Last night we had the chance to go and see Mumford and Sons. Now, let’s be honest: when you go to see Mumford and Sons, you know what you’re going to get; bluegrass songs that begin slow and quiet and build to a crescendo. Maybe the alt-country version of Explosions in the Sky or Mogwai. Yet, even though there is a formula, the band does it exceedingly well. They are top-notch performers who seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves and who seemed a bit shocked that they were playing for a sellout crowd in Phoenix, Arizona of all places.

As a pastor who loves music and is fascinated by culture, I admit that I sometimes tend to overanalyze things. But, one of the things that struck me about the concert and Mumford and Sons’ content in general is its spiritual tone. Now, don’t read in to that comment. I’m not one of those guys who desperately desires my favorite bands to be Christian. I’m not saying that the band members or Christians, or that they’re not. I don’t know them, and I’ve not read any comments on the topic from any of them, so I just don’t know (and yes, to our readers with sensitive ears, they do have a song “Little Lion Man,” that you should probably avoid).

While there may be ambiguity about the bands personal beliefs, there is no doubt that they are wrestling with many themes addressed by the Gospel. They are somewhere in a search for God. It could be that they believe, or it could be that they were simply raised with a certain cultural literacy that includes many biblical metaphors and images. But it is certain that their lyrics are filled with biblical themes. Consider some of their lyrics:

Lines from “Sigh No More:”

Serve God love me and men
This is not the end
Live unbruised we are friends

Love that will not betray you,
dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man
you were made to be.
There is a design,
An alignment to cry,
At my heart you see,
The beauty of love
as it was made to be

Lines from “Awake My Soul:”

In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life

Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker
Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker
You were made to meet your maker

Lines from “White Blank Pages:”

And can you kneel before the king
And say I’m clean, I’m clean

Lines from “Roll Away Your Stone:”

It seems that all my bridges have been burned
But you say ‘That’s exactly how this grace thing works’
It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart
But the welcome I receive with every start

Darkness is a harsh term don’t you think
And yet it dominates the things I see

Lines from “The Cave:”

But I will hold on hope
And I won’t let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I’ll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I’ll know my name as it’s called again

So come out of your cave walking on your hands
And see the world hanging upside down
You can understand dependence
When you know the maker’s hand

Lines from “After the Storm:”

And there will come a time, you’ll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

You get the point. It’s difficult to find one of their songs that somehow doesn’t wrestle with biblical themes. Sometimes positively, sometimes not, but it seems to pervade everything they do. Theirs is a spiritual world and they remind us that the line between “sacred” and “secular” is probably not as clean as we’d like to think. In fact, many of the people at the concert seemed to have a spiritual experience themselves. Many were closing their eyes and even raising their hands as they danced and sang along to every word. Why is it that we can get a group of people at a bar more excited about spiritual concepts than we can “at church?”

Bands like Mumford and Sons remind us that God’s fingerprints are everywhere, even if we don’t always acknowledge them. The search for God is not an isolated one and many don’t even realize what they’re looking for. They may be Christians. They may not be. But Mumford and Sons remind of what great art often does: there is something beyond ourselves. Deep down we all know it. Deep down, we all long for it. And sometimes, we connect at the least expected times.