Theological Thoughts for Thursday

(lyrics are at the end of the post.)

Sufjan Stevens is an incredibly talented singer/songwriter. He is creating a set of CDs featuring each state. One of the songs from his Illinois album is about John Wayne Gacy Jr.

Honestly, your gut reaction when you hear the song will be that it is much too pretty to be about a serial killer.

The last few lines really sum it up.

Sufjan Stevens is a person of faith. His act isn't branded as a "Christian Band" and some Christians object to his attitude about being public about his faith. He says, "I don't like talking about that stuff in the public forum because, I think, certain themes and convictions are meant for personal conversation." But he's a person of faith, who writes openly and honestly about spiritual themes ... and compares himself to notorious serial killers.

John Wayne Gacy is in a special category of serial killers. He's the one that no one suspected and who never repented. His neighbors brought their children to his block parties to watch him perform as a clown. His dying words, as they brought him to the execution room, were "Kiss my ass."

Too much of "Christian music" is just awful. We listen to and sing songs that are simply lies. We tell God how much we want to praise Him more than anything else ... and most days, for most people in the pews - that's simply a lie. How many Christian recording artists have written beautiful lies about their never ending devotion to God only to end up recanting their faith or falling into scandal?

I applaud Sufjan Stevens for the courage it takes to be real and honest. I think the church would be in a much better place if we could live with this knowledge. God loves John Wayne Gacy. And God loves you.

His father was a drinker
And his mother cried in bed
Folding John Wayne's T-shirts
When the swingset hit his head
The neighbors they adored him
For his humor and his conversation
Look underneath the house there
Find the few living things
Rotting fast in their sleep of the dead
Twenty-seven people, even more
They were boys with their cars, summer jobs
Oh my God

Are you one of them?

He dressed up like a clown for them
With his face paint white and red
And on his best behavior
In a dark room on the bed he kissed them all
He'd kill ten thousand people
With a sleight of his hand
Running far, running fast to the dead
He took off all their clothes for them
He put a cloth on their lips
Quiet hands, quiet kiss
On the mouth

And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid