I thoroughly enjoy southern Gospel. I think one of
the reasons I do is because it recognizes that living the Christian life
is a difficult undertaking. Many of the favorite southern Gospel songs
were were written by people who were poor, outcast, and had a strong
sense of their personal failures.
In fact, southern country and western music often
expresses a major contradiction. The same artist who may sing about
infidelity and drunkenness will also sing about going down to the river
and about repenting. On the one hand, at times southern music almost
seems to be proud of its sin. On the other hand, southern music
expresses the need for the redemption that Our Lord Jesus Christ offer
us.
And here is where the best of southern music
expresses reality. If we are but honest, our Christian reality is that
we live two lives. One life is a decadent, self-satisfying life that
only focuses on our desire and pleasures. If we admit our sin, we often
do not really want to repent of that orientation. The other life is a
life devoted to Our Lord in which we strive to change, strive to achieve
the likeness of Our Lord Jesus Christ, through the overwhelming help of
the Holy Spirit. If we recognize our innermost desires, we know that
this is what we truly wish, but often do not put into practice.
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