What I've Done

Tonight we looked at the themes of mercy and forgiveness, aided by the hit song "What I've Done" by Linkin Park. The discussion we did was taken from a youth ministry website. You can view that here. I will just summarize some of the questions and thoughts that were brought up.

The music video in itself is very interesting. Throughout the video the band is performing the song out in the open. Interspersed within the performance are images of great human tragedies. Atrocities like war, hunger, racism, some regimes, harming the environment, abortion, drug use, oil spills, etc. The approach Linkin Park takes with these issues is interesting. Although they are not directly to blame for most or any of these issues, who do they blame? (Hint: You don't have to look farther than the title of the song).

Next, we brought it closer to home. In 5 minutes, try writing all the sins you have committed since you were little; as far back as you can remember. No matter how little or many you come up with, the point is that we all have sinned. Romans 3:23 says that. Are there any sins that are on your list that you regret? In the second verse, Linkin Park used the words "cleaned this slate." Do you want a clean slate? A fresh start?

When we realize how much we need mercy and forgiveness, the grace of God can overwhelm us. That's what the pre-chorus talks about. "So let mercy come and wash away what I've done." God can do that! He can remove sins from His memory if we ask for His forgiveness. Psalm 103:12 and Romans 5:8-9 talk about this. I used another song to illustrate this point. Audio Adrenaline (unfortunately just recently retired) came out with a great song called "Ocean Floor". In the song, it talks about how our sins are behind us now, because after God forgives us, He places those sins far away, "on the bottom of the ocean floor."

To close we had personal prayer time. Asking forgiveness with those sins we committed. Symbolically, we cast our sins away by ripping the list of sins we wrote in many pieces and throwing them in the garbage. You should try that sometime. The message comes forth even better when you physically do it also. Be blessed!