“You know I like my chicken fried, a cold beer on a Friday night, a pair of jeans that fit just right, and the radio up.”
Zac Brown Band
Many country music songs paint a picture of a simple life. Not extravagant wealth or fame or success. It represents the worldview of a significant population of America that doesn’t reject God, in fact honors him and encourages going to church. But here’s the catch: God is often portrayed as just a small piece of life. He’s not everything, he’s just a piece of the pie that leads to true happiness. Overall, happiness is seen as living the simple life, having good friends who are loyal to you, a spouse you love, chill Friday nights, a beer with friends, and going to church on Sunday. It highlights the simple pleasures and thrills in life: that first kiss or watching the game with friends.
To be sure there’s much to commend about this. The worldview in general is more wholesome than crude. It doesn’t encourage radical love for Christ or godliness, but it’s also doesn’t oppose Scripture in many cases. It commends a life of moderation, which is a biblical idea.
But there are several reasons why this nominal version of Christianity is detrimental to us spiritually.
It Robs Us of True Happiness
By encouraging moderation in all things, including God, it dulls people’s appetite for more of him.
Paul was content in all situations, but the one area he wasn’t content was in his hunger for God. The country music gospel teaches moderation in all things including our faith.
It’s also a lifestyle that most can afford. You don’t need extravagant wealth, popularity, good looks, or success to have the simple, quiet life. But this worldview sells us short of what we were truly meant for.
We were meant to be Christian hedonists which John Piper defines this way: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. We were meant for happiness–true happiness that can only be found in God. It’s clear that the apostle Paul down to his last breath wanted more of God. Nothing could compare to knowing him and so he was willing to lose everything for even a tiny bit more of God (Php. 3:7-9). That doesn’t mean we scorn all earthly pleasures (Col. 2:20-22), but we should recognize that those earthly pleasures are nothing compared to Christ.
The psalmist had the same mindset:
“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Psalm 73:25-26
There’s no such longing for God in the country music gospel. It doesn’t advocate for religious pluralism but it does present a dangerous kind of Christian pluralism. It says, “By all means, honor God and go to church and read your Bible,” but in truth it presents real joy and pleasure as being found in having God, family, friends, a little bit of money, and sports.” But this ultimately gives people less of Christ, and leads them to trust in things other than Christ alone.
J.I. Packer wrote, “a half truth masquerading as a whole truth becomes a complete untruth.” It’s the same with Christian pluralism. A little Christ masquerading as all you need of Christ becomes no Christ.
For people who tend to put all their identity in one basket, real life examples of the emptiness of those things are powerful. When Tom Brady said on 60 Minutes that three Superbowl rings wasn’t enough to satisfy him it resonated with many people because they’re either chasing the things of this world, or they’ve achieved what they longed for and found out it wasn’t enough. They need to hear that God alone can satisfy them no matter how much they lean on him (John 4:13).
The simple life worldview doesn’t lead people to realize the emptiness of the things of this world as easily because it diversifies investment in worldly happiness. It makes people not too dependent on any one thing. If you lose friends, you still have family or a cold beer after a hard day’s work. But a cold beer can’t save our souls and it cannot satisfy us like God’s steadfast love can (Ps. 90:14; 63:3).
It Lies To Us About Sin
This worldview also causes us to forget how desperately we need a savior because of our sin. It paints a picture that God is good, life is good, and people are mostly good. In reality, we are desperately sick and have sinned against our perfect, loving, and holy God and deserve eternal separation from him because of the heinousness of our sin. But in love he laid down his life for us. The offended party became the accused. Has a cold beer ever done that for us? Has a nice cool breeze on a Friday night ever worn a crown of thorns for us? The simple pleasures in life are great, and are gifts from God, but we don’t need pleasures, we need a savior. However, when we trust in him fully we find that at his right hand are pleasures forevermore (Ps. 16:11). We were meant to drink deeply of God and his love for us. Nothing is as good.
So listen to country music, work hard, enjoy a relaxing Friday night after a hard week, spend time with friends. But remember that all these things are a gift from our creator and remember that none of them can satisfy us like he can.
Why do you spend your money on that which is not bread and your labor on that which does not satisfy. Listen diligently to me and eat what is good and delight yourself in the richest of fair.
Isaiah 55:2
Mike McGregor
Mike McGregor (MDiv, Reformed Theological Seminary) is Director of College Ministry at First Baptist Church in Durham, N.C. You can follow him on Twitter at @m5mcgregor.
