been playing a lot recently. I've tried to get it as coherent as possible but I'm not entirely there yet...
Dashboard Confessional - Get me Right
I made my slow way home
Limping on broken bones
Out of the thickest pine
Across the county lines
On to your wooden stairs
I know you can repair
I know you've seen the light
I know you'll get me right
Right
Right
Right
I own a sinners heart
I know the rain falls hard
I know the currency
I know the things you'll need
I hope he hears my prayers
I see you cut your hair
I know the saving type
I know you'll get me right
Right
Right
Right
But, Jesus I've fallen
I don't mind the rain if
I meet my maker
I'll meet my maker clean
But, Jesus the truth is
I've struggled so hard to believe
I'll meet my maker
I'll need my maker
To cure of my doubting blood
And drain me of the sins I love
And take from me my disbelief
I know it should come easily
But it remains inside of me
It battles and devours me
It cuddles up the side of me
And whispers it convinces me I'mRight
This song is a pretty challenging vocalisation of the mental, and sometimes physical struggle between sin and grace. The lyricist, Chris Carrabba is not overtly Christian but clearly has an understanding of grace and faith.
He puts into words better than I could, an honest confession of the hopelessness at attempting to achieve salvation alone.
In his opening verse I'd suggest that Carrabba is referring to the cross of Jesus in his lyrics:
"your wooden stairs".
He knows that only Jesus can repair him, and as the stairway to heaven His cross bridges the chasm between us and God.
“You shall see greater things than that, I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” John 1:51 (referring to Jacob's Ladder in Genesis 28:12-17, that as the Son of Man, Jesus is the ladder between heaven and earth, an opening of communication and communion with God)
Carrabba also knows that this relationship doesn't come cheap. His lyrics recognise 'the currency', the price paid for this, as the life and blood of Christ and that these are the only things that will allow him "To meet his Maker clean"
The passion of his words and the drive of the music has echos of Paul's struggle in his letter to the Romans:
Romans 7 'I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
And don't we all struggle with this? Grace is so MASSIVE, it is overwhelming and we just don't deserve it. But the truth is Grace is a gift given for free, it is up to us to receive it.
Over the summer I was a small group leader at a Christian camp and we were studying Romans 8;reflecting on how we relate to Paul's struggle with sin and grace. For a number of the girls in the group they found God's grace too big to handle and almost too big to accept, condemning themselves despite God granting them freedom. After the session I sought advice from my Pastor on how to handle their questions and his answer surprised me. He said that it didn't matter if they 'felt' saved, or if they 'felt' good enough for grace. The fact is none of us are good enough, 'All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God' (Romans 3:23). But that doesn't stop it also being a fact that we ARE saved. Grace DOES cover us and saying that it doesn't says that Jesus death isn't enough for us.
Would we really ask Jesus to do more than die for our sins?
Dashboard Confessional - Get Me Right Lyrics @ LyricsTime.com
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