Shazam and The Acoustic Fingerprint

For a lot of people, accepting the possibility of a God isn’t that big of a deal. They do, however, want to know what he’s like if they’re going to consider the idea of relationship. They need some specifics.  They need to understand how life with God is played out in this life.

When I was in high school I had about a 30 minute drive to school in the mornings.  Every morning I would listen to the radio during my drive.  It would always frustrate me when I heard a song I liked, but had no idea what the name was or who it was by.  I would always hope the DJ would give me that info instead of a weather or traffic report that just reminded I was going to hit traffic and be late for school.

Fast forward to today. On the iPhone there is this awesome little app called Shazam. Shazam recognizes almost any song, tells you what it’s called, who it’s by and even gives you a link to download it. Now, whenever I’m listening to the radio and an awesome song that I don’t recognize comes on, I open up Shazam and BOOM! I have the specific information.

Shazam identifies songs based on what its makers call an acoustic fingerprint.  The fingerprint is made up of patterns of different variables identified by the App.  Those variables are frequency, amplitude, and time.  As I began to reflect on my relationship with God, I realized the questions I had about God could be answered through Christ.  It’s as if Jesus Christ is the fingerprint of God.  And since Christ dwells in me, I should be his fingerprint in this world too.  Furthermore, I realized in my relationship with Christ that frequency, amplitude, and time are big factors.  When people listen in on my life are they directed to the Father?  Does a glimpse into my life lead others closer to identifying God?

Frequency in music is about measuring sound waves.  It is about the rate of occurrence of those waves.  In my life, I need to be spending time with the Father frequently.  I need people to be able to see the results of my frequency: the rate of my occurrence with God the Father.  Secondly, amplitude is about the breadth and width of those sound waves.  Amplitude measures just how big something can get.  I hope when people listen in on my life, they experience the breadth and width of God’s love.  It’s about the greatness found in Him.  It is the full measure of his abundance.  That is what amplitude is all about.  But amplitude isn’t where it stops.  As I thought about this idea of an acoustic fingerprint, I realized it’s my job as a Christ-follower to amplify His kingdom!  To amplify means to make larger, greater, or stronger.  People have to see me decreasing and God increasing in my life.  Finally, Shazam uses time to match acoustic fingerprints.  Time in the sense of music really comes down to staying in rhythm.  To walk with God, to stay in step, I have to feel the rhythms of his heart.  In our spiritual lives, frequency, amplitude, and time are good measures of where we stand with God. 

But…it doesn’t stop with the acoustic fingerprint.  The people of Shazam have taken it a step further.  They have orchestrated the App to be able to identify songs even in the midst of background noise.  Even in the midst of background noise there should still be something so distinct in us that it remains identifiable.  It isn’t drowned out, but because of distinct patterns and identifiable markers, the App is able to recognize exactly what song it is.  With so much noise in this life, it is so important for Christ followers to remain distinct, to have identifiable patterns in their life that point back to God.  The question for us to answer is, “When people listen in on my life, are they able to identify God the Father?”