Not that long ago I picked up a copy of Switchfoot’s CD “nothing is sound.” I have enjoyed several of their earlier albums, but this one is fantastic. I love the music and the lyrics. It is the lyrics that have especially caught my attention on this album. Maybe it is just me, but it seems like there are several Christian artists out there who are increasingly writing songs not just to sell records and make money, but out of a sense of calling to speak to the church and challenge it to become what it is called to be (see Derek Webb’s She Must and Shall Go Free ).

When singer/songwriter Jonathan Foreman writes: “I pledge allegiance to a country without borders, without politicians” in the song “Politicians” for example, I am challenged to remember that my ultimate allegiance is to Jesus Christ.

Foreman seems to speak to the confusion, anger, and desperation that many young people feel today in “Lonely Nation” when he writes: “She’s just reminiscing, blood, sweat and one thing’s missing. She’s been breaking up inside, inside. Singing without tongues, screaming without lungs, I want more than my lonely nation, I want more than my lonely nation. Desperate we are young. Separate we are one. I want more than my desperation. I want more than my lonely nation.”

Not everyone will agree with the perspective in every song, but one thing is for sure, if you are listening, the songs on “Nothing Is Sound” will make you think. Like so many other things, Christian music can sometimes become so predictable and familiar that it ceases to challenge us or encourage us to grow in our faith. Albums like “Nothing Is Sound” excite me, because I think they give people an opportunity to think through some parts of their faith that may have previously been unexamined in a bit closer light.

At least, I can testify that I have found this album to be thought-provoking. Oh yeah, and it rocks!