Firstly, if you watch ‘The Office’ you may understand the title of this blog. It was chosen in honour of Matt Chambers. If you’ve ever met the man you’ll know he is a walking, talking clone of David Brent.
Matt in action at a school in Ormskirk, UK.
As a band we spend some of our time working in schools. We take RE and music workshops and assemblies. Our aim is to show the kids that Christians are normal people, to explain to them why we believe what we do and hopefully help answer any questions they might have.
We sometimes even ask a few questions of our own. In a rhythm workshop Matt B asked a class “How long is a musical bar?”. One year 8 child confidently replied, “10 till 2?”. He was helpfully giving us the opening hours of the local night club. And I promise you he wasn’t being funny!
We get asked some brilliant questions, along with some slightly odd ones. My favourite has to have been, “Is morality subjective or objective through time?”. “In English please?”, we replied. Unfortunately, the child who had posed this question had no idea what he meant and the teacher had to step in at that point. I think they were trying to catch us out there!
What we really try to stress in question and answer sessions is that we believe in God because of experiences we have had in our lives. No amount of theological debate or clever answers will ever convince anyone that God exists. It is a matter of faith, it’s something we feel inside and no one can take that away from you.
Me with my brother in law Raj and a little dude called Buru!
We have a brand new song called ‘You are the feeling’ which centre’s around the fact that as Christians we believe God has placed his spirit inside us. He is always with us. We feel something different. An unexplainable strength in hard times. An invisible guide through difficult decisions.
I was in India before Christmas with my family and I was lucky enough to visit an exhibition about the life of Gandhi in Mumbai. He was a great man with a strong belief in God even though he did not believe in Jesus. He described God as the invisible force, the power, the mystery behind all things.
“There is an indefinable mysterious power that pervades everything, I feel it though I do not see it. It is this unseen power which makes itself felt and yet defies all proof, because it is so unlike all that I perceive through my senses. It transcends the senses.”
Gandhi
The way Gandhi lived his life and the difference he made leaves me in no doubt that God was doing something very special inside of him. Even if he called his experience of God something slightly different to what we call ours. Anyway, his words inspired me to finish the chorus of the song,
“You are the feeling, the mystery.
The light that glows deep inside of me.
You are the feeling, I can’t deny.
The world will know how you’ve changed my life.”
Words are not enough to explain what we feel inside. Clever answers may delight the mind but will never satisfy the soul. In which case as Christians our lives must be different, in a way that people stop and take notice. I find that a real challenge.
