Blast from the Past

I hopped into a vehicle recently with an associate of mine. It was a beautiful day, the top was down and a song from the above album was playing in his stereo system. A couple thoughts ran through my mind. The first was, "this cd has to be at least 10 years old". I had listened to this "way back when". Now let me say first and foremost that this is not a good wholesome cd. The lyrics are littered with sexual perversion, vile language and every sort of filth you can imagine. When I was 15 I loved it.

My second thought was, "What is a 33 year old man doing listening to this garbage?" When I called him on it, He said, "oh listen to that, It's about the beat". However, he knew every word. Just as I once did. And he seemed to relish the stories of sexual conquest in the music.

Soon I realized, this is what I could have been. This could have been me looking in the mirror, if it had not been for Christ in my life. It is tempting to judge when you see youngsters, or in this case middle-agers, listening to such filth.

Some would theorize that listening to such music transforms us into the fowl mouth hooligans that it is safe to say I resembled at that age. While I'm not saying it doesn't have an effect, I would argue that it is a symptom not a cause. As our minds are already in that vain we seek out that which will make us comfortable. Thus the answer is not in the breaking of cd's or burning of books. The answer is found in Christ alone.