Corny Christian music :P

Stuart once referred to the lyrics in Christian songs as corny. And though I knew he mainly said that out of disdain for anything related to Christianity, for a long time, I've actually been feeling the same way for quite a while. Actually, long before I even met Stuart... standing up in church on Sunday mornings singing along to the praise and worship with everyone else.... I find that I cannot sing some of the songs or lyrics without feeling like a hypocrite because I know it's just not true for me. When it comes to songs talking about how wonderful and majestic and powerful God is, and how He deserves to be praised and all that stuff (which is actually quite corny too, but not in the sense that makes me uncomfortable), I have no problem singing that coz' it's true after all. But then take songs with lyrics like "Lord, I offer my life to you,", or "I love You more than life," or "Every step I take, I take in You. You are are my way, Jesus". They're all nice sounding, feel-good, nice worshipy kinda songs...but geez how many Christians actually mean what they sing in such songs? Do we actually offer our whole lives to God, instead of keeping some parts to ourselves? Do we actually love Him more than life, or do we love our life and our possessions and our human friends more? Do we really take every step in Him and follow His plan, or do we usually come up with our own ideas of what to do and not bother to ask Him if it's what He wants for us? I don't know about the other one third of the world that proclaims to be Christians, but to tell the truth, it's usually been the latter scenario for me. And anyone else who claims that they do or even thinks they do all that, even people like pastors, has got to be kidding themselves. Which is not to say that I have not sincerely tried to live that life, and I'm sure any real Christian would've tried to do so as well. But still, I cannot say that I completely offered my life to God, or that I completely love Him more than anything else, or that I completely walk with Him in all I do, coz' well, I don't. And because of that, I can't sing these songs with all honesty coz' I know I'm not living the lyrics. And it amazes me how the people who wrote these songs could've written such...um...exaggerated (if that's the right word) lyrics, probably just to make the songs sound a little nicer. I wish those Christian music writers would've been more politically correct and written something like "I'm inately selfish, Lord, but I'll try my best to offer everything to you," or "I kinda push you aside in my daily life all the time, but I'll trying to learn to walk with you"... or something along those lines, although maybe not as blunt. Hehe. Which is why I really admire contemporary Christian bands that really sing the Christian walk it like it is and don't make their lyrics unrealistically corny for the sake of making a nice-sounding Christian song. Bands like DC Talk, which sang these lyrics, "What if I stumble? What if I fall? What if I lose my step and I make fools of us all?". Bands like Jars of Clay, which sing "The lonely tears I cry, I wish they'd release me. It's in despair that I find faith". And even my newest favourite band, Evanescence, which by the way does not want to be labelled a Christian band, but anyone who actually listens to their lyrics will know they have strong Christian influences. Take for example, ze song 'My Tourniquet', which has ze following lyrics, "Am I too lost to be saved?....My God, my tourniquet, return to me salvation." Of course, all sort-of depressing sounding lyrics, and certainly not suitable for a praise and worship session on Sunday service... but these are lyrics that tell of the spiritual struggles of any Christian. They are real and raw, and show the true picture of what a honest Christian goes through, not all that feel-good crap we sing on Sundays. And of course, when bands like the three mentioned above actually do sing praise songs, the lyrics are just a bit more realistic to the average Christian.
Anyhow, I can't change the corniness of the lyrics that we sing every week. But at least it's something to think about...when we're singing those lyrics in church, do we just sing it blindly, lifting our hands in the air thinking that the louder we sing, the more pleasing it is to our God? Or do we actually stop singing our throats dry for a second so we can think about the words we're singing, and acknowledge to God that we're not living some of those words, but we want Him to change us so that one day we can actually mean those words? If the whole church was like me, I think the congregation would be silent when it's time to sing such songs that say "I love you more than life" or "I give my all to You", coz' if I know I can't do it, I don't wanna be singing it. Coz' I'm not singing any old nice song for fun. I'm singing to a God who is listening.