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Why is it important that Christians "weep every unwept tear," as your song "Come Lift up Your Sorrows" says?

Card Lamenting is the truest experience of worship. In Psalm 51, David forfeited everything because of Bathsheba and realized that God didn't want his bulls and goats. He wanted his broken spirit and contrite heart. He looked at his life and realized that all he had left is what God wanted in the first place.

A friend was out on a pastoral call when a drunk driver hit his car and paralyzed him. He was lamenting when he powerfully experienced God's presence. When the immediacy of that presence started to leave, he cried out, "You don't have to heal me. Just don't leave me." He realized he needed God's presence more than God's provision.

What else does grieving accomplish?

Card The miracle of the book of Job is that our tears move God. In chapter 1, God is on the throne in heaven. In a later chapter, he is at Job's side. Job says, "My ears have heard of you, but now my eyes see you." Tears are a bridge to God. When you look at the cross, you see that God uses suffering to save the world.

Does God welcome our lamenting?

Card He tells us, "Be hot or cold. Whatever you do, don't be lukewarm." I think he'd rather us be angry with him than deny that he exists. When we're hurting, we have the choice of not speaking to him or of really experiencing him. Job said horrible things for which he had to apologize, but he didn't say that God doesn't exist. Jacob wrestled with the angel and said, "I will not let go." That's what my song "I Will Not Walk Away from You" is about. I may say the wrong things. I may believe the wrong things. Yet, I'm not walking away. I'm not giving up. I'm not quitting. You ultimately find that you can make those statements because he's been holding onto you the whole time.

Why, then, do some Christians think it's disrespectful to complain to God?

Card We're taught that it is a sign of weakness, but nothing in the Bible tells us not to cry or mourn. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn." He did something no other leader did—he broke down and wept in front of his people.

How does someone "worship God with their wounds," like you sing in "Come Lift up Your Sorrows"?

Card We can't worship God without recognizing our woundedness. We have a worship revolution going on in the U.S., but we're not worshiping. There is no woundedness in it. True worship celebrates God's worth, and without experiencing woundedness, you don't know his worth. You don't have that experience of God's presence over God's provision. You experience his worth in the wilderness, not in the picnic grounds. "Amazing Grace" says, "I once was lost, but now am found." Without that acknowledgment of loss, what do you have to worship him for, unless you're just worshiping feeling good? Lament is the lost language of worship.

What do you think of today's worship music?

Card Many people are doing good work and trying to listen to the Scriptures and to where people's needs are, but the majority of worship music is an industrial response to a trend.

The insights you give in this album are rare in Christian music. Why don't we hear more lyrics like this?

Card When an industry, rather than a community, creates music, it will lean toward what sells best. Many people are writing great stuff, but we won't ever hear it because of the industry. The early Jesus music came out of community. John Michael Talbot says there was a holiness to Christian music back then that it doesn't tend to have now. That's not to say God can't use the Christian music industry, because he does.

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