Monday Music: Selling the News by Switchfoot

I’ve loved the band Switchfoot and especially Jon Foreman’s lyrics for a number of years.  When Vice Verses came out, the song Selling the News really blew my mind. You could look at this song from a number of angles but as a pastor who preaches on a weekly basis, this song reminded me of the responsibility of the preacher.

The Old Testament prophets warned against only prophesying the things people wanted to hear (people haven’t changed much over the centuries) and preachers today have to guard against the same temptation. We are called to bring the hope of the Good News but this News often goes against the values and desires of our surrounding culture. What news are we going to preach? There is a climax in the song where Foreman crescendos to the edges of his vocal capacity. He nearly shouts:

Substance oh substance where have you been
You’ve been replaced by the masters of spin
You make good looking books and write mystery in
We’re selling the news
The lines start to blur I get so confused
I get shiny new models mixed up with the blues
I get binary code mixed up with abuse
The facts are simply one option to choose
When nothing is sacred there’s nothing to lose
When nothing is sacred all is consumed
We’re still on the air it must be the truth
We’re selling the news

Pastors, don’t loose the substance of the Gospel! Disciples of Jesus, don’t be satisfied with shiny new models and good looking books. We can’t assume that since a lot of people are coming to hear a sermon that the Gospel is being preached*. The true substance of the Gospel must be there and sometimes that means the News is hard for us to hear.

We hold a great responsibility in our hands. Let’s be true to the Good News of Jesus.

*I believe that some churches with large attendance are truly preaching the Gospel. Large attendance just can’t be the determining factor for whether or not the Word is truly being preached and lived out within a worshipping community.

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