Published December 18th, 2008 by hrabbach
Casting Crowns – somewhere in the middle
Am I writing about Casting Crowns songs too often? Oh well, considering that I haven’t written anything in a long time, I guess that’s OK. Besides, I love writing about them because they usually have something to say that really speaks to me. They may not be as variable and innovative musically, but their lyrics are usually spot on.
So I was casually listening to “The Altar and the Door” last year, when the CD was still new. Don’t ever try to just casually listen to Casting Crowns, you never know when they have something to say that really catches you off guard. “Somewhere in the middle” is one of these songs. It’s about that constant struggle between the old and the new creation in us. Yes, we have been born again. Yes, we are a new creation before God. And yes, we still often struggle with the same things as before.
The little pre-chorus line really wraps it into one so very true question: “Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control?”. As long as we try to stay in control, we will remain stuck somewhere in the middle. We’ll always try to do what we think is right and we’ll always risk as much as we think can be risked. But the truth is: God knows better. And we always need to risk more (and by that I don’t mean we need to be stupid, but that’s really taking it too far away from the lyrics). And what we think is right usually isn’t… or at least not as right as what God wants us to do. “Deep water faith in the shallow end” is what they call it… and that’s a really brilliant analogy.
The song encourages me again and again to let myself be challenged by the question: is God really in control of my life? Or am I in control of my life and God is an advisor that I choose to listen to as long as it seems convenient to me? More often than not, I’m afraid, the latter is the case. But it’s songs like this (besides many other influences) that help me be aware of my failures… and encourage me to try a little bit more. Maybe one day I will truly be the new creation God enables me to be… what a day that will be.
