"My faith, I mean, that's such a personal aspect that a lot of times, of course it's going to come out through the song," he said. "But at the same time, I'm not a religious salesman. I feel like God doesn't really need a salesman, and what these songs are are simply my interactions with this life and learning. I guess the bottom line is the songs are really honest, you know what I mean. That faith is going to come through. If the listener is looking for it, that's definitely a part of it."
This is one of the best articles I've seen written about Switchfoot. This author gets it.
Posted by Tim at September 24, 2004 06:40 AMI've not heard of Switchfoot until just recently. I guess it shows how dated I am. I do like Dylan (I actually have a large collection). Based on that I'm going to order the Swtchfoot CD today.
Posted by: Phil Dillon at September 24, 2004 08:54 AMI'm not religious. But that quote is the most intelligent statement about religion in a rock song that I've ever read.
Posted by: Tom at September 25, 2004 07:41 AMI love that comment. So often, we Christians act as though God is some helpless pipsqueak quaking in a corner and that we must save His reputation and sell Him to the world. Making disciples, from a Christian perspective, is not ramming a pathetic God and our humanly-created belief systems down people's throats. It's about letting people in on Who God is--the big, unfathomable, uncontrollable, infinite, passionate Lord of the universe--and inviting them into the same experience. That's the God that Switchfoot helps us meet and know. Thanks for sharing the quote!
Posted by: Mark Daniels at September 25, 2004 08:20 AMThere's a fiction writing exercise where the professor would give the students an assignment something like, "Write a description of a home as a Vietnam Vet would describe it, but you may not mention that the person is a Vietnam Vet." The point is that a good writer will be able to convey subtlely and powerfully through description that a veteran is looking at his home.
I like that Foreman takes this idea to music. If I described the beauty of my wife, you should be able to figure out I love her, even if I don't explicitly say so. If Foreman lyricizes his view of life, I should be able to figure out he's a Christian, even if he doesn't state explicitly his Christianity. I think his reference to U2 is apt. U2 sings about Christianity, but I don't think they whack anybody over the head with it.
Posted by: Tom at September 25, 2004 08:41 PM
