Fix You.

I like Coldplay. Good band. Original. What I like is they don't sound like anyone else and a lot of people strive to sound like them. The following are lyrics to my favorite song of theirs.

Fix You.
When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse.

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Tears stream, down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face and I...
Tears stream, down on your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face and I...

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you.

Pardon the aside here. I am not a fan of most Christian music of the popular variety. There is no artistry to most of it. There is very little originality. I can only think of a few Christian artists that inspire other artists to imitation. For the most part all you ever hear on WDJC (Birmingham Christian radio station) are people trying to imitate the sound on top 40 radio in a vain attempt to be relevant and current. So it is no surprise that I find no inspiration in most of what Christians produce.

I was in my study (garage to most people) reading The Jesus I Never Knew by Phillip Yancey for my Sunday school class. The chapter I was reading was on the Sermon on the Mount. Yancey calls it the Sermon of Offense. I think this is apt because it most likely offended the ears of the people listening. Telling the poor and oppressed they are blessed because of their circumstance will not generate many fans when your target audeince does not feel particularly blessed (or lucky as Yancey puts it) in their situation. They wanted Jesus to make things right. They wanted things that were broken to be fixed. After all wasn't this what the Messiah was supposed to do for God's sake? But this was not Jesus message.

As I'm reading this chapter and trying to place myself in the sandals of the people in the crowd the song above is playing in my IPod. And God revealed something about his plans.

The rain was falling outside the garage (let's call it what it is). I felt broken and inadequate to the task of trying to shepherd people who for the most part don't want to be shepherded. I looked for the secret to success in the words of the Sermon of Offense and found no quick formulas. I found no quick step by step guide to walking the path God has me on. But I found hope in the notion that God will indeed fix me. He will fix everything that is wrong in his time. But for the moment he wants to fix me. Guide me. Ignite my bones. Not change my circumstances but change me. Circumstances are what they are. The disciple finds blessing in his circumstances because of the fix God has made in his/her heart. We find what we are worth not in what we have but in Him. His kingdom is inside and shows itself through love.

I hope that someone who is looking at this post found it by clicking "Next Blog" at the top of the screen. God desires to fix you. Not your circumstances. But you.

Vaya con Dios my friends.