I Stop for Arcade Fire

Sitting at Ladro, working on somethings, sitting at the window bar seat thing, Arcade Fire comes on my iTunes.  It was on shuffle but I had to stop and listen to the whole album, Neon Bible.  Great album, very ear catching because it’s unique and very layered.  It moves with my spirit.  It’s a great album check it out.But the reason that I am writing this is because it the music was good enough for me to stop shuffling and stick with it.  This made me think about the church.  We live in a shuffle world.  People are busy, people are looking for the sound bites, the video clips, watching an hour of tv is impossible without TiVo, people are running around all over the place.  What is the church doing to break people out of shuffle?  What are our ministries doing to break out of shuffle?  Are we just sound bites?  Are we just clip-worthy?Are we just putting out singles?  Or are we offering true, deep, truth that breaks people away from their need to shuffle and go from one thing to the next.  Do people want to soak in what we are offering?  Like a great album you have to listen to the whole thing at one time.  Neon Bible, Joshua Tree, Jesus Freak, Devil’s and Dust, these all make me stop and listen to the whole thing. These are albums that were thought through, intentional, non-fluff.  I think too often our churches are guilty of trying to produce hit singles when we need to be thinking of the whole album.   We may never break the charts, but every once in awhile there is a break through.   Great singles don’t sustain a band, great albums do.  Singles come and go, but people latch on to great albums.   Just a thought.