Until the Whole World Hears
Have you heard about Casting Crowns most recent album “Until The Whole World Hears?” Click “preview album” to listen.
Have you heard about Casting Crowns most recent album “Until The Whole World Hears?” Click “preview album” to listen.
I do hope i am standing behind you on judgement day as i would be glad to petition for your salvation.
Here is an analogy that will hopefully highlight what I want to say.
I (not the real me but a make believe me for the purposes of this analogy) am a top surgeon. The best. I can do things that are nearly miraculous to save people's lives under my skilled surgeon's hands.
I teach you to be a great surgeon. For free. I take time and effort with you. I pay for your education. I give you money to live on while you go to medical school. I am there for your graduation. I am there when you need advice on how to be a better surgeon. And I am there when you are wrongly sued for malpractice. I charge you nothing. I love you and want to help you and make myself available to you. Charging you nothing. I inspire you.
If it wasn't for me...you would have never been able to become a surgeon.
Someone comes to you and says they need to learn how to operate on their wife who is dying in a third world country.
You say you will help them but that you will charge them $16 to do it. They say they have no money. You say no dice. You will not help them unless they pay you.
Their wife dies. And you don't care.
How heartless you say?
What do Christian musicians and labels do?
Jesus Christ shed His precious blood to die for their sins. He inspires them. His Spirit moves them to produce wonderful Christian worship songs. He is there for them when they are down and when they need encouragement to write their next song. He lifts them up and gives them grace to do what they do. They would not be able to write one song or do one thing to be a great singer without Him.
Someone comes along who is so poor that they cannot afford a musicians songs. Hearing their songs might help save their faith. They might desperately need to receive God's grace through the songs that God inspires in the musicians but they can't pay the $16 dollars it costs to get the CD or the $75 for concert tickets.
They might live in a third world country. But they can't download or hear the song over the Internet because it's copyrighted and illegal to post it and download it.
But they are a part of His Church!
The main surgeon is Jesus. The musicians are the trained surgeon. And the person needing what the trained surgeon can give are the people of God - many of whom can't afford to pay.
And what do musicians and labels do?
They charge $16 per CD to make their music available or else no dice.
Jesus Christ shed His blood and inspires them. Freely He gave and what do the musicians and labels do? They give away nothing unless they are paid their $16 per CD.
Something doesn't seem right about that.
When contrasted with the free gift of eternal life...the FREE gift of eternal life, which is worth more than all the music put out by all music labels anywhere...to charge ANYTHING to a fellow Christian for something that the Lord gifts or inspires in us freely...is nothing less than a disgrace and miserly.
Thoughts?