Part 1 ended with this thought:
“We need musicians who write music not just to give voice to the religious, but to give music to the voiceless—those who have limited ways of dialoguing with God, who have never been to church, who are not a part of our little worlds but are a part of the world that God’s Son gave His life for.”
To anyone who said, “YES!” to that thought or to any skeptic looking for solutions rather than problems and/or questions I wanted to pass on a resource that puts flesh to the idea of music in the future of corporate Jesus spirituality.
Ladies and Gentlemen: please meet Chris Duran. www.chrisduranmusic.com
Full disclosure: Chris is a friend of mine. But as a lyricist he’s doing what few other musicians are doing. And he’s doing it in a community that is doing what even fewer communities are trying to do: create environments where humanity finds Jesus compelling, not merely Christians.
His sound is great and very accessible, but what I love most about his music are the lyrics. In an era of “Shout to the Lord” and “Hallelujah” his lyrics do what few songs do: make sense to all our friends who do not hold our beliefs.
In his song “More than I Know” he writes:
I want to be more/ I want to see more/ I want to love more/ More than I know
This statement of desire and humility isn’t just for the follwer of Jesus. What human being hasn’t felt this longing or whispered this prayer to a God they may or may not believe in?
In “Life Could Be Beautiful” he writes:
Standing on the edge, waiting for something to finally happen/ I’ve been so afraid to step out and so afraid to believe…
This is a song in the same veign of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” It’s not a song of absolute faith but of tentative, fragile faith. It’s not a song of complete worship but a song of new, hopeful intimacy.
Someone once said: two steps ahead, you’re a leader. Ten steps ahead and you’re a martyr. Chris writes music that connects to people where they actually are and gently guides them two steps ahead, to where they might be afraid to go.
One final example, from his song “Wake Up”:
Wake up, wake up/ We’ve been asleep for so long/ It’s time to now live our dreams/ So wake, wake up
These are the lyrics to the woman or man searching for God. These are the lyrics to a Church asleep at the wheel. It’s hopeful yet prophetic. It connects to everyone.
Check out his album and journey along with the music of Mosaic. Or even better, join us in creating communities all over the world where the music isn’t for the saved but for the searching, not just for the Christian but for the curious…
…so we can be reminded that we’re healthiest when we’re both, and so that both can find hope through our music.
