Middle Ground Peril

Sometimes middle ground is the most dangerous place to find yourself. 

Sometimes middle ground means you're following the herd right off the cliff. 

Right now, conservative voices have plenty to sound off about in bewilderment and concern, when it comes to messages coming from the byproducts of the pop culture machine. Whether it's the horrifyingly raunchy idea behind the "50 Shades of Grey" movie coming out next February (which was, of course based on a women's erotica novel series, more or less), or whether it's stupefying, vulgar lyrics or themes of music that manages to top the charts (special thanks go to rap and hip hop here, usually), there's plenty on the end of the spectrum that's Defcon 5 type stuff for the mind and soul. 

Obviously, the life of a Christian, who wants to always be focused on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable (Philippians 4:8), is comprised of a multitude of choices that impact our level of "sanctification," that is, how holy and God-pleasing we're being in our conduct, habits, and attitudes, etc. Out of thankfulness to our God for all He's done for us, we want to lean towards the obviously upright things whenever possible. 

But isn't it true that there are lots of not-so-completely-evil-looking things out there that our lives run up against? 

A recent example I'm thinking of is a song I heard on a mix CD I made awhile back, called "Same Direction" by Hoobastank.

Don't mind me....Just waiting it out. Ok, are you all better now? Yes, their band name is Hoobastank. Don't ask me. Just go with it. Musically, they're actually quite talented and worth taking seriously. Anyway, in this song they sing about the woes of being caught up in the current of what they consider to be a pervasive culture of conformity to singular philosophy on something. As lyrics usually go, they keep from specifying the exact characteristics of the herd they don't want to follow. But it's clear that they have some real disdain for those who want them to go along in their footsteps. Here are the lyrics:

Whenever i step outside, somebody claims to see the light
It seems to me that all of us have lost our patience.
'cause everyone thinks they're right,
And nobody thinks that there just might
Be more than one road to our final destination

But i'm not ever going to know if i'm right or wrong
'cause we're all going in the same direction
And i'm not sure which way to go because all along
We've been going in the same direction

I'm tired of playing games, of looking for someone else to blame
For all the holes in answers that are clearly showing
For something to fill the space, was all of the time i spent a waste
'cause so many choices point the same way i was going.....

So why does there only have to be one correct philosophy?
I don't want to go and follow you just to end up like one of them
And why are you always telling me what you want me to believe?
I'd like to think that i can go my own way and meet you in the end.

But i'm not ever going to know..........

Nothing terribly alarming there, right? If I hadn't said "boo" about the theme of the song in a way that alluded to my scrutiny of it, and if you were to be along in the car while we cruise down the road and have this tune cranking, the purely rock 'n roll elements of it would likely distract you from the actual lyrics themselves. Let's face it, unless the vulgarity of the lyrics is so obvious and so crude that it jumps out at you, you're likely to miss anything negative almost regardless of how many times you hear it. 

But this song is a great example of how the middle road can be just as dangerous, if not worse. It's not the high road of a beautiful worship song by someone like Chris Tomlin, and it's sure not Beyonce's "Drunk in Love" (the lyrics to which I would rather NOT include in my blog, we'll just say) on the other end of the spectrum. But this middle-of-the-road song offers a dangerous idea when you look closely enough for it. 

"So why does there only have to be one correct philosophy? I don't want to go and follow you just to end up like one of them."  

Many people today have taken hold of the ideas of postmodernism. In an effort to appear supposedly more enlightened, tolerant, and non-judgmental, an ever-increasing majority of people throughout the world - or certainly in Western civilization - choose to live by the mantra that "what's right for you is right for you, and what's right for me can be right for me too." 

This philosophy even creeps into some corners of religion, usually the type practiced by folks who don't have a sound theological basis of any brand, or aren't very church-going. They'll speak of how "all steeples point to heaven," and so forth. After all, how fair would that be if some folks could live their whole lives and be wrong about anything? How fair is it that we should have to seek out actual truth and be sure that we're on the correct side of important issues, especially one like where we're going after this life? (This seems to be a possible explanation to "Same Direction"'s line "And why are you always telling me what you want me to believe? I'd like to think that I can go my own way and meet you in the end...")

It's sneaky how this lyrical content works. It doesn't make your ears turn red. It doesn't curl your toes or make you look over your shoulder to be sure no one with a clerical collar and Bible under-arm is nearby with a disapproving frown. It isn't the kind of content that warrants the RIAA to put "Parental Advisory" labels on the packaging of the CD. 

But just because there aren't cuss words, disgusting talk of sex acts or violence, or drug references, doesn't mean a parent wouldn't want to educate their child on the harmful nature of what some parts of the lyrics mean. 

We shouldn't just shy away from PA labels, R rated movies (especially R rated comedies - Why should humor ever need to be R rated??), strip clubs, and cult seances. Things on the middle ground, several degrees removed from the verboten end of the spectrum, can often be just as detrimental to our faith or our thinking. 

One could even make the argument that this seemingly-harmless, subtle, middle ground media we come across all the time in music, on TV, in newspapers and magazines, and in common conversation among our peers, is even MORE dangerous than the stuff our parents warned us against growing up. Think about it. If your moral guard is down while the input is allowed to come at you again and again because you don't really see a need to censor it out, over time you'll be permeated by that input and you'll run the risk of accepting it as truth. 

If it makes no typical warning sirens go off when you read or hear it, over time it may become part of you. 

Over time this idea that sneaked in under the cloak of a vulgarity-free rock 'n roll anthem of not conforming to society (or parts of it you don't agree with) could, if your foundation weren't strong enough in the first place, slowly convince you that truth is in the mind of the beholder. Just like that, one small, innocent-sounding input converted you from an advocate of objective truth and, by extension, a believer in a single true God with one offered path to heaven, into a wishy-washy postmodernist who just thinks it's cool to fly a flag for independence from the herd, just like Rob of Hoobastank. Maybe you'll even wear your hair down over one eye, buy a leather motorcycle jacket, and add some metal to your face to complete the liberating stereotype of originality. 

It's worth keeping an eye out for even the little things. Is it absolutely, downright sinful to own and listen to music like what Hoobastank puts out, or attend a PG-13 (or R rated, for that matter, in some cases) movie, or tune in to the evening broadcast of CNN? No, not necessarily. But it IS gravely important that we guard our hearts and minds from ideas that could change us subtly and gradually too, with the stealth of the middle road innocence. 

As for Hoobastank's lyrical statement in this song.......

"We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive."

                                                                      C. S. Lewis