I subscribe to the David Crowder blog. This week, a blog asked this of me:
comments the first 10 tunes that pop up. Cheating is prohibited, as it would be in poor taste. This will decide whether you are a likable person or not, at least that’s what my friend Jack told me. When he said this, the part about being a likable person, I panicked, but it turned out he was kidding. Sort of. He did seem genuinely bothered by the two Bee Gees tunes though. I mean, 2 out of 10! That’s quite a lot of Bee Gees really, but what I’m trying to say is don’t cheat.”
* Stay (Wasting Time) by Dave Matthews Band / Live at Folsom Field
* Fireworks by Moby / 18
* Never Finish By Leigh Nash / Blue on Blue
* Go-Go Gadget Gospel by Gnarls Barkley / St. Elsewhere
* One Day by KT Tunstall / KT Tunstall’s Acoustic
* Breathe Me By Sia / Colour the Small One
* November by Duncan Sheik / Duncan Sheik
* One Chance by Modest Mouse / Good News for People Who Love Bad News
* #41 by Dave Matthews Band / Live at Radio City
* Gratitude by India Arie / Voyage to India
Hmmm. In general, my 10 songs were an eclectic collection, no Bee Gees or other interesting randomness on the list. No embarrassing “Frankie Goes to Hollywood” or other 80’s misfit reared its ugly head. Of course, what I’ve loaded or bought and put on my MP3 is not my entire musical taste history, I must confess. I’ve had my, er, moments of weakness. Stuff I really can’t bear to listen to anymore and I wouldn’t load onto my MP3 in the first place. My musical ear has progressed and changed throughout my life. Rarely do I delve into the past in music to ‘relive’ 
my wonder or high school existence. A few college tunes (from Springsteen, Joel, Madonna, Modern English or Soft Cell) occasionally peek out from behind the curtain of the past. But I digress.
What this seemingly meaningless exercise brought to light is our culture’s obsession with the perception of who we are based on what we consume. These perceptions come in many forms. The most obvious are how we dress, what we look like, who we hang out with, where we spend our free time, where we live, what our house looks like, what music we listen to, what kind of car we drive, and the list goes on and on. I do confess to utilizing one or other of these to assess, judge and react to people in particular situations. Which in retrospect is not so cool (that’s putting it rather mildly). This leads me to ask the question, “Does God care about my musical tastes? The label in my clothes? The coffee brand I drink? Of course I can’t speak for God, but based on what I understand about the Divine, I’d have to say. . .well, no.
The kingdom of God is not based on branding or human perception of acceptable practices. The kingdom of God is God’s vision, not ours. Jesus himself had the best ‘in’ on this vision. As followers of Jesus, we must emulate this vision through what we read in the Bible and practice in our lives. In the 4 translations of the Bible, here are more than 140 Kingdom references in the New Testament. Here are two to ponder:
Change from the inside out. Grow up. Listen to the fire that God puts in your heart. Live generously and graciously towards others they way God does for you. A little less surface, a little more grace. I’d say that’s part of the kingdom’s top ten, and those never go out of fashion.
For those who live according to the world are concerned with the things of the world, but those who live according to the kingdom of God with the things of the kingdom of God. The concern of the world is death, but the concern of the kingdom of God is life and peace. For the concern of the world is hostility toward God; it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it; and those who are of the world cannot please God. — Romans 8:5-9
Trying to live for the kingdom and not for what I consume,
Deana
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