Ballads of the Broken: Pt. 1

Introduction to The Soul of Music 2024
Music is a powerful medium that resonates with the hearts and souls of listeners. Each song carries its own story, much like scripture, and has the power to call people to action, soothe souls, ignite passions, express deep feelings, and reflect the essence of emotions.

Music is what feelings sound like. The belief that all truth comes from God extends to music. Godly truths can be found in the lyrics of popular songs, serving as modern-day scriptures of culture.

The Soul of Music 2024 playlist, "Ballads of the Broken," focuses on songs that speak to the five forms of brokenness to be covered in our series - inward, inherited, imposed, inspired, and invited. Brokenness is a universal experience, and music provides a way to discuss and understand it. God’s Response to Brokenness is found in scriptures like Psalms 34:17-18 and Matthew 5:3-4.

Mixtapes, a concept popularized in the 1980s, are homemade compilations of favorite songs from various artists, often used to communicate messages or feelings. They served as personal expressions, saying things like "I love you" to a partner or "Let’s rock!" to a friend.

The Soul of Music Test:
To understand a song's essence, one can ask: What is its soul?
What thoughts or feelings does it evoke?
 What truth lies in its lyrics?
How can God use it to reach a world in darkness?

Coldplay's "Fix You" - A Case Study:
The song "Fix You" by Coldplay, though secular, carries spiritual undertones, addressing themes of brokenness and hope. Its lyrics speak profoundly to the human condition of feeling lost, confused, and broken. The song exemplifies the universal experience of brokenness and the need for healing, mirroring life's reality that everyone encounters brokenness at some point.

Jesus: The Healer of Our Inward Brokenness


Understanding Our Brokenness
We often feel broken, but this isn't our true identity. This inward brokenness, stemming from sin, is a universal human experience. It's a concept deeply rooted in Christian theology, particularly in the doctrine of original sin. According to Genesis 2:15-17, humanity's inherent imperfection began with Adam and Eve's disobedience, marking all of us with a natural bias towards sin.

Inward brokenness
manifests in various forms like evil, hate, addictions, and other life challenges. It's not just an external force like the devil, but an internal struggle with pride, self-sufficiency, and a lack of trust in God. Isaiah 59:2a poignantly reminds us that our sins separate us from God.  Our culture often promotes the idea of being self-sufficient, almost god-like, especially with advancements in technology. However, this perspective is at odds with Christian beliefs.

John Wesley the founder of Methodism emphasized that scriptures contradict the notion of human perfection. We all need fixing, a concept that might resonate with many, as expressed in Jelly Roll's lyrics, "Someone save me from myself."

The Need for Divine Intervention
Romans 6:23 highlights the gravity of our situation – the wages of sin is death, but God offers us eternal life through Christ. This verse underscores our inherent inability to love God perfectly and the necessity of God's grace for our salvation. John Wesley urges us to recognize our ailment and the cure.

Jesus Christ: The Ultimate Fix

Jesus Christ, through His sinless life, death, and resurrection, offers us a way out of our brokenness. It's through our personal faith response that we can be fixed. We don't have to remain in our broken state; we have the free will to choose faith and let God work wonders in our hearts.

Living a New Life in Christ
Romans 6 offers profound insights into living a life transformed by Christ. It speaks of dying to sin and living for God's glory, using our bodies as instruments of righteousness, and embracing the freedom found in God's grace. This new life leads to holiness and eternal life, a stark contrast to the death brought by sin.

Conclusion
In conclusion, our inward brokenness is a real and challenging aspect of our human experience. But through Jesus Christ, we have a powerful solution. By acknowledging our brokenness and turning to Christ, we can find healing and live a life of purpose and grace.




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