That's Where the Party's At!

I heard this song on the radio while I was driving somewhere a while back . .

Hands up, holler back here
Let’s throw this party in gear. .

. . and I got confused. I thought this was the KLOVE station?

We brought the welcome mat.
Wherever we go, that’s where the party’s at!

This sounds more like something Hannah Montana would sing. Are we on Radio Disney . . ?

Then this past week, while making a purchase at the local Christian bookstore, I got a good deal on a Newsboys CD. I only know a couple Newsboys songs, but I like them, so I thought I’d give it a try. And the first track on the CD was the "party" song I’d heard and wondered about before. So, I stopped what I was doing, got out the lyrics from the CD case, started the song over again and tried to pay more attention.

Wherever we go, bluebirds sing
And the flowers bloom and the grass gets green . .
Where we go, little glow-worms glow, little road-runners run ahead,
Gonna tell their friends, little mice, little men, get ‘em all excited . . [Hmmmm.]

Wherever we go, the dumb get wise, and the crime rates drop and the markets rise,
It’s a curious thing . . [Yeah, that’s a curious claim. Where exactly is this going??]
Bullies make nice, crooks repent, and the ozone layer shows improvement . .
Wherever we’re led, all the Living Dead wanna leave their Zombie Mob.
It’s a touching scene when they all come clean.
God help us, we just love our job!

So, here’s the interesting thing: if I hadn’t just been reading Affluenza, I’m not sure I would have gotten this song. Not that I’m sure I get it now, but this is what I get out of it:

Wouldn’t it be cool if all true believers actually lived as if this were God’s world to be a custodian of, and changed their lifestyle accordingly – and the collective power of that many people living that way actually improved the ozone layer?

Wouldn’t it be amazing if all genuine Christ-followers saw their jobs as a form of ministry and their possessions as tools in God’s hands, and changed their purchasing habits and business practices accordingly – and the economy began to heal?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the dumb and the bullies and the crooks and the “Living Dead” all actually came to personally know a personal God through their interactions with real children of God, and (rather than being either shamed into playing a church game or shamed out of the church altogether) if their hearts and minds and lives changed accordingly -- and the Zombie Mob that is much of American society came alive?

Wouldn't it be incredible if the church was actually "God's Dream Community" (as Jeff likes to call it), with a reputation for being the hot spot in town, the place where everyone wants to be . . where there's joy and life, not solemnity and stuffiness . . where there's love and forgiveness, not shame and condemnation . . where people are growing and learning and loving and laughing and full of the one thing every human being is truly longing for most -- God?

Hands up, holler back now,
We don't claim any know-how
We givin' God all that
Wherever we go . .
That's where the party's at!

Wouldn't it be AWESOME if that were true?? If the very presence of the people of God made that kind of difference in the world? And isn't it a shame that it isn't?