Did you know that Kanye West put out a new
album on October 25th and it’s his 9th consecutive #1 Album
(Did I lose some of you already on this one?)
Do you find yourself thinking; "Brent, Why
do I care about Kanye?” (You wouldn’t be alone)
The reason I tell you all this is because
Kanye's most recent album is entitled "Jesus is King"
Yes, You read that correctly, Kanye West
released a "Gospel Rap Album" and say’s “He’s found Jesus”
After 20 years of "secular (even
violent) music and all the selfish things he's done, we are expected to
believe he just "all of a sudden a Christian?"
Honestly, I'd say yes, we
should. Above that, not only should we believe, but we should accept and
celebrate it. But it's hard isn’t it? It's hard to overlook all the things that we
remember in the news of what he has done and said. The natural
inclination most of us have is to take a "wait and see
approach" We want to see if he is really all about it or if he is
just trying to "talk a good game" Christianity isn't easy so
let's see if he can handle it before we accept his faith. (That
honestly has been the response from many of my fellow youth pastors, and I even
found myself entertaining those thoughts a little bit) And if I may be so
bold and honest, that is the wrong response to have.
Yes, Christianity is
hard! Jesus never said following Him was going to be easy, but he did say
following Him was The Way. When a person decides to follow Christ, Jesus
doesn't sit up there and say "O.K. you are in a 90 day trial period and at
the end of that time we will evaluate." I think when "the
lost" find their way to God, there is a celebration in heaven! We
should do the same thing here, we should celebrate but we should also begin to
pray. Pray for Kanye and that he may hold true to his conversion and his
Profession of Faith (Just like we celebrate it when people here Profess
their Faith, we also acknowledge that the Profession isn't just an end goal,
but the next step to actively living for God and we promise to help them).
Pray that he will continue to see God. Pray that people who can help him
when struggles of life happen people can walk alongside him. Pray that
God will use this for his God. Pray that people who previously laughed at
the idea of Christ and God will take notice and start to explore Faith and find
Christ.
However there are many who say he is only in it for for making money and why wouldn't he take advantage of an "untapped market" (Christian music industry) to broaden where his financial gain could be. No disrespect meant to KJ-52 or John Reuben but in terms of Rapping Talent, he carries a little more "musical respect" than the vast majority (if not all) of the Christian Rap industry. Would a "True Christian" charge $140 for a pair of sweatpants, $250 for a sweatshirt or even $20 for a single pair of crew socks? I know of several people (especially youth) who look at rap as an emotion and musical driven way to express life. For most people, music is a driving force for passion to expressed. (I mean when was the last time you hears someone "talking along to a book on tape in their car?) Maybe Kanye looked at the Christian Rap industry and saw and "underwhelming industry" and thought to himself why don't I add to my numbers but doing something no one else in the secular music world has? I understand the question, but if we are going to play that game, there was this one guy named Thomas in the New Testament once who doubted.....
What I'm saying is yes, it is a struggle to see that part and that question will always be prevalent because, well that is the day in age we live in. It's easier and more natural to come up with reasons to doubt or reasons (excuses) for why it's false then it is to why it may be true. And maybe in time that is what we will discover (though I hope not) but I do not know the mind or the heart of Kanye. Only God and Kanye do. At the same time though, the same thing could be set about me, or you. And what is Kanye wasn't as well known for what he is known for, if he was an "average guy like me" would our impression/thoughts be any different?
Even though we may be skeptical of who is
proclaiming Christ, Christ is still being proclaimed and we need to continue to
pray for that
Maybe in the end it will be about Prosperity (I hope not but again, I don't know). But for now, I'm hoping, praying and talking about it as a Redemption.
I'm sure Chuck Colson, Lee Strobel and even
Saul would agree
