Thoughts on Jon Foreman and Creating Culture

I haven't kept hidden my admiration for Jon Foreman front man of Switchfoot, a half of Fiction Family and soon to be coming out with a long awaited solo project. Foreman is not just another musician, a rocker or singer/songwriter. He's a surfer certainly and yet he has the poetic lyricism of a modern bard. He often rocks out like Led Zeppelin and can write verse like Dylan at times, and that is an interesting combo. 

When I was younger his heavier stuff with big riffs and catchy tunes is what brought Switchfoot to the forefront of my mind. Now as I have matured, I would like to think my musical tastes have evolved as well. Now there is an even greater admiration for the words that this man puts down on the page. That's the beauty of a Foreman song, because sometimes I don't care for a tune (which isn't often), but when I do more often than not the lyrics still resonate with me. 

On the surface he might look like just another Beach Boy, but pretty soon after you here him throwing out references to Kiergegaard, John M. Perkins as well as Scripture, it easy to tell that this man is no joke. He is a deep thinker, who asks real questions, using the music that he has created to expose others to the world as he sees it. 

That's why I have even greater respect for Foreman when I read this passage he wrote awhile back. In fact, it should be noted that he often has very insightful contributions to Huffington Post when he's not touring or making music. He was once given the question of whether or not Switchfoot was a "Christian" band and here is his thoughtfully eloquent answer:

"Does Lewis or Tolkien mention Christ in any of their fictional series? Are Bach’s sonata’s Christian? What is more Christ-like, feeding the poor, making furniture, cleaning bathrooms, or painting a sunset? There is a schism between the sacred and the secular in all of our modern minds. The view that a pastor is more ‘Christian’ than a girls volleyball coach is flawed and heretical. The stance that a worship leader is more spiritual than a janitor is condescending and flawed. These different callings and purposes further demonstrate God’s sovereignty. Many songs are worthy of being written.

Switchfoot will write some, Keith Green, Bach, and perhaps yourself have written others. Some of these songs are about redemption, others about the sunrise, others about nothing in particular: written for the simple joy of music. None of these songs has been born again, and to that end there is no such thing as Christian music. 

No. Christ didn’t come and die for my songs, he came for me. Yes. My songs are a part of my life. But judging from scripture I can only conclude that our God is much more interested in how I treat the poor and the broken and the hungry than the personal pronouns I use when I sing. I am a believer. Many of these songs talk about this belief. An obligation to say this or do that does not sound like the glorious freedom that Christ died to afford me. I do have an obligation, however, a debt that cannot be settled by my lyrical decisions. My life will be judged by my obedience, not my ability to confine my lyrics to this box or that. 

We all have a different calling; Switchfoot is trying to be obedient to who we are called to be. We’re not trying to be Audio A or U2 or POD or Bach: we’re trying to be Switchfoot. You see, a song that has the words: ‘Jesus Christ’ is no more or less ‘Christian’ than an instrumental piece. (I’ve heard lots of people say Jesus Christ and they weren’t talking about their redeemer.) You see, Jesus didn’t die for any of my tunes. So there is no hierarchy of life or songs or occupation only obedience. We have a call to take up our cross and follow. We can be sure that these roads will be different for all of us. Just as you have one body and every part has a different function, so in Christ we who are many form one body and each of us belongs to all the others. Please be slow to judge ‘brothers’ who have a different calling.”

For me Foreman makes me want to think more deeply about how Christians can influence and ultimately create culture that will break into all confines of the secular world to spread a little more light. This might be in music, film, photography, whatever. Foreman's the kind of individual who can look at a song like Sorrow by Bad Religion, which is hardly a Christian band, and find beauty in their work all the same. 

 Would it not be amazing if Christians were once again helping dictate the culture for good and living out life as Christ called us? As it says in Matthew chapter 25, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you did for me." How Christian something is should not be our main concern, but instead how we are going out on a daily basis to love our neighbors well. One way we can do that is by developing culture that asks the kind of questions that all humanity is aching to have an answer to. It doesn't need to be a dichotomy between Christian and secular. They can intersect and that's the kind of world we want. Jesus broke through all social constructions and made the issue the hearts of every person he ever cam in contact with. 

That's something to really think about. I certainly don't have many answers and I have a lot of questions just like Jon Foreman, but I think that's a starting point and hopefully we can move forward from there. All the glory be His.