This post may teeter on the brink of cheesiness.  You have been warned.

There’s a song by Ne-Yo called “Closer.”  ($250 to the winner of the wager, “Will Ne-Yo’s ‘Closer’ ever be referenced on www.twocatholicguys.net?”)

Stay with me.  I know I’m not helping.

Here’s a link to the music video.  Be warned, the lyrics and video are very suggestive.  Alright, time to talk myself out of this hole I’m digging.

My thesis might run something like this:  There seems to have been whole centuries when the most talented artists were rendering works to the glory of God.  Some still do.  However, the glorified artists (who may or may not be terrifically talented) of our time are not doing this, and it is a shame.

I take part of that back.  Some of them will point upward and thank God when they win an award.  It’s not nothing.

In the case of Ne-Yo, I am not arguing that his lyrics should be “explicitly” Christian, or theistic.  This isn’t like taking Bryon Adams’ “Everything I Do” and imagining the lyrics declare the love of God (except for the lying part).  Anyway, the best possible conversion of that song has already been achieved.

I am arguing that sex, while beautiful and powerful, is not worthy of worship.  And I am arguing that such songs could be very suggestive of the glory of God, rather than sex (or through sex).

I am not arguing that such art should be always and hopelessly optimistic, either.  We pray a whole set of sorrowful mysteries, and there is no obligation or recommendation to immediately follow with the glorious mysteries.

Imagine, for instance, that Ne-Yo decided to perform a take on a Psalm.  Or retold the story of David’s temptation and sin with Bathsheba (in the proper context, of course).  Or simply put his “Closer” song in some kind of context which would at once demonstrate the power of sex and, idealistically, its proper place.

I’ve made myself sick wishing for things like this to happen, in the past.  Still, one can hope.