I had never heard of the name Dr Rupert Till until I came across an article here on idonotconform.com talking about comments he made in his new book “Pop cult” He says that John Lennon was right when he said that his band The Beatles were bigger than Jesus. Last year Kanye West made a similar statement about Michael Jackson being “bigger in pop-culture than Jesus” and I blogged about that elsewhere (http://karlnova.blogspot.com/2010/10/kanye-west-speaking-on-his-movie.html) The article says and I quote “pop music and the personality cults surrounding some of the biggest stars in the industry have in some ways taken over from Christianity as the new religion” another interesting comment from Dr Till from the article is “the inability of the church to adapt to today’s culture has left it “out of date and irrelevant” and that young people especially are looking elsewhere “to find a sense of belonging, meaning and transcendence”.
A lot of people were offended and got riled up about what Kanye West said, the same way people got riled up about what John Lennon said back in the day, how do I feel about this? How is one to respond as a believer in the risen and ascended Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven?
I can’t really stand sweeping statements like this because for one thing it is not totally true. There are artists/ministers and movements in Christian music which do adapt to today’s culture (when I say adapt I don't mean they compromise and take on worldly values, I mean they adapt to certain sounds and genres of music) and speak the musical and artistic language of today and do reach young people with the message of the gospel. Another thing is the message of the gospel will ALWAYS be RELEVANT because every generation that lives NEEDS to repent and receive forgiveness of sins, they NEED the mercy and grace of God! Love, peace, forgiveness, grace, mercy and joy will never go out of style. Truth is not a fad. I wonder if Dr Rupert Till is aware of Christian artists like Lecrae and many others around the world who are having an impact on people in this day and age WITHOUT being signed up to a major label? I am pretty sure he is unaware and is only making certain statements based on what is popular in the world.
I do agree that sometimes those who have traditional old skool views in church are resistant to new forms of musical expression in church but that's been the story for a long time and there are many who have pressed on regardless of what tradition says and they have broken the mold in every generation.
Another thing is Christ is bigger than any pop artist or pop icon, in fact like I said in my other article, to try to reduce the very Son of God to such rock/pop star definitions is actually really stupid, Christ is not competing with the latest famous pop star on the charts, Christ is not in a popularity contest with anyone, in fact Christ is Lord and every knee will bow and tongue will confess he is exactly that! When we proclaim the gospel as believers we are proclaiming it from a place of his Lordship, he is Lord NOW because he died and rose and OVERTHREW the devil, the world and the earth is the Lord’s and it’s fullness thereof even though the world still does not recognize it’s rightful ruler. We have faith in Christ and seek to live out and proclaim his Lordship in word and in deed with humility, compassion, confidence, grace, thanksgiving and wisdom. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God NOW and the Father sent the Holy Spirit to help us walk as citizens of that Kingdom. The full manifestation of the rule of Christ on earth will come in the future but even though that is the case Christ is Lord NOW at the right hand of the Father. This is not a democratic decision. This is not a vote thing, this is not an X factor popularity contest thing. This is heaven's decree even if the world refuses to recognize it.
The latest pop star might be more popular amongst people in the world today BUT you can’t even compare the glory of the risen Christ with the fading tiny momentary glory of a popstar that is here today and gone tomorrow to meet Christ as judge after death so let every believer be secure in Christ and his Lordship even though you might not see Christ being popular in the world that rejected him when he came the 1st time. Another thing is let’s be careful to not make gospel music an idol too, let’s be careful and not desire to make our favourite gospel artist/minister/Pastor/Preacher etc an idol just because they represent what we believe, let’s keep our eyes on Christ who is the ETERNAL Lord of glory.
I will leave on this note; fame and greatness are two different things. Our Lord became servant of all and now is Lord of all so be careful and don’t think that because you are not popular that you are not effective or making an impact. Christ at his most unpopular point in his earthly ministry (when he was put to the death on the cross) was the most effective because it was through his rejection and death that sin was paid for. He that is first will be last and he that is last will be first. Selah.
