The turn on a dime from a capella singing to full band, full speed ahead gives this gospel barn burner some extra juice, but what are these musicians so dang happy about?

Maybe it’s the Gospel, although, if you’ve heard it preached on American TV, you’re likely to think just the opposite.

See, the American way says hard work + success = love and acceptance. The Gospel way says believe with your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus’s death on the cross paid for all your screw ups, and He’ll love and accept you for all eternity – no matter how hard you don’t work or how many times you screw up.

There’s a world of difference between working hard to earn material success and working hard to earn God’s love and the free gift of salvation, which none of us screwups deserve. Maybe the reason Patty Loveless and crew are so happy is that, for the few minutes it took them to track “Rise Up, Lazurus”, they understood the difference at last.

American Christianity could take lessons.