“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” – G.K. Chesterton
I spent a couple of days around Christmas writing and recording this rather confessional song called “The Man Who Sold the World.” (Press the play button below or click here to open in a separate window.)
I had in mind Jesus’ words from Mark 8:36-37 (and parallels): “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” The person who “sells” the world, in other words, is the one who exchanges the world’s superficial pleasures and values for a life in God. I greatly admire the person who can do it, but I’m sympathetic with Chesterton’s words above. I have a strong conviction that Jesus’ way is the way to true life, and I’ve experienced it, however fleetingly, in fits and starts, on this side of eternity, but it’s incredibly difficult to live out. I want to do it, but it’s a daily, hourly, moment-by-moment struggle. Fortunately, God’s grace prevails: “You are not the sum of your mistakes/ What breaks you is a blessing/ If you could see it from God’s eyes.”
The words are as follows:
You are not the sum of your mistakes
What breaks you is a blessing
If you could see it from God’s eyes
As you stop and and wonder at the man who sold the world
At the man who sold the world
Write me in the margin of the text
Next to you I’m nothing except what I will be
Everybody will see the wonder of the man who sold the world
Of the man who sold the world
Bridge:
It’s a childhood panorama, taking it all in
It’s a sin to let it all go by
And why do I make the same mistake
I try and I break
You are always there like a prayer
You are not the center of this space
Racing to tomorrow like there never was today
Slow down and see the wonder
Like the man who sold the world
Like the man who sold the world
You are not the jury or the judge
Begrudging them they’re happy
Like they stole the missing part
Look in your heart and wonder
At the man who sold the world
At the man who sold the world
I recorded this on my Mac using GarageBand. I played all the instruments (the drums are from one of GarageBand’s built-in loops), including the Hammond B3-sounding keyboard part (via MIDI), and sang lead. (The keyboard was a Christmas gift!) My friend Michael Hester added the harmony vocal.
Love the song, Brent. Keep them coming.