Tiny Bubbles

Someone emailed me a few weeks ago and asked me for a list of sad songs. I love music, so I thought it was a good opportunity to spout off a few classics and some obscure references for them. After some thought, I gave a pretty straight forward list of a few songs and ended with Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles.

The Beatles are one of my favorite bands, so I have to include something by them on any list. Eleanor Rigby is a short, catchy song but it describes so many people in the world today. Lonely people.

Eleanor Rigby, the character in the song, may be someone you know. Maybe you are her (or him if you are a guy). She spent all of her time inside the church. She even died there. She strikes me as the stereotype we have all heard about. Have you ever heard the description about someone who is at church “every time the doors are open?”

There’s nothing wrong with going to functions at church, mind you. There is a huge problem when your church life becomes a bubble world where you hide from reality inside of religion. Church has become an industry. You can buy Christian music to listen to while you drink Christian coffee wearing your Christian shirt. You can read a Christian novel at a Christian restaurant. If people still don’t get the message, you can put a Christian sticker on your car. If you are really lucky, there will be a Christian gym near you — or maybe your Church Inc. has one on campus.

There is nothing wrong with any of these things, on their own. However, your mission is in the world. Jesus didn’t come to earth to blow bubbles and he doesn’t want you to live in one. The world is not going to come to you.

Ezekiel tells us that we will all be forgotten, even our names. The only way most of us can have an impact on the world around us is by walking in it. The song concludes with the phrase “no one was saved.” Scary. Maybe she should have gotten out more.