Four Finger Inspirations II: Mumford And Sons “Sigh No More”

One of my relentless missions in life is to find Jesus in modern culture.  I’m not talking about Christian pop culture like Christian music, books, media, etc.  These things are all well and good but will, unfortunately, never impact many people who simply don’t like this particular culture’s style.

I, too, have become increasingly dissatisfied with much of the modern Christian music and media out there.  Again, not that there’s anything wrong with it, it just rarely ever invokes any of my emotional triggers.  I wish it did.  I sometimes wish I could turn on and enjoy the local Christian music station because it would be a lot easier than dealing with the genetic makeup that is me, a picky tortured artist.

So whenever I find something that inspires me in incredible ways, of course I’m going to slap it up on this website.  I encourage you to click the link above, if you’ve not already done so.  And hey, if it’s not your cup of tea or doesn’t give you any tinglies, sorry about that.  Maybe next time.

A big thanks to my buddy Jordan for turning me on to this band.  Jordan is my music pimp.  He is crazier about music than I am and every time he finds a band he knows I’ll like, he tells me about them.  A lot my favorite music is because of him so I believe that everyone in life needs a music pimp.  You just can’t have Jordan.  Go find your own.

What you just heard is a song called “Sigh No More” by the band Mumford And Sons.  I’ve listened to this song about 15 times already today because they pretty much sum up the manifesto of my life in two lines.

“Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you, it will set you free. Be more like the man you were made to be. There is a design, an alignment, a cry of my heart to see, the beauty of love as it was made to be.”

There is a design, an alignment, a cry of my heart to see, the beauty of love as it was made to be.  Holy crap.  Not many people write like this anymore.

As a Christian, I’m convinced that this intended love, this perfect and beautiful thing is Jesus Christ’s love.  There is simply no other religion or philosophy that has ever shared the same radical and intense ethos of love as Jesus.  He set the standard.  And I believe that this sometimes even scandalous love can be the hardest thing for us humans to ascribe to one another. It is truly a weighty mission to fully understand and give this love, especially to people whom we think do not deserve it.

I love this song because, although is has many religious overtones, it connects with a broad group of people.  I’ve read many comments online from non-religious people and atheists defending the message of this song.  One person wrote, “I’m personally not a fan of preaching but if religion can produce music this beautiful among all the other things it has done in the past…”

Even non-Christians still understand the deep need for this perfect love.

What’s ironic is Mumford And Sons is not a Christian band, and I have no evidence that they claim to be Christians, although most of their songs are riddled with Christian themes.  And a few F-bombs here and there as well.  They once stated in an interview, “We’re not a Christian rock band as such, the album deals with dilemmas every man deals with in life as do we. Faith is just one thing we’ve gone with. It’s one subject that can’t be ignored and we’ve tried to deal with it.”

Faith can’t be ignored.

So although these guys will never make the cover of Christianity today, they are ministering.  It goes to show that all good things can be used for God’s purposes.