How to Share Your Faith Using Coldplay's Speed of Sound
X & Y, the newly released CD by British band, Coldplay, pulses with life. By taking a closer look at the lyrics to "Speed of Sound," one of the new songs off X & Y, you can create some awesome opportunities to share your faith.
Questions, questions, questions - life is full of them - so it's no surprise when Chris Martin, Coldplay's lead singer (and husband of Gwyneth Paltrow!), fills his lyrics with them.
How long before I begin?
Where do I go?
How long do I have to climb
Up on the side of this mountain of mine?
Questions are a normal part of life, even a healthy part of life. Maybe you've heard the famous saying, "the unexamined life is not worth living." (Socrates) If you never stop to think about what you're doing and why you're doing it, you're likely to blunder around in life, directionless and ineffective.
Perhaps the most meaningful of the questions Coldplay's songwriter poses in "Speed of Sound" is:
How long am I going to stand
With my head stuck under the sand?
Can you imagine anyone wanting to go through life with their head stuck under the sand - choosing to ignore the realities of the world around them or blindly oblivious to them? Either way, someone with their head under the sand just doesn't get it! And not getting it is no way to live your life and no way for your friends to live theirs!!
Using "Speed of Sound" lyrics as a springboard, here are some discussion starter ideas to help you share your faith.
- Ask your friends - do you have a lot of questions about life? If they say yes, ask - like what? If they say no, forge ahead any way and say something like - I used to have a lot of question about life, but I'm starting to get the ‘God stuff' figured out. Share your story about what God means to you. Invite your friends to youth group or arrange for your youth leader to do lunch sometime with you and your friends.
- Another line from the "Speed of Sound" lyrics says:
The sign that I couldn't read,
Or a light that I couldn't see,
Some things you just have to believe,
Others are puzzles puzzling me.
Ask your friends - what do you think that means, "Some things you just have to believe"? You might get an answer like "I dunno. . ." But YOU do know, so you can say something like - well, I think that's true, some things you just have to believe. Like, I believe in God, do you? What do you think God's like? Can I tell you what I believe he's like? For help with this, see The Gospel Journey.
Others are puzzles puzzling me.
It's OK to be puzzled. It's part of the awe and mystery of being finite humans in relationship with an infinite God. The Bible says,
"We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (1 Cor. 13:12 - The Message)
Ask your friends - does life puzzle you sometimes? Where do you go to find answers? Share some of the God answers you've discovered!
A line in the chorus of this song reflects,
If you could see it then you'd understand
Oh when you see it then you'll understand.
If your friends have their heads "under the sand" and seem to be happy with them there, remember that the Bible says,
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Cor. 1:18)
But don't give up on your friends. Remember back to when you just didn't get it either; and then one day, some way, Jesus' message reached out and grabbed you! Help make that happen for the world around you...share the gospel at the speed of sound!!
