Far too often I think the evangelical Christian community writes the Catholic community off as not really being Christian, doubting the validity of their faith and perpetrating and "us vs. them" mentality.
I happen to disagree with that notion. The labels "Christian" and "Jesus follower" are not necessarily interchangeable in today's vernacular. I think there are a great number of devout Jesus followers in the Catholic Church, and a great number of people who call themselves Christians but don't have a clue who Jesus is in mega-churches across America.
But regardless of the doctrinal debate, I think the evangelical community would do well to take a lesson from our Catholic brothers and sisters, who are often leaders when it comes to being the actual hands and feet of Jesus.
And with that, let me introduce you to Songs In The Key Of Justice, a website from Disciples Now designed to encourage Catholic teens to spend their summer volunteering, being advocates for social justice, and giving back to their community. As the website says, "summer is a great time to get your Gospel on!"
Amen to that!
The site offers members free downloads of music from Catholic rock and pop artists, including Sarah Hart, Matt Maher, Last Day, and one of my favorite artists, Ceili Rain.
There is one regular "Christian," or non-Catholic, band on the site, Fort Worth's Poor Rich Folk, and they've written an exclusive download. The song, "The Suffering Wealthy," focuses not on the starving or poor in developing countries, but those of us walking around every day, comfortable in our wealth, oblivious to our own greed, arrogance, and spiritual needs. The lyrics to the song are here and you can listen to the song here.
I'm glad they included a non-Catholic band, because by only focusing on Catholic acts the site would miss out on offering the teens exposure to other great artists involved in social justice, advocacy and mercy issues, like Caedmons' Call, Derek Webb, Sara Groves, Randall Goodgame, Todd Agnew, Audio Adrenaline, and Jars of Clay, artists I hope they explore for the site.
Check out Songs In The Key Of Justice, and think about ways that summer you can "get your Gospel on!"
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