at one point during the show david crowder was talking to the crowd. there were a bunch of teenagers up at the stage in what i guess would be the pit holding cardboard signs. david and his band mates were reading the signs and joking around about them. he read one that said "give me your shoes, it's my birthday," and without hesitating, david crowder slipped off his shoes and gave them to the guy. *(now, i'd like to add a little disclaimer that these weren't just any ordinary shoes. these were probably the sweetest pair of yellow sneakers i have ever seen. seriously. it was like someone captured sunshine and put it in sneaker form.)* after handing them to the kid, david crowder went on to explain how much he loved those shoes and how they were from hong kong. he loved them so much he had surfed the web in search of another pair (he wanted a back-up pair) but couldn't find any. and that was that. he moved on to play the next song of his set.
i couldn't believe it. who does that? first of all, who just gives their favorite pair of shoes to someone because they made a sign asking for them? second, i thought the sign was a little rude. "give me your shoes." the kid could have been a little more polite. maybe say something like "it's my birthday and i really like your shoes. birthday present?" i mean really. if you're going to ask a famous musician for his shoes, i would expect a little more tact.
anyways...i couldn't believe he just gave his shoes away. just like that. his favorite pair of shoes gone just because someone asked him for them. it struck me how it was such a little thing, but when done in front of an audience of around 2,000 people, it can mean so much. he showed how his shoes, even though he loved them, were just a material thing. something of the earth, not something that would help him towards eternity.
i am guilty of clinging to things of this earth. i cling to my possessions. i obsess over worldly things. i let these things control my life, control my attitude, and control how i act on a day to day basis, but why should i? when it comes down to it, on the day of judgement, is Jesus going to care if i was dressed up enough for work or if i had a cute outfit for a Christmas party? no. and when i think about these things in this way i feel so foolish. i feel so shallow and ashamed. it's so easy to get wrapped up in the world...to get caught up in society and what society sees as normal or important. it's hard to remind myself daily, shoot, even hourly, that what i'm most concerned with in that moment is probably not what the Lord wants me to be concerned with.
i'm not trying to make excuses, but i think it's harder to stay focused on living for Him in the corporate world. lately, my job has been running my life, consuming my thoughts and emotions. not that this wasn't true when i was a student. i was consumed with school work and activities and all of that junk, but it was a different kind of consumption.
last night's concert just really re-opened my eyes, and not really in the way that i was expecting it to. i assumed that i would experience something from the messages in the music. the music was great and i loved it, but it was the actions of the band that really struck me. i don't know if any of this has made sense, and i kind of feel like i've been rambling...but just think about it. if you were asked by a complete stranger for the shoes on your feet, would you be able to give them away? or the tv in your house? or the coat on your back?
and since this whole post has been a little heavy (not that heavy is bad) i will end with this:
