I Love Jackson Browne

Author Diana Butler Bass once reflected on growing up within a narrow Evangelical Christian environment. Writes Bass:

“It was a lost decade. Spent locked in a narrow world, wanting to change to world but completely unaware of what was happening in music or art or popular culture or film or any of a thousand things forbidden or frowned upon. Honestly, I can tell you more about the decade of the Protestant Reformation than I can of the 1980s. I missed it all.”

When I first read this I thought to myself: “If Diana lost the decade of the 80s then I lost the decade of the 70s.”

This became shockingly real to me a few years ago when I kept hearing Jackson Browne on my newly installed XM car radio. I remember saying: “Who is this guy? He’s really good!"

Well I am now a huge fan of Jackson Browne fan. I love his music. I've downloaded lots of it.

How did I miss most of the 70s? Well after being discharged from the Untied States Air Force in 1970 I moved back home with my new wife and brand new baby boy. It wasn’t too long before I became quite involved in my home church in which a very Conservative Evangelical brand of Christianity was taught and practiced.

Within a few short years I enrolled in college in order to become a full time Evangelical pastor. From then on I was locked into this narrow world of Evangelical Christianity that discouraged much if any involvement in worldly pursuits such as music, the arts, theatre, or even sports, unless of course it all was of the Christian variety.

My Christian experience back in the day was mostly a left-brain brand of Christianity. What mattered most were beliefs, doctrine, dogma, and systematic theology. I was hyper focused on correct Biblical interpretations and the proper theological perspective. Correct beliefs were the fuel that powered my Evangelical world view.

Now this can be an appropriate place for anyone to begin his or her Christian journey; in fact most do. Most must start here in the left-brain world of Christianity.

But at some point in the journey the right brain must have adequate access to provide balance for one’s journey. What is needed is a healthy balance of beliefs, doctrine, dogma, exegesis, and literalism with poetry, wisdom, mysticism, mystery, and metaphor.

The problem for many Evangelical Christians is that they begin their journey of faith in a left-brain dominated Christian culture and they never move beyond that point of entry.

Unfortunately the left-brain system keeps so many good Christians locked into this narrow world by imposing guilt and shame as effective tools to keep folks in line with what is considered acceptable teachings (a left-brain need).

Well eventually I began to see things in a new light; somehow the door to my left-brain Evangelical world was cracked open enough to allow the right-brain light of a whole new world to seep through.

Voile!

Eureka!

Suddenly I found myself in the exciting and expansive world of myth, mystery and metaphor and believe it or not faith as trust and not as belief!

More importantly I discovered that the single most important thing about Christianity is the Incarnation of God. The word “Incarnation” means that God entered into His creation and became actively involved within in it and not so much from without (Theism). He ultimately incarnated (enfleshed) Himself in the historical Jesus, the young peasant from Nazareth.

This led me to realize, fortunately, that God actually does love His creation and all that He has created. This is the message that the mystics have been trying to tell us for centuries. Yes God is what  Rudolph Otto called the “Holy Other” (Transcendent), but He is also in our midst (Immanent). Check out Paul's words in Acts 17:28.

One may hear the voice of God in all genres of music, in all poetry, in the Arts and in literature. God is not separate from this world He is One with it.

So how can one not love what God Himself loves?

I cannot retrieve that lost decade and all the things I missed simply because I was locked into a very narrow Christian world that remains to this day is sadly at odds with the Creation.

God’s creation is good. It is to be embraced and enjoyed as a gift from God.

Right-brain Christianity is a must. It helps balance out what is often the abuses and extremes of a left-brain religion (Fundamentalism).

Rejoice in the right and left-brain world that God has created for us all.

Grace & peace!