The Lions and Liars album from Sho Baraka has been one of my favorites since it was released back in 2010, specifically for tracks "Lion's Anthem" and "Shut Us Down", but today I highlight "Famous" in response to my recent reading of Embracing Obscurity - Becoming Nothing in Light of God's Everything. I have prepared a review and summary of that book, along with how the book is challenging me, and I will post that later today or sometime tomorrow.
Admittedly, I normally skip over this song when I listen to this album, but after looking for a song that spoke to the issue of obscurity, this seemed to be one of the only songs I could find. (I am sure there are others out there; another close example is Background by Lecrae and Andy Mineo). But, I suppose it is difficult to compose and perform a song that calls for the embrace of obscurity, when our sinful tendency tempts us to declare our own name, something all to noticeable in the music scene.
After reading Embracing Obscurity and reflecting on the challenges it posed for me, I came to this admission; That I desire for others to know me and my name more than I desire to recognize that I am fully known by our Lord. And to that end, we as Christians must strive to make the Lord's name famous. Our right standing with the Lord does not hinge on how many people know our names, or how many people we are able to get to know His name; but rather that we call on His name as Lord.
This is a story that people don't know enough about. It's a story that has been denied its share of national news coverage. It's a story that flies in the face of the pro-abortion stance, typically supported by the national news media outlets. If you're in the dark on this whole situation, please take the 22 minutes it takes to view 3801 Lancaster, an account of the Philadelphia Women's Medical Society, the abortion clinic ran by Dr. Kermit Gosnell. Women's lives were in danger (and some were lost) due to the practices of this man. But a greater point to ponder is our stance on life in general. It's becoming alarming how cheaply we view life itself.
This morning, an article on The Atlantic (a national news magazine) website reveals that the author hadn't heard about this case until last week, let alone the acts of Mr. Gosnell. A search of the New York Times homepage and CNN homepage yielded no immediate results. A further search of CNN.com yielded 31 total results, mostly from blogs, which are not normally included on the front page of CNN.com. Only three articles have been featured on CNN.com in 2013 regarding Kermit Gosnell. Those were from March 4th. Before that, the other articles from 2011. It is further evidence of the tragic lack of coverage this story, and forget about the trial; has received.
As a side note, I find it particularly interesting that CNN's search engine questioned whether I was searching for the term "gospel", as opposed to "Gosnell". The association of the two terms in a search engine is somewhat tragic, yet a reminder that even though we may be righteously vexed by Mr. Gosnell's murders, we also love him and know that Jesus saved repentant murderers who trust Jesus (Credit - Burk Parsons) Russell Moore shares the almost exact experience upon his search of Mr. Gosnell's name in his smartphone.
Mr. #Gosnell, we're righteously vexed by your murders, but we also love you and know that Jesus saves repentant murderers who trust Jesus.
— Burk Parsons (@BurkParsons) April 12, 2013
Typically, people do not associate rap or hip-hop music with the discussion of weighty, moral and biblical viewpoints. But with the call to greater attention of this trial, I was reminded of a song from Trip Lee entitled "Beautiful Life". It's a account of a young woman struggling with the question of abortion, and the inconvenient timing of a child due to an unplanned pregnancy. Trip follows with a verse dedicated to the male in the relationship, who was most likely "caught off guard" by a pregnancy. Finally, as poetically as possible, Trip links the struggles of abortion, especially the guilt of those with that have already had an abortion performed, to the gospel and forgiveness found in Christ. That third verse is about as good as anyone could explain the freedom that exists in Christ, even for sinners like us, and Mr. Gosnell.
This song from producer 808 & Elite is short, and features Andy Mineo, as well as an introduction containing Brian Regan's "Me Monster" material, and relates directly to a book I recently finished titled Embracing Obscurity. Since reading Embracing Obscurity I have been challenged to think about my desires to known among others, especially within the context of our local church, and will follow up later with a review of the book and some personal reactions.
Both "Me Monster" and Embracing Obscurity address our desire to be known and to draw attention to ourselves, taking the full glory away from the Lord, the one who truly deserves our attention. It may even seem hypocritical to post this on a blog, while using Twitter, Facebook, and The City to gain an audience. To borrow some words from the author of Embracing Obscurity, the question we must ask ourselves is, “Am I posting this to make myself look good, or to make God look good?” In other words, do we post things online or share stories because we want others to think we're cool, important or going places in life, or because we want others to think that God is awesome, all-powerful and has given them life?
"Typically, we have such a high opinion of ourselves, and to live and die unnoticed seems like an injustice" (p. 10). "Embracing our obscurity is when we are content with being relatively unknown so that Christ can be made more known" (p. 13). So, let us not be Me Monsters.
Be sure to check out the rest of the 808 & Elite "Diamonds X Pearls" album here.
