The Genuine
Posted By: Nick Hoag
So my brother Zach and I took this trip one time. We didn't take this trip because we had to. We didn't take this trip because we were supposed to. We took this trip because we wanted to - because it made perfect sense, because we were best friends and I was about to get married, and we had never heard the song "True Believers" in person. Let me back this train up a little bit.
In the summer of 1994, at the ripe old age of 10, I was sitting in the family living room watching MTV (like all good Christian boys do). A song came on (this was back when there was this thing called "music" on MTV) and I was in awe. I had never heard a song like this before. It was fast, it made my heart beat faster, it made me smile, it just flat out got me pumped about life. The song? Basket Case, courtesy of Green Day. I had never heard this thing called "punk" before and when I heard this song I was truly never the same again. Something about it struck a chord in my heart... this was it, this was how music was supposed to be, this was how it was supposed to make a person feel... it just felt geunine.
Webster's definition of the word genuine is simple - "Not Counterfeit; Authentic".
Makes sense I suppose.. but for me, it goes beyond that. When I encounter something truly genuine - be it a song, or a person, or a perfect summer day, or a truly great movie, or a kiss from my wife at the exact moment when I need it most - I feel it's a glimpse. A glimpse of the world we are all longing for; the world we know should exist, the world every human being on earth is searching for, but can't find because it's been cracked, broken, and torn to pieces (thanks to us). When I encounter something genuine, my heart feels whole, I'm filled with hope, and I usually can't stop smiling or can't stop crying, one or the other.
So, back to the trip. Here I was, on this fateful "bachelor bro-down" trip to Jersey, the very place I fell in love with punk rock. I was with my best friend on this earth, and we were going to a punk rock show. We weren't trying to do what brothers are supposed to do before one gets married, we weren't trying to listen to cool kid music to be...cool. We were simply being who we truly are - two dudes who love Jesus and love Punk Rock.
And let me just tell you, it was amazing. It was one of the greatest days of my life. Multiple times that day I saw authenticity. I saw guys playing music, not to make a lot of money or to get recognized by a label, but because they loved it. Plain and simple.
The Bouncing Souls were one such group. Their tattered and torn Marshall amps were a perfect picture of what they are all about. They've never made the crazy money, never been on MTV, never been very popular, but they are doing what they love, for the people who love them, and it shows. The lead singer came out into the crowd and shook probably 100 kid's hands as he sang. These kids were why he was out there. He was why I drove 6 hours in the pouring rain and stayed in some doo-drop inn off of route 46. And he knew it and was grateful and gave it his all, not for himself, but for the people. It was flat-out genuine.
Don't believe me? Take a gander at these lyrics, imagine the most perfect punk rock chords behind them, and then you might start to see it:
I've met some people along the way,
Some of them split some of them stay,
Some of them walk some walk on by,
I've got a few friends I'll love till I die
From all of these people I try to learn,
Some of them shine some of them burn,
Some of them rise some of them fall,
For good or bad I've known them all
We live our life in our own way,
Never really listened to what they say,
The kind of faith that doesn't fade away
We are the true believers
We are the true believers
In retrospect, that trip was a huge pivot point in my life. Not only was I about to get married, but on the trip down Zach and I talked about this bible study thing we were doing and how it had truly become our church. How maybe it was time to just call it that and go for it. That maybe it was time to recognize what we had known in our hearts for some time - that this was the most genuine and authentic expression of Jesus and His community that we had ever experienced. It wasn't forced - we weren't doing it because we had to - we were doing it because it brought us closer to Jesus than we had ever been before, because our relationship with our creator was flourishing in the midst of this community of Jesus followers that we were simply 'doing life' with. We had experienced the opposite, the Christian life that's built on rules and regulations, on behavior and how you dress, and we were never going back.
It is my sincerest belief that this is exactly what Jesus lived, died, and was raised for. He died to bring us back - back to the relationship that Adam had in the garden, where everything was "right", where everything was as it is supposed to be; man walking with God in perfect harmony. He didn't leave his home in heaven and come down to us to tell us to try harder and to clean up our acts. He came to fulfill and redeem the one relationship in our lives that will never disappoint and will forever fill that hole inside all of us. To put this world to rights in the most mind-blowing way possible. By dying for us. By rising from the dead, conquering sin once and for all, and ascending to Heaven, to sit on his victiorious throne forever as a sign and seal that it is finished. Like Josh prayed on Tuesday, he is the "Defender of our Hope", and he will defend it to the end (Matt. 28:20, Heb. 10:11-14, Rom. 8:38-39).
When I encounter the "genuine" in my life it always brings me back to Jesus. It's like a giant flashing arrow pointing right back to Him. When I saw the genuine in Greg of the Souls that day, I saw Jesus. I could see the desire in the kids that we were reaching out to him for the genuine and I could see the desire in his eyes to produce the genuine. And yet punk rock and the bouncing souls can't quite do it can they? They're still just fallible dudes in a fallible world. They can't save all those kids from the depression and anger they all harbor inside, no matter how much they'd like to. This is why Jesus came. If we could do it on our own, then there was no need for Him.
These little moments in my life have become reminders, and rather than fizzling back down into depression and sadness, these moments now lead me directly into the arms of my Savior, who has secured a place for me and has forever filled that hole in my heart. The result? A desire for a continued, authentic relationship with Him and the people around me. A desire to walk with Jesus as my best friend, to recognize Him as the only true savior this world has to offer, to take Him at His word, to believe everything He has placed in His perfect scriptures, and to to give every last breath I have to seeing His name proclaimed on this Earth and lives changed because of it.
I am so blessed to be a part of this community and the people in it. May we all keep our eyes focused on Jesus, never wavering, and enjoying every genuine moment along the way.
- - -
Without further ado, here's a video from that day courtesy of the offical dwellChannel on youtube (keep your eyes peeled on it for more vids to come!)
Quick Disclaimer: I was not going for perfection with my little flip video camera that I smuggled into the joint. It's messy, the sound is rough, and I got banged around the entire time...but how often do you get to see big pastor Z scream his head off at a punk rock show?!
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Reply #2 on : Fri October 30, 2009, 14:12:13
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Reply #1 on : Sat November 07, 2009, 23:34:07
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