There’s a video game called “Desert Bus”. It was never officially released and was only intended to be part of a larger game collection. However, people have played it. The game has you sitting behind the wheel of a bus, driving from Tucson, Arizona to Las Vegas, on an empty stretch of road through a featureless desert. You hold down a button to make the bus move forward, and the bus veers slowly to the right so you occasionally have to straighten up.
That’s the entire game. And it takes a full 8 hours for the bus to reach its destination and for you to receive one point. Then you do it again. It is considered to be one of the most pointless wastes of time ever produced in the video game industry. Eight hours of your life spent keeping a fake bus on a fake road with no real entertainment and no real reward.
And people have played it.
It really makes one wonder about how humanity chooses to spend its precious time. We seem to surround ourselves with activities that don’t really serve much point, and yet they can demand huge amounts of energy and devotion.
Sometimes that’s how I feel when I listen to modern Christian music. I can’t say that Christian music is meaningless. It certainly isn’t. But it is a genre which seems excessively overrun by songs which are best categorized as “worship.” I tune in to Christian radio, or listen to Christian music mixes on YouTube or Spotify, or attend church services, and all I seem to hear is some variation on “God/Jesus is great and wonderful, and I will worship and serve him” (often repeated ad nauseam).
Now, please don’t get me wrong: worship songs are often beautiful, heart-warming, and very much have an important place in our faith lives. It is good and proper to worship God and proclaim God’s greatness by making a joyful noise. Quite a few I consider to be among my favourite songs of all time, particularly among the old-fashioned, traditional songs I have heard for years and years. But when worship songs are all I hear I often find myself wondering: where is the call to justice, to mercy, to lead lives of compassion and care?
Jesus said for us to love God and to love our neighbour. But so much of the music we offer focuses on the first command, but not the second.
There are exceptions, and I treasure them deeply. “God of the Movement and Martyrs” by David LaMotte is profoundly inspiring. I am always searching for songs which not only give praise to God but also challenge the listeners to live lives of service and love for the people of our world. Our music should be willing to have teeth. It should make the rich, the proud, and the powerful uncomfortable. It should call each listener to have a heart which does more than just look up. It should draw us into meeting the needs of the outcast, the hungry, the lonely, and those in any kind of trial.
There should be worship: and there should be transformation.
That pointless, boring video game: a group of people called “Desert Bus for Hope” started using it as a fundraiser in support of sick children, and have raised more than 12 million dollars since 2007.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, giving praise and thanks, but then make another joyful noise as we answer the call to serve.
