Remember what it was like to feel far from God? I was talking with a friend recently who described feeling like “something” was missing from his life. For some people it’s a distant memory while for others it’s a daily reality. The truth is, the further we get from the time we felt  far from God, the easier it is to forget what it was like.

Every once in a while a song comes out that immediately makes me remember. If you’re a Christian, I hope the messages in these 5 songs will help you remember that everyday people are searching for…..something.

1. Sum 41 “Pieces”

There was probably a time (however brief it may have been), where we believed in ideals. We believed adults were trustworthy and parents were perfect. This song seems to be about a person feeling let down by the reality of life’s imperfections and coming to grips that it might even be in his own soul. How many people out there feel let down by the imperfections of others, especially those we love?

Best Lyric:
I tried to be perfect
But nothing was worth it
I don’t believe it makes me real
I thought it’d be easy
But no one believes me
I meant all the things I said
If you believe it’s in my soul
I’d say all the words that I know

2. Green Day “Minority”

We all want to create our own path. We don’t want to be just like everyone else and hope we’re special. This song connects finding your own path with walking away from the “moral majority”. I heard this song in college and found it funny because there was definitely no “majority” when it came to trying to be “moral.” But, this is the message we’re told today. If you want to be the true you, then you need to leave behind “religion” and “right and wrong”. I’ve always loved this song because I feel like following Jesus is the most counter-culture thing a person can do.

Best Lyric:
I want to be the minority
I don’t need your authority
Down with the moral majority
‘Cause I want to be the minority

http://youtu.be/lTw9o5uDMgY

3. Blink 182 “Stay Together for the Kids”

There are so many kids growing up today without a mom or dad at home. Sometimes I think they could be called “The divorced generation.” I love the emotion in this song and feel it perfectly describes the pain so many people feel today from growing up in a broken home. It’s no wonder so many people don’t trust authority. How will the church respond to this generation?

Best Lyric:
It’s hard to wake up, when the shades have been pulled shut
This house is haunted, it’s so pathetic, it makes no sense at all
I’m ripe with things to say, the words rot and fall away
What stupid poem could fix this home, I’d read it every day

So here’s your holiday,
hope you enjoy it this time, you gave it all away
it was mine, so when you’re dead and gone
will you remember this night, twenty years now lost,
it’s not right.

4. Avril Lavigne “I’m With You”

Everyone wants to feel noticed and wanted. I feel like this is the anthem of so many girls growing up today. When facing the brokenness they see in their family and sense in themselves, they hope someone will help take it away. They hope someone will come save them from themselves and their situation. There is something very real the church offers the Avril Lavigne’s of the world. 

Best Line:
Isn’t anyone trying to find me?
Won’t somebody come take me home?

It’s a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Won’t you take me by the hand?
Take me somewhere new
I don’t know who you are
But I… I’m with you
I’m with you

5. Hozier “Take Me to Church”

It’s hard to turn on the tv recently without hearing this song played on some commercial or trailer. Church is the place we give our all and apparently includes the basketball court (Lebron), battlefield (Fury), football field (Tom Brady), and work (Empire). This song is about a person wounded by religion who has now turned to all the comforts the world has to offer. They’ve found these more fulfilling because instead of making you feel bad, you get to feel good. How many people view church like this? If church is only a place that makes you feel bad about yourself, who wants that!? 

Best Line: 
Every Sunday’s getting more bleak
A fresh poison each week

‘We were born sick, ‘ you heard them say it

Take me to church
I’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I’ll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

http://youtu.be/u3voRbKryjA

These songs remind me why the church exists. It’s not to offer morality or rules for people to follow. The church offers people who feel lost, disconnected, broken, and far from God a place to connect with a God who loves them.