So I’m trying to listen to some more positive music lately. There was a day (a very brief one) when I listened to Christian music exclusively and I got to wondering if there were any good Christian bands out there nowadays that I hadn’t given a shot. I’d heard a lot of good things about Casting Crowns on various forums and blogs lately so I decided to pick up their latest CD.

It’s not terrible, per se, though definitely nothing remarkable nor life-changing . . . for me anyway. The music sounds like every other mass-marketed Christian CD I’ve heard over the years. Everyone wants to be the like MercyMe it seems.

Lyrically? Yeah, it’s all pretty much straight out of scripture. There are bible verses galore in the liner notes, for your bible study pleasure, and plenty of allusions or downright quotations within the lyrics to make it all sound oh so familiar to the churchgoing or biblereading crowd. In other words, they are definitely preaching to the proverbial choir.

Though most of the CD passed me by without creating a ripple of piqued interest or sincere reflection, one song titled “Prayer for a Friend” did get me thinking, particularly these lines . . .

’cause there’s a way that seems so right to him
But You know where that leads
He’s becoming a puppet of the world, too blind to see the strings
Lord, I lift my friend up to You

My first thought? With friends like this, who needs enemies?!

My second thought? When did prayer become condemnation and judgmentalism?

Prayer should be an opportunity for honest “soul” searching, asking God to reveal our weaknesses and frailties, not a parting shot against someone else, a heaping of coals upon those whose lifestyle or beliefs or worldview we don’t necessarily embrace. Often, the kind of prayer Casting Crowns offers is the last step before calling the friendship quits. A believer with this mindset can no longer associate with someone else so fallen and misled.

Unfortunately, I know of what I speak. I’ve prayed these types of prayers many times and, now, regret every one. Well, that’s not entirely true. In honest hindsight I can look back on those times and see how narrow my mind was and seek forgiveness from those I’ve hurt from the privacy of my prayer closet.

Perhaps I’m being harsh. I mean, it’s only a song, right?

For something more humbling, try giving the latest CD from The Choir a spin. It’s called O How the Mighty Have Fallen.

Indeed.