Switch Foot Up the A**

Let me preface what I am about to say with the fact that I absolutely love Switchfoot. I don't love them in the "I want to have their babies" way neither do I mean the "I will actually pay for your album instead of taking it off the ourtunes" way. But I love them in that I actually enjoyed their concert and I think their music is both good, catchy, and sometimes, even inspirational. I like the fact that they are a Christian band who has made it into the mainstream, and aren't afraid to be called out as being Christian. I am proud that they are not the typical Christian artists who seem like they have a quota of "Christian words" they must fulfill in order to make the release like "grace (which has to rhyme with face), holy (it comes in three), love (did you really think I'd leave this out), mercy (only when grace is used up too much), tenderness (three syllable words make me sound intelligent), lift up (we need action verbs in there somewhere), God almighty (can't really sing about God without mentioning God), great (because it's simple), and cross (just in case they missed the sign)." And just for the sole reason of Switchfoot staying away from these words in every single song they sing makes me a little bit partial to them, to the point where I will actually sport their T-shirt around on a regular basis.

That having been said, there is one time when I cannot bear to hear Switchfoot any more. It is every time there is a Christian movie, promotional video, ambience music for Christian events, or anything of that sort. And believe me, it is rampant. And when I hear Switchfoot in there, I do not hear their lyrics or their music, but I simply hear a message that if fully summarized is this: "We are Christians and honestly, we do not listen anything outside our little subculture bubble, but we want to sound cool and outreach to people who do not listen to our music, so let's meet halfway and hopefully we will pass for cool by playing this billboard hit that has been overplayed anyway over the radio and call ourselves one of the 'sexier' Christian phrases these days: RELEVANT." It jars me in such a way that it reminds me of the days when "My Heart Will Go On" will come on the radio 10 times an hour per radio station over 50 radio stations in a small suburb in 1997. Worse than the scraping of nails on the blackboard or the "one annoying friend that every group of friends has just for the sake of making fun of" is when I hear Switchfoot as the most overplayed relevant Christian band. Like Erwin McManus says, I too am really just so sick of being relevant all the time. "Instead of being so worried about being countercultural all the time within the context of culture, shouldn't we have a much better, stronger culture that is not in relation to everything and everyone else?"