Kings of the Wild Frontier

It's been just over two years since I posted Kings of the Wild Frontier. At the time I only knew a handful of you, and I'm thankful for how those friendships have developed, and how new ones have formed! Well, in that post I spoke of how today's tamed Christianity, based upon rules, principles and methods for Christian living, had caused damage to my marriage at one point in the past. Since I couldn't keep up with the onslaught of rules, principles and methods - especially, but not limited to, the 'marriage principles' - I had underlying thoughts that I didn't really love my wife. At the time, two years ago, it was really good for me to write all of that stuff down. It helped me to realize more and more that I wasn't created to be tamed and controlled, but that I was meant to get out and live!

The Kings of the Wild Frontier theme has stuck with me, and really has become more and more established in all areas of my life. Kings of the Wild Frontier is the title track to an album from 1980 by Adam and the Ants. I was living in England at the time, when "Ant Music" burst on the scene and became wildly popular, instantly. I absolutely loved the music (and still do). At the time, I sang along to all the lyrics, but I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to what they were actually saying. However, a few years back I was listening to this song and one line in particular jumped out at me like never before:

"I feel beneath the white there is a redskin suffering from centuries of taming."

The imagery here, as I see it, is of a white man who feels the passion and "wildness" of an Indian warrior on the inside, and yet it's all been bottled up and contained within - not able to be released - due to the taming of modern day white man's culture.

My heart cried out to God that day. I'd heard those lyrics a thousand times before but they never really registered with me until then. How much of my life has been bottled up and not truly lived, all because I've been living in a system that is trying to tame me, rather than release me to be who I truly am. Again, many of the teachers and preachers of principles and methods may have really good intentions (and many of them don't), but either way the people are left not knowing who they really are, and they live with various sorts of struggles on the inside that they can't quite put a finger on, all because they think they're doing the 'right' thing by trying to apply all the principles that are taught every week.

Living as the wild (not tamed) creation that you are does not, of course, include doing things that hurt yourself or others, or that are not "expedient" or "helpful" (see 1 Cor 6:12, 10:23-24). But the church - even when it's had good intentions - has gone so far with rules, principles and methods for Christian living that it has essentially snuffed out the true nature of the lives we're meant to live. In many cases they don't even realize what they're doing. Their tamed lives perhaps have a great outward appearance - "an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body" - but yet "are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh" (see Col 2:20-23).

What ends up happening is a lot of faking. A lot of acting. A lot of trying to keep up with others who seem to have it together, while those who seem to have it together know that they don't really have it together, but can't let anyone know! And there is a lot of living inside a box. A box of must's and should's, rather than trust and get to's. A box of performance, trying to get it right, trying to be good Christian boys and girls, but never seeming able to arrive, and therefore never being able to get out of the box. Often not even knowing there's a whole world outside of the box! I was in that box for quite some time. Even as I began to grow in grace, I kept myself in that box in many ways.

How about you? Have you suffered in some way from the taming of the modern church? This is not meant as a means of bashing the church, of course! But reality is reality. People have been hurt, and it's up to us, by the Holy Spirit, to spread the freedom for which Christ has set us free!

Persecuted for being a Goody Two Shoes?

I'm writing about something that I've written about before, but it never hurts to repeat certain things! Persecution. I'll first say that I know that persecution takes many forms, and people around the world are persecuted for various reasons, from political to religious to intolerance to... all sorts of reasons.

But I'm writing here about a specific type of persecution. It's the persecution that the Apostle Paul and the other apostles and people in the early church dealt with. In fact, before becoming a Christian, Paul himself dealt out this type of persecution towards the church.

Now, the church today has become a place in which we think we're being persecuted in Christ's name if someone makes fun of us for being a goody two shoes - for "standing up for 'moral behavior.'" But here's the thing. When Paul was going around persecuting the church, HE was the one who was standing up for moral, lawful behavior! But when Jesus took hold of him, lovingly and gracefully, Paul found out that all his moral law-keeping was DUNG (see Philippians 3:1-11), and he turned from that to trusting in a righteousness that has nothing to do with his own morals or law-keeping, but rather is a righteousness that is imputed as a gift!

Paul himself then became part of those who were persecuted by the religious do-gooders. His life became a matter of "standing up" for this gift of righteousness that came by the grace of God. When he wrote these words to the Romans, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ," he was saying this not in the face of anyone who was putting him down for being a goody two shoes, but rather in the face of those who were persecuting him for rejecting the law and embracing the good news of God's righteousness being received by faith, not works.

"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ" was a very bold statement for Paul to make, and the message of grace that he went on to share in the rest of the epistle was as bold as bold could be! There were those who vehemently opposed the gospel message of salvation by grace alone through faith, and Paul was bravely and unashamedly giving himself over in reckless abandonment to this good news message! He was essentially saying, "Who cares what the legalists think! This is God's message of love and grace, and I'm not gonna be shy about proclaiming it!"


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All that said, I'm partially ashamed to say that I'm going to use this post as an excuse to post a video by my all time favorite artist. ;) I've been an "Ant Person" since the late 70's, when I was a boy in England and this band, Adam and the Ants, broke into the punk/pop scene with their own "brand" of music (Antmusic). Adam Ant went solo a few years later, and while he didn't make it big in the United States, I continued to follow and enjoy his music. This is the only Top 40 hit he had here in the States, as far as I know. It hit Number 10 on Billboard's charts.

Adam Ant - Goody Two Shoes


Don't drink, don't smoke - what do you do?
Don't drink, don't smoke - what do you do?
Subtle innuendos follow
Must be something inside he's hiding

Zerox Machine

I know something about you! I may not even know you personally but I know that I know at least one thing about you.

You are unique.

Nobody else is you and you are nobody else. And that's good.

What I have to say really isn't all that deep or complex. It's just something that I know I need a reminder of now and then, and I would think most of us do too.

I am who I am. I don't need to try to be anybody else. I can sure glean a lot from others, and I can learn a lot from others, but my personality, my character, my talents and abilities, my gifts, my looks, my thoughts, my learning curve, my experiences, my ways, my tastes, my likes and dislikes, my prayer life, my Bible reading, my way of assembling with other saints, my... whatever... is uniquely mine and I don't have to be like anyone else! Sure, I want to get along with as many people as I can and I want to work well with others, and I can most certainly be flexible. But my uniqueness doesn't have to be breakable.

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The following video may or may not be your taste of music, and the lyrics may not strike you in the way they have struck me, but it's really the main reason I started this blog entry. There's so much I could say about my thoughts of Adam Ant being a musical and lyrical genius. And while I'll use the same disclaimer as I used for the Extreme video I posted the other day (that is, I definitely wouldn't look to Adam and the Ants as a source of great spiritual enlightenment!), I can truly say that once in a while I find a "message" that I can relate to in the lyrics.

There's so much I draw out of this one song. I'll just say that there have always been "copycats" in the music industry. Artists copying other styles, etc. Just think, when you turn on your radio you instantly know the "era" of the very song you are listening to, whether or not you know that particular song. Some examples, of countless many: You know if it's a song from the 50's. You have your 80's pop music and "hair metal." You have the "boy band" era. You get the point. Each song from each era is different, but yet has many of the same elements. Adam Ant didn't seem to want to ever conform to the styles of his day and he was very vocal about all of this through the use of clever sarcasm and brilliant imagery in his art

Well, the song "Zerox" (funny how it's spelled "Xerox" in the video) is right to the point throughout the whole song. Executives in the music business - you might as well "lock up your brain" because we'll just get together and collect up the ideas and simply duplicate whatever else may be hot right now. Make sure you "keep your ears to the ground" to make sure you've got the next hit record. We'll steal the chords from another hit song and make sure this song is equally as successful.

You get the idea. And you perhaps know where I'm going with this. Many in the church today seem to be more focused on having the best programs and having the sermons and worship services that attract the most people. Let's see what's "working" in other churches and start applying it in our church. It's often about "church growth. Unfortunately, it's about how the people can make the church grow, rather than how the people can help the other people grow, if you know what I mean. It's about making sure the people's brains are locked into "our" vision. The pastor and other leaders sure do have huge smiles and they sure do give "inspiring" and "convicting" sermons. But are they being real, or are they simply putting on a show to try to attract people, or even to manipulate them into conforming to their program or into being just like them?

Which leads me to my favorite line from the song:

"I may look happy, healthy and clean
A dark brown voice and a suit pristine
But behind the smile there is a Zerox Machine..."

Can't anyone just be real anymore? Can't we just meet together with no false pretenses and with no hierarchies. Can't we just be who we are, and not try to be what that other church down the street is? Can't we simply base our identities upon who we are in Christ rather than being concerned about how we appear to each other and to the community? Can't we stop trying to reproduce people to be just like us, conforming into our image, and instead work to help them walk in their own uniqueness and for the purposes for which they were created?

adam and the ants :zerox machine

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A different version of the video with better audio quality is here. (It wouldn't allow embedding).

Lock up your brain
'Cause I'm here again
I'm never bored, I steal your chords
ooh-ooh Zerox Machine
ooh-ooh Zerox Machine

Give me a line
Or a middle eight
I've got the best so I want the rest
ooh-ooh Zerox Machine
ooh-ooh Zerox Machine

Let's get together before its too late
Collect up the ideas, and duplicate
Filling out the forms, send them off tonight
And you'll be the owner of the copyright
Of the copyright, of the copyright

Time's of the essence get your ears to the ground
However else can the hits be found?

I may look happy, healthy and clean
A dark brown voice and suit pristine
But behind the smile there is a Zerox Machine

I'm a Zerox Machine...

Kings of the Wild Frontier

(I've been wanting to share this for a long time. I do not apologize for the length of this post. :) God's creation is vast, to an extent that is unimaginable. We are part of that creation, and our lives are meant for so much more than a daily struggle to "live right." --- As of today (2/1/07), I have the song mentioned here as my song on myspace. That is subject to change, but I do also have a video for the song there, and that will be there for a while).

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I feel beneath the white
There is a redskin
Suffering
From centuries of taming

I first heard the song “Kings of the Wild Frontier” by Adam and the Ants about 25 to 30 years ago! I was probably about 10 years old. I’ve been a huge Ant fan ever since. (I don’t believe I admitted that!). Well, I was a boy living in England at the time, and the Ants were popular!

There’s never really been anything about “Antmusic” lyrics that turned me on. In fact, I really don’t understand the lyrics most of the time! And when I do understand the lyrics, it’s often a little too… sensual… for my tastes. But I really dig the sound! There’s something about the way the music and vocals are arranged that really gets into my soul like no other music does. And that’s why I listen to it.

But a year or two ago I was listening to ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier,’ and there was something in the lyrics that suddenly did made sense to me, and it really HIT ME right where I was. It was an amazing time. Lots of pent up frustration was released as God spoke to my heart about my true identity through this song, and He set me free.

In the song, it’s as if Adam is saying that beneath his modern day white man’s skin, there’s an Indian Warrior hidden deep inside, dying to get out, but yet he suffers because he’s been tamed by many years of white man’s culture (some of the early Pirate/Indian/Warrior imagery and music style of the Ants came under the direction of their manager). For years, I'd really had no clue what the song was saying. :) But on this day, it all became crystal clear to me as God was revealing the identity inside of ME that has been suffering because of the culture in which I live.

The culture that I’m speaking of is today’s Church culture.

Let me back up, and get a bit personal, just for a moment. About 2 1/2 years ago, my wife and I had some marital problems. I had been having some doubts about my love for my wife. I won’t get into all the details, but I’ll say that we ended up seeing a counselor. He was great. He listened, and asked questions, and listened some more, and asked more questions. This is truly, truly a very, very condensed version of the story, but the main thing is what the counselor revealed to me about myself.

My problem was not that I didn’t love my wife. I really did (and still do, very much) love my wife. But in trying to be all that I could be as a “good Christian husband,” I wasn’t being the man that God had really wired me to be – who He had truly made me to be as a New Creation (2 Cor. 5:17). If you listen to (or watch) much of today’s Christian media, or go into many of today’s evangelical churches, so much of it is focused on self-improvement, being a better person (being a better spouse, parent, child, coworker, etc), striving to “do” all the do’s and “don’t” all the don’ts.

Many people think that if we can just get our behavior in line, then life will be better. Maybe you don’t disagree with that statement! But I found that the more I tried to get my behavior in line (for example – to be a better husband), the more I felt like a failure because I just couldn’t live up to it! Believe me, I tried for years and it was a roller coaster ride of success and failure, but mostly the ongoing nagging feeling that I just couldn’t do it. I don’t need to go into great detail here. Either you relate to this or you have the Christian life down pat. :) But here’s a personal example: I would be in bed, or driving somewhere, or listening to a sermon or Christian talk radio, thinking and praying about something that I really wanted to change in my life. And I would get all excited as I thought about how I would go about making this change. But then came real life… and the failure to change… and then guilt, despondency, and the feeling that I would never change. It was a vicious circle… a roller coaster ride as I said.

And the thing is… for 12 years now, I’ve been growing in my understanding of living by God’s grace – not my own efforts to change, but His work in me, which is sufficient. “We are His workmanship” (Eph 2:10). “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thes. 5:23). “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13).

New Covenant life is about counting our self-efforts at pleasing God as dung (rubbish) (see Phil 3:3-11). I know this. I can tell others about it. And for the most part, I live it. Rather than trying to establish MY life (in the flesh) as one that is pleasing to God, I have let go and I live my daily life by faith, trusting in Him to do anything and everything in me and through me by His own doing. If you just let go, and put your trust in Him and not your own efforts, you will see that He is completely faithful to work the works in you and make the changes in you that He wants to.

Think about it… if we are God’s workmanship, and yet we try to make our lives out to be our own workmanship, even if we think we’re doing it “for” God… we are really making ourselves out to be GOD.

And so my problem is… sometimes I try to be God. In my marriage, I was trying to be God. I sincerely wanted to be a "better husband," but instead of letting Him work His wonderful works in me, in His way and in His timing, I was trying to do it. In a sense, I was really just going through the motions of being a good husband. It may have even had a great outward appearance from time to time! But on the inside, I knew I was FAKING it. My “good” efforts to be a better husband were really a work of the flesh. They weren’t coming from my union with God. I had sincere desires, but the efforts were not of God.

And so… I began to think that I didn’t love my wife. All my best efforts, as I said, were just me “faking” it. What I came to find out is that I was faking holiness. I just didn’t realize it at the time. But anytime you try to be holy or righteous by your own efforts, you are FAKING the real thing. The “real thing” is God’s workmanship, His life in union with ours. Our flesh can't compete with that! And our spirit knows it, but our flesh still wants to try. So, what I was confused about was this: how could I have such sincere desires to please my wife, and yet all my efforts were making me fall flat on my face? This confusion led me to think that I didn’t love her.

But this low point in our marriage led to a great discovery that would forever change us! We saw the counselor together one time, and then we saw him individually. In my time with him, as I said, he asked a lot of questions and really listened to me. And then he told me what he thought. He said quite a bit, and it was all great stuff, but only one word stuck out to me. Here is what he said: “Blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah IDENTITY blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. :) (The "blah blah's" aren't meant to discount or demean the other great things that were said; only to emphasize the importance of the one word).

The whole problem was that rather than living out of my true Identity in Christ… the New Creation that I truly am… I was trying to be all the things that I thought I was supposed to be for my wife. Again, you may not have much to disagree with about that method of living! Why shouldn’t I try to be the best spouse I can be? The reason is that I (my flesh) can't! The key to everything here is that if you let go, and if you find out who you really are – your true identity in Christ – you won’t have to fake anything. You won’t have to “fake it till you make it.” You won’t have to “try” to be a better spouse (or a better Christian) because God is faithfully at work in you all the time, and He will work the works in you, as He pleases, to make your outside behavior match the New Creation (your identity) that you already are.

I believe the reason there are so many dysfunctional Christians out there is not because we’re failing to get our acts together and start living right. It’s because we are trying to get our acts together and start living right!

My counselor recommended the book “Wild at Heart” by John Eldredge, which I didn’t actually start reading until about a year ago. For the sake of the fact that this is already long, I’ll just say that the gist of the book (at least to me), is getting out of our small, metal, inflexible, rigid, religious boxes that we’ve place ourselves (and God) into… and getting out into God’s world and being who HE created us to be! It's an understatement to call God "wild." Just look at His creation. And look at yourself - created in His image.

Today’s Christian culture has created a lot of these small religious boxes for people - and has kept them from experiencing the fullness of who God created them to be. You don’t know the freedom I experienced when I finally broke free from my little box! “I feel beneath the white there is a redskin suffering from centuries of taming.” I know that the core of who I am – my spirit – has always been longing to get out and to be who it is created to be! My counselor put that in perspective for me 2 1/2 years ago. And then that day – the day I heard those Adam and the Ants lyrics for the thousandth time – my heart cried out to God as the truth hit me in such a way that I knew I could never, ever get inside that box again!

Popeye put it this way: “I am what I am and that’s all that I am.” And God’s word tells us that all that we are is a truly wonderful creation – a work of God that can’t be kept in a religious box and that can never be faked!