Contradictions are fascinating to me. Particularly any sort of "cultural imbalance." I stumbled upon one of these recently while reading an article about Christian guitarist Lincoln Brewster. In the article of a main stream guitar magazine, Lincoln got to share some of his story. He shared this:
By the age of 19, he [Brewster] had an offer that many teenage rockers dream of: a recording contract.
Unfortunately, even with a lucrative offer on the table, Lincoln says his life felt empty. Lincoln’s high school girlfriend, Laura – now his wife of 14 years – invited him to church, in an attempt to fill that unmistakable void. Following a drama ministry performance, in which Lincoln says he felt God’s presence, his future changed. Accepting God into his life, Lincoln passed on the record deal and, perhaps unknowingly, changed the trajectory of his life forever.
I think Brewster's story is a great one. He had a good life, in fact, from a worldly point of view, he was on the right track. Nineteen years old with a record deal his life was really just about to start! He still felt an emptiness that the world can't satisfy. He wanted something more! Thanks to his wife inviting him to church he had an encounter with God that forever changed him.
Contrary to what the world would sometimes have you believe, his life didn't get boring or stop when he met Jesus. It only became bigger. Not only is Brewster one of the most successful Christian artists out there right now, but to musicians he's bringing music and especially guitar back to Christian music (Praise God!). Learn this now if you have doubts: JESUS IS FUN.
Another contradiction that struck me was that I hadn't heard of this part of Lincoln's story. If you google "Lincoln Brewster" you will find lots of links to videos, his official site, places to buy his music, etc. No where will you find news stories about the conversion of a mainstream music artist to Christianity and the positive impact it had on his life. The World doesn't want to talk about that. There is no glory in a loss right? Rewind your mind a few months and try a google search on "Ray Boltz." You will see links to buy his music and lyrics of his songs, however that vast majority of links will be to news article talking about the "Christian Singer Who Finally Came Out" or "Christian Singer Says He can Finally Be Normal." Our world loves to chew on the fallen.
Take a look at Tim Tebow right now. He's 5-1 as a starting professional quarterback this season and the sports world couldn't be more livid. He doesn't play like they think a quarterback should and that infuriates players, writers, and talking heads alike. A writer from the Chicago Sun-Times even describes his play as "NFL backwards." All of this negative attention aside, it's not his play that seems to frustrate people the most. It's his LIFE! The same author described Tebow as "ultra-religious." If that's ultra-religious then that's what I want! He is never pushy, he is never obnoxious. He just matter-of-factly takes as little of the credit as possible and throws the lion-share to God and his team mates. This frustrates and infuriates the sports world because the light of his life casts light on the darkness around him and that world doesn't like shadows. The media are licking their chops for either a moral failure or a simple defeat from Tim Tebow, but if he continues in this manner he will be smiling and glorify God...even in defeat.
Our culture is moving to a place where it hates a winner. It hates those who live in victory. If we all push towards mediocrity no one ever has to strive for anything. The world will never glory in our victories, big or small. In fact they will probably sweep them under the rug. Your defeats however, will be big news. Everyone seems to love to see a Christian fall. Fortunately for us we know that we do not live our lives according to worldly wisdom, "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness" (1 Corinthians 3:19)
(Article from the January issue of Premier Guitar and can be read here: http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2008/Jan/Soul_Man.aspx)
(Article from the Chicago Sun-Times can be read here:http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/9115202-419/tim-tebow-runs-his-record-to-5-1.html)
