8 Great Christian Rock Songs (For People Who Hate Christian Rock)

1. “Crumbs From Your Table” by U2

There are approximately 80 U2 songs that could’ve taken this spot, or I could’ve just made this entire list U2 songs.  I read a theory once that literally every single U2 song has two meanings:  one is whatever real-world event, whether political or personal, inspired the lyrics, and the other is the religious or spiritual meaning connected to it.  I happen to believe this theory.

“Crumbs,” which is a deep cut from the 2004 album How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb took my top spot because of its absolutely masterful use of one of my favorite Jesus quotes as lyrics, and for its powerful portrayal of the pain that comes with questioning one’s faith.

We all know the story of the healing of the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter in the seventh chapter of Mark (par. Matthew 15).  Jesus is hiding from the crowds which have been following him, but a Gentile woman “whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit,” finds him and falls down at his feet.

Shockingly, Jesus at first refuses.  “Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  Such cruelty from Jesus, who Christians are accustomed to thinking of as the embodiment of love and justice, is astonishing.

But this unnamed woman gives possibly the best reply in the entire history of human rhetoric:  “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

Game, set, match.  Syrophoenician Woman: 1; Jesus: 0.

Jesus heals the woman’s daughter and, if this event is taken to be historical, which I believe in some form it is, this may mark the exact moment in which Jesus first understood the Kingdom of God as belonging to Gentiles as well as Jews.  If not for this unnamed woman, Christianity might not exist today.

So U2 sings, “You speak of signs and wonders, but I need something other.  I would believe if I was able, but I’m waiting on the crumbs from your table” and my heart aches, because the feeling described by that chorus is one I feel every single day of my life as I struggle to maintain my faith against a largely cruel, uncaring world.

What I’ve discovered is that it is absolutely normal, and healthy, to question your faith.  Believing in the kind of love and justice Jesus preached about is hard in a world where the ugly side of humanity is put on full display on every television and computer screen we have.  Sometimes, promises of “signs and wonders” in a book written thousands of years ago aren’t enough to go on.  Sometimes people need to have their faith rewarded.

And now we come full-circle, to the magic that is music.  That emotions like these can be stirred simply by different combinations of sounds is nothing short of miraculous, and in that, at least, my faith is rewarded every day.

Bonus!  I wrote my own experimental religious song, about a break-up seen through a Christian lens.  Check it out here if you’re interested!