Blurred Lines, Pt. 1

The following posts are excerpts from a sermon I preached recently entitled "Blurred Lines".  It addressed our need to live within the grey areas of life (the blurred lines).  It also spoke to times when blurred lines are insufficient - when it is important to be clear about what the lines actually are.

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You can’t go anywhere right now without hearing the song, “Blurred Lines”.  The song has many different interpretations.  WARNING: Be careful if you Google it - if you watched the MTV VMA's, you've probably seen the song too - sorry, didn't feel comfortable linking to those videos here - smh.  Well, the song is generally speaking to the idea of having mixed emotions. The song suggests there’s no need to “blur the lines” along boundaries. The song is catchy, once you hear it, it’s hard to get it out of your head.  It confesses that there’s a grey area that calls itself neither black nor white, neither good nor bad, neither right now wrong. 

 

Psalm 68 is another example of a song discussing "blurred lines".   There are many categories of Psalms; psalms of praise and psalms of lament, psalms of victory and psalms of defeat. Psalm 68 (verses 1-10 below) is called a "mixed psalm" because it's neither all praise nor all lament, but a little of everything.  Great triumphs. Great sorrows. Great hopes. Mixed emotions.  Let's look at this Psalm to see areas where we SHOULD blur the lines...  

 

1.  Blur the lines of GRIEF

Hear the psalmist... God will be "a father to the fatherless" and "a judge for the widows" (v. 5).  This writer has the audacity to say this to people who have lost everything.   Can God really replace my father or my spouse?  Most people who have lost someone dear to them would probably say there is no one that can ever replace them - even God.  When it comes to grief, we like to give trite responses like these that suggest God’s just going to "make it alright."  This is discouraging to many people who have experienced loss.  It seems to tell them that they have to be on one side or another of grief. 

 

We can’t forget that the fatherless singing this psalm have just lost their fathers. The prisoners have just left prison. The widows have just lost their spouses. It’s not enough to say everything’s going to be alright.  Like our military, a lot of people enter the church with PTSD. They have been abused, neglected, and abandonded.  The church shouldn't be in the business of just making them feel ok.   Many critics of Christianity and faith have said that religion is “opium for the masses”.   It is a drug, a hallucinogen, something people take so they don’t have to confront reality.  The church should not be using worship, preaching, or service as ways to sedate people from dealing with their feelings.  Instead, the church should allow people to sit in the grey area, the mixed emotions, and the blurred lines of grief.   

 

 

2. Blur the lines of PRESENTATION –

 

In the youth group at our church, questions often arise from the teens about what they can or can't do. Is it wrong to go to a party? Is it ok to drink? Is it BAD to get a tattoo? I usually try to remain silent on the matter.  However, one time, I tried to explain it by saying I don't think that God is concerned with many of the things we're concerned with.  I believe sometimes we focus on things that are temporal while God is focused on things that are eternal.   I hoped this answered their question, but it didn't.  They still wanted to know if they could get a tattoo or not. 

 

I ultimately said I didn't think it was a big deal to God.  How we present ourselves on the outside is not as important as how we are on the inside.  For instance, it's funny how the same people who don't want you to damage your "temple" by putting a tattoo on it, don't get angry about people eating unhealthily or not exercising.  If we're not careful, the church can be a place where our focus is on what's outside and not what's inside.

 

 

One final example: This sermon is the first time that I've preached from an Ipad.  For a while, I struggled with this because I've only preached from paper before.  The Lord had to really work with me on this.  I eventually settled on the question, 'Should the focus be on the Ipad or what's IN the Ipad?'  After being challenged about this, I saw that what I had been guessing about as right or wrong was neither - it was a grey area.  We can’t get caught up in what things look like.  Instead, we have to blur the lines of presentation and seek the Spirit in everything (I John 4:1). 

In areas of grief and areas of presentation, we need to blur the lines of what we expect.  In the next posts, I will share areas where we DON'T need to have blurred lines.

Lord, please help us to settle in the moments and images that we can't define.  Help us to be ok with spaces we can't so readily handle.  Thank You for walking with us and never leaving us.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

 

 

 

Sitting,

j.a.g.

 

 

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Psalm 68

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. A song.

 

¹ May God arise, may his enemies be scattered;
may his foes flee before him.
² May you blow them away like smoke—
as wax melts before the fire,
may the wicked perish before God.
³ But may the righteous be glad
and rejoice before God;
may they be happy and joyful.

⁴ Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.
⁵ A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
⁶ God sets the lonely in families,
he leads out the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

⁷ When you, God, went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness,
⁸ the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
⁹ You gave abundant showers, O God;
you refreshed your weary inheritance.
¹⁰ Your people settled in it,
and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor.

I John 4:1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.