October 27, 2019
Hi friends! I thought I would share part of an essay I recently had to write on a work of art or music that has impacted my life for this month’s blog. I did not have to think for more than a second about what I was going to write, so here it is!
Sidenote: What a privilege it is to serve a God who has never been and will never be limited our humanly perspectives and limitations. He is alive, and He is at work in the most unexpected and moving ways! My heart beats a little faster when I hear the videos of the choir because they simply show such a vibrant celebration of God’s transformative and boundless grace and love. I hope what I have learned from the choir encourages you to maybe gain a new perspective in your walk, too.
Kanye West, a symbol of the rap culture in America and husband to Kim Kardashian, founded a gospel choir. When I first heard of the group, I was genuinely shocked. Truthfully, I doubted how a pop culture icon like Kanye West was planning to create a church gospel movement. However, in my doubt, and inevitably in others throughout the nation, the true beauty of the choir group unravels. I have grown up as a Christian but not until this past May did I feel my faith truly become my own. I unconsciously developed many notions about what a church should “look” like or what a Christian life “should” be as I grew up in a Christian family in the Bible Belt. Overall, I was caught up in a web of expectations that I had placed on Christianity, specifically on those who call themselves Christians. Many like me are so tangled in this web that they are blind by it, with no awareness of the limits it places on a life completely surrendered to God. Therefore, when I first heard the choir group, I believe God was revealing a vital part of Himself to me, and to so many around the country: the beauty of the body of Christ. Shown largely in Kanye’s church, it cannot be limited, and it does not fit in a box, despite my efforts to confine it to one. This quote is something I shared as I reposted the story of the choir singing one Sunday: “I’m not sure many people understand my fascination with Kanye’s church worship services. I don’t understand it all the time either… I think it’s because lately, even unconsciously, I’ve begun to realize the lifeline that worship embodies. Recently, I’ve experienced inner conflict, deep inner contradiction, and even turmoil at times over my place in the body of Christ, over my heart’s status as a belonging of Jesus. I, not wanting to focus on the evil but struggling in trying to hide my face from it in a world that worships evil, feel the tension between good and evil. Today, I saw this [the video of the choir’s service] and was reminded that even when I feel the gap, the seemingly endless separation with Heaven, I can rest assured that what I affirm in worship, my heart will follow. My prayer recently has been that my heart can feel what my lips profess and that my mind can believe what my heart feels.”
Praise be to Jesus!
Blessings,
Cambri Driskell