As many of you now, I have a song called “Let’s Get High on Jesus” which has next to nothing to do with Jesus, Christianity or religion in general. (Listenable at my MySpace page.) When I first wrote it, I wondered how many people would “get it,” and how many people would think I was actually proselytizing about Jesus. In the past four or five years, I’ve probably played that song to close to a hundred audiences — with members ranging from evangelists and atheists — and they universally get it.

That all changed last night. I did an open mic at this quasi-punk bar I’ve played at before. The place is pretty loud, filled with people who don’t pay much attention to the music. I started with “Jesus” and when I finished only two people clapped (I think they might have actually been Christians.) At the time, I didn’t think much of it and finished my set. When I got off stage I noticed that the bartender seemed slightly stilted in her interactions with me. And then, as I was driving home, it dawned on me: I’d finally found an audience that did not pick up on the humor in the song and thought I was actually trying to convert them to Christianity (which, being sin filled punk rockers, they rejected.)

In a way, it gives me a new respect for people who actually go out in the world and attempt to preach religion, whether it be to snooty punk rockers or axe wielding African savages.