Three Chords and the Truth

I didn't go into it thinking that my favorite person to watch would be Jack White. I certainly didn't expect White to espouse solid theology. And yet, that is exactly what he did.

The film is 'It Might Get Loud,' a documentary featuring U2's The Edge, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, and The White Stripes' Jack White. The premise is simple; put these guys into a room together with some guitars and see what happens.

First off, there's some wicked guitar playing. That was to be expected. Secondly, there are some simply amazing moments brought about through mutual admiration, particularly when Page begins to play 'Ramble On' and White and Edge are grinning like little kids.

But there are even more profound moments when these artists talk about craft and creativity. Page shares about what it means to invent. The Edge discusses how technology can serve to push an instrument to...well...the edge.

And while White concedes Edge's point, he also rails against the fact that technology has served to make it too easy to make music. White talks about growing up poor and having to make a god sound come out of a $15 plastic guitar from Montgomery Ward. Page and Edge have similar stories. White talks about the struggle as a necessary part of invention and creation and, again, Page and Edge nod along. And White laments the fact that the technology allows one to sound good without having to be good.

The two strongest scenes from the film both feature White. The first is the opening scene; White is nailing boards together, working in a glass bottle and a string. He then begins to play what hardly looks like an instrument, looks up at the camera and says, "Who says you need a guitar?"

The second is when White takes out a record player and his favorite record, Son House's 'People Grinnin' In Your Face.' It is simply House singing and clapping his hands. It is as basic as music gets. But it is raw and it is real and it is intensely moving. It is desperate and daring. And it is that element that draws White to it. It is a song that will be sung, even if it doesn't come easy.

As a Christian, pastor, and church-planter, I couldn't help but make a connection. The church is often guilty of making it possible to sound good without having to be good. We often offer up the path of least resistance as the gospel. But White reminds us that there must be an element of struggle to any good thing, a song that must be sung, even if no one hands you a guitar, even if all you can do is sing out and clap your hands.

The Edge's partner-in-crime, Bono, once declared that all he needed was "a red guitar, three chords, and the truth." We could dismiss such a sentiment as sentimentality, but would miss the fact that all great things can be stripped down to their basest elements and still be great. All great victories are hard won. That we all must have ways in which we are unafraid and uncompromising. That we simply cannot get the right thing the wrong way.