Don’t Shut Me Down – ABBA

James writes:

ABBA bringing out new music has given great excitement to me. You may think I would write about “I Still Have Faith In You” but it is actually “Don’t Shut Me Down” that has led to much theological reflection. What can this song of a woman to her former lover have to do with Christianity I can almost imagine you ask? I wonder if the same could be said of the Song of Songs if it wasn’t contained in the Biblical canon? Yet we see at the heart of the Bible, a love song.

This song is about a woman who comes back to try and gain her old lover back. This was clearly a shock to her lover:

I believe it would be fair to say “you look bewildered”

and you wonder why I’m here today

and so you should, I would

Sometimes when we have changed, or try to make amends, people do seem bewildered. They wonder what our intentions are. People sometimes wonder what our intention is as Christians. A few times I have been part of Christians at Pride and, while most people seem delighted to see us, I have been asked if we are covertly not in favour of Pride. Years of hurt and oppression do not easily go away. Some do look bewildered and wonder why we’re there – and yes, so they should, I would. Yet that is one of the most important places for me to be if I am truly to show the all-inclusive love of God in Christ.

Will you leave me standing in the hall or let me enter?

I wonder if that is metaphorically a question we all ask as we engage in sharing the love of Jesus? Or when we try to share our lives and hurts with someone (Christian or not)? When we make ourselves vulnerable, and metaphorically stand in the hall, we do not know how others will react and if they will let us into our lives. That is the risk we take – the Christian faith is full of risk but it is not reckless risk. It is a risk of love. Christ took the risk of love in choosing to live and die for us. We all have to be vulnerable at times and it is in our vulnerability that we are fully human. Perhaps it is in the moments of our transformation we have to be vulnerable. Many of us have had questions about how people would respond on discovering we’d become Christians or started taking our faith more seriously.

I have learnt to cope, and love and hope is why I am here now

I wondered at times with depression whether I could carry on – whether my life was worth living. Yet it is the love of God in Christ and the hope that I will one day be united with Christ that has often kept me going. It truly is love and hope which is why I am here. In amongst difficult circumstances and real pain, I have known the hope of Jesus Christ which allows me to stand.

And now you see another me, I’ve been reloaded, yeah

I’m fired up, don’t shut me down

I’m like a dream within a dream that’s been decoded

When thinking theologically about this song, this line just makes me think of the Holy Spirit within us. The Holy Spirit that spurred me to action. The Holy Spirit who prompted me to become a Local Preacher – something I did not dream I could do (ask my mentor who had to eventually tell me it was time to get in the pulpit and actually preach!), and yet reloaded me with a passion to preach the Gospel. The Holy Spirit who prompted me to stand for full justice and inclusion, both within the church and outside of our walls.

Often our faith does feel like a dream within a dream. We know there is a story of a better future. We know that God is reconciling the world to Godself through Jesus Christ. Yet we live in a messy, fallen world where we know that things are not as they should be. As Christians we are called to be prophetic; to proclaim what the world can and will be. That isn’t always easy or popular and yet we must be part of that as we pray “your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”. How do we proclaim that to the world so that makes sense? How do we demonstrate what our faith does in our lives in a way that makes sense to those who know us best?

I’m not the one you knew, I’m now and then combined

and I’m asking you to have an open mind

now I’m not the same this time around

We all carry around our past experiences, hurts and what we have done. Yet we also change all the time. As the Holy Spirit transforms us, if we are open to her presence, we do become different. We are now and then combined. How do we change? How are we not the same? I wonder how tangibly the effects of our faiths can be seen by those around us? Conversely, do we (with appropriate safety measures as needed!) have an open mind about how others can change? Are we open to seeing what is going on? As a church we are being “changed from glory into glory till in heaven we take our place”. That is quite exciting. I sincerely hope that with all my flaws and imperfections I am not the same in 20 years time as I, hopefully, grow in holiness and faith.

When others look at you, I hope they will say that you’ve been reloaded and you are not the one they knew; that you are now and then combined. Are you not the same this time around because of the transforming power of the love and saving grace of Jesus?

Check out abbasite.com to find out more about ABBA.