In The Ring With BarlowGirl
07-23-2007
by Kevan Breitinger

BarlowGirl’s How Can We Be Silent drops on July 24^th. When CMCentral talked with drummer Lauren Barlow, it was a great, no-hold-barred conversation, containing lots of the same holy boldness found on the new CD.

 

CMCentral (Kevan Breitinger): Hi Lauren. I’ve been listening to the album, and loving its message of empowerment.

Lauren from BarlowGirl:  Very cool, thank you.

Is that what the cover shot is about, in the boxing ring?

Yes, I think it is. It’s about us as Christians not backing down. Because I think that our society is telling us so much that we need to be the first to back down, that we have to be silent. I think the ring just represents the fight that we as Christians need to fight in this life, to stand up for what is right, to stand up and be who God has created us to be, because we are the change that this world needs, we have the answers. We may not be perfect, but we have the hope that this world needs. We cannot be silent any longer, we need to speak out. So that’s kind of what it’s about: empowering anthems for Christians to say we can stand up and be bold, and we can change this world.

Well, it’s great timing. I know this message has been applicable for centuries, but right now there’s a lot of political pressure against the Christian message, you’re right. What do you think fans most need to know today to be equipped for the fight?

"We have to be fully, completely abandoned to God.  There are always going to be things that aren't right, but we need to always be working toward the life that God has for us."

You have to live a life committed to God first before you can ever be empowered. I think we need to strip away and throw aside the things of this world, the things that hinder us. We have to be fully, completely abandoned to God. There are always going to be things that aren’t right, but we need to always be working toward the life that God has for us. If we’re worried all the time about what other people think of us, we’re never going to stand up. If we don’t have as our foundation what God thinks about us, we’re not going to be able to stand up for what is right. Throwing aside the things of this world is going to make us successful warriors.

That’s a great word, Lauren. How do you personally deal with weariness? When you’re worn out from the fight, what is it that lifts you up?

It’s the time with God that we have. It’s the quiet time that fills us up day to day. That’s something that is so important to us girls, our alone time with God, just to sit before Him and get filled up again. And it’s also being with our family. You know, our family comes on the road with us, it’s not just us sisters. Mom and Dad come on the road, and it’s having prayer time with them. And also our church.

There’s different ways that God builds us up, but I guess it would be those three things. Our church is amazing; they pray for us all the time, and it really helps us so much, just knowing that they’re praying for us out here on the road. Those are the three key things that keep us rejuvenated: our church, our family, and then our individual prayer times.

That again, Lauren, is another timely word, because it does seem to me that more and more people are kind of moving away from the church.

Yeah. I think the thing is that the church is sort of losing power. I think the church is falling into the trap of needing to please everybody, with an entertainment mentality. So people aren’t seeing the power that God has in the Bible. They’re not seeing the miracles, they’re not seeing signs and wonders of the things that God is saying. So people are leaving because the church is dead. And of course, I’m not saying all the churches.

No, I know what you’re saying.

I’m just saying the majority of the time we’re just trying to entertain people, and keep people in the seats. So we’re not moving in the gifts, we’re not moving in the ways that God has called us to. You know, I think as the church, we kind of pick and choose what we want to believe, and we tend to pick the things that are going to make us comfortable. The things that make us uncomfortable we’re gonna throw out. But I think when living a life for God, you’re going to be uncomfortable, and you’re going to make other people uncomfortable.

I think as the church we need to stand up and start following what God calls us to do in the Bible. You can’t just throw things out of the Bible and say ‘that’s not right.’ The Bible is truth, and it’s whole. And so I think that is the reason why some people are leaving the church, because they see no hope and no life in the majority of our churches. All we’re doing is entertaining people and that’s not going to get them to heaven.

Good for you for being so bold, I like that in you! It’s an especially vital word coming from someone whom some people would see as being in the entertainment field (laughing)!

Yeah (laughing), it’s funny because with our shows, we never want people to come to get “hyped up for Jesus.” We’re not here to play a rock show, we’re not here to make them feel good for 45 minutes. We’re here because we believe that God has put us on this platform to speak into people’s lives, to speak the things that He has put on our hearts to speak. Our goal at the end of the day is that every single person who has come to our show feels a touch from God somehow. We’re gonna play well, we’re gonna have fun, but bottom line: we are here to minister, and to speak the truth. That’s our passion.

I hear you, and I’m glad you had the chance to say that now, I love that. I know that you have a big heart for your fans. What song on the new album most expresses the message that you want to get across to listeners?

You know, there are so many songs on the album that are bold; each song hits a different angle on what we want to say. But I think the album as a whole kind of gets wrapped up in one song called “Million Voices.” That’s kind of the anthem, and the CD is named after one of its lyrics. At the end of the day, we are the hope that this world needs; we have the answers it needs. We have God. What more could people need beyond Him, you know?

So I think that that song is kind of an anthem for our generation saying we can be bold, we can be strong, we can even be rebellious against this world and stand up for what is right. That song wraps it up in a little bow (laughing).

Yeah, you’re right, it does. It’s a great album, and I know God is going to use it. I really enjoyed talking with you, Lauren, thanks for the time.

Absolutely, thank you.