Soon and not so Soon

We're singing a song in chapel this morning:

Soon and very soon, my King is coming, robed in righteousness and crowned with love. When I see Him I shall be made like Him, soon and very soon. Soon and very soon I'll be going to the place He has prepared for me. There my sin erased my shame forgotten–soon and very soon. I will be with the One I love; with unveiled face I'll see Him. There my soul will be satisfied: soon and very soon.

I don't really like this song.

It rubs me in the wrong way.. as if the purpose of Christianity is to get us as far away from this world as possible. This message is antithetical to the gospel of Jesus and instead is more the gospel of gnosticism and Greek dualism.

Jesus calls his disciples to be in the world (though, admittedly not 'of it,' whatever that means). Not to focus totally on what will happen. The 12 disciples were too focused on what Jesus would do instead of being present in what he's doing in the present.

Christians, or those who go by that name, everywhere are plagued by a restlessness that calls them forward into a distant and intangible future. Instead: be present.

Maybe the lyrics should be changed to 'Soon and not so soon, my King is coming, because he's already given us a task to do.'

Wes

2 comments

Oct 19, 2009

Jeremy said...

Hey man, glad to see you're posting again. Yeah this song smacks of individualism and privatized salvation. If Jesus called us to not be of the world, all I can think of is that it reminds me of Jesus in the gospel of John declaring that his Kingdom not of the world. But perhaps we could read this statement along with his saying to the disciples that the poor will always be among you. These aren't so much factual statements as they are exhortations to his disciples. That is to say the kingdom will not be here based on the way you are currently living, or the poor will still be around as long you as you continue conducting your life the way it is. (Side note, the gospel of John is written in many ways to appease the Roman government so as to make the Christians non-threatening, so Jesus' mock dialogue with Pilate where the "My kingdom is not of this world" could also be interpreted as the Christian community giving way to pressure to conform to Roman rule). The whole notion of other-worldly salvation is far from Christian, in fact I would say it is anti-Christian, a point Nietzsche knows very well and critiques (along with Marx) very stridently throughout his career.

Oct 20, 2009

michelle said...

wes, i really appreciate your honest here...i really do. like you, i have problems with this song as well [not to mention, i'm not the biggest brooke fraser fan! :)] however, i do not feel that this song is along the lines of dualism and gnosticism. while thoughts about the future should not dominate our perspective, think about the purpose of the book of Revelation. Revelation was written so that we might have joy, endurance, and confidence for the present that comes from our source in the victory and future unveiling of Christ. that being said, i see this song as encouragement more than anything else. honestly, i think the line "soon and very soon" is what bothers me the most. the truth is that what we so earnestly desire may not happen until years and years after we are gone. the combination of future hope and present reality is one of the most puzzling paradoxes of faith to me, but i think it is safe to say that neither pole can go unacknowledged. thanks for sharing :)

wes hargrove

wes hargrove

Soon and not so Soon

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