This article is from the April 2006 BreakPoint WorldView magazine.
Rolling Stone recently published an exceedingly respectful story about a Hasidic Jewish reggae singer named Matisyahu who finishes concerts by dusk on Fridays to observe the Sabbath. He also had to give up stage-diving into fans because he is not allowed to have physical contact with women outside his family. His music reminds you that if King David would have been from Jamaica, this is what the Psalms would have sounded like. Surprisingly, his album was at No. 33 on the Billboard charts in mid-January.
No doubt, Matisyahu is an interesting story. He is one-of-a-kind with his trademark Hasidic black fedora, suit, and thick long beard singing a genre of music that was made famous by Bob Marley. What is a bit more surprising, however, is the fact that Rolling Stone treated him with respect — religious restrictions and all.
Ironically, only a week later, USA Today published a lengthy article asking whether celebrities who flaunt Hindu ideas such as yoga, reincarnation, and karma are doing the 6,000-year-old religion an injustice with slipshod portrayals found in pop culture. The writer pointed to the popular TV show My Name Is Earl and a song called "Karma" from Alicia Keys. Cathy Lynn Grossman correctly points out that "believers object when riffs plunder serious spiritual teachings or venerable images." To her credit, she points out that this is nothing new: "Hollywood has been mocking Christian culture for years."
These are not the kind of stories I grew up reading in the mainstream press. Religion and entertainment were never addressed together. However, we are living in a very different era. Our culture has a voracious appetite for spiritual engagement. More and more films, books, and television episodes are dealing with religion and spirituality. Some of it is worth ignoring, but some of it is worth engaging. Nowhere is this revived interest in mixing faith and art more noticeable than in the music industry.
"You Gotta Serve Somebody"
When Rolling Stone recently asked Bob Dylan what song he wanted to hear on his death bed, he said, "How ‘bout ‘Rock of Ages'?" That's a 230-year-old hymn written by August M. Toplady. The eccentric man that Martin Scorsese recently immortalized on PBS and that hippies christened as the prophet for the 1960s still sings songs from his gospel albums.
A few years ago, Dylan was opening many of his concerts with the song "I Am the Man, Thomas." With more than 40 albums of his own from which to choose, it's fair to ask, Why is he opening with a cover song from the old Stanley Brothers?
The song is about the conversation between Jesus Christ and Doubting Thomas. "Look at these nail scars here in my hands/They pierced me in the side, Thomas, I am the Man/They made me bear the cross, Thomas, I am the Man/They laid me in the tomb, Thomas, I am the Man/In three days I arose, Thomas, I am the Man."
Fans had good reason to wonder whether it was a reassertion of his Christian conversion back in the late 1970s. Or was it merely a spasm of eccentricity to keep his fans scratching their heads?
Of course, the latter option does not explain why he has also been singing "Solid Rock" from his 1980 album Saved. In it, Dylan proclaims: "For me He was chastised, for me He was hated/For me He was rejected by a world that He created… Well, I'm hangin' on to a solid rock/Made before the foundation of the world/And I won't let go, and I can't let go, won't let go."
It would be unfair to speculate on Dylan's motivation for returning these gospel-centric songs — and others such as "Gotta Serve Somebody," "Man of Peace," "In the Garden," or "I Believe in You" — to his playlist. Nevertheless, Dylan has always been a prophetic poet on a quest to find God, and it's only reasonable to assume that he believes in what he sings. It is also worth noting that the godfather of folk rock is not the only musician showcasing faith in his art.
Surf-rockers Switchfoot continue to probe and prod the big questions of life on their recent album, Nothing Is Sound. "Happy is a yuppie word/Blessed is the man who's lost it all/Looking for an orphanage/I'm looking for a bridge I can't burn down/I don't believe the emptiness/I'm looking for the kingdom coming down." One month after the release of their album, it went gold. One could speculate that the band tapped into a universal yearning.
Coldplay included the gospel-oriented "Kingdom Come" as a hidden track on its latest album, X & Y. "I went through a weird patch, starting when I was about sixteen to twenty-two, of getting God and religion and superstition and judgment all confused," singer Chris Martin told Rolling Stone. "I think a lot of our music comes out of that. I definitely believe in God. How can you look at anything and not be overwhelmed by the miraculousness of it?"
There are no hidden tracks on Howl, the new roots-oriented album from the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. "I will walk with Jesus till I can't walk anymore/And I will stay with Jesus till I can't go another mile," sings Robert Levron Been. Howl is a sweaty, tambourine-thumping, foot-stomping tribute to Americana — blues, country, and hanky-waving, honky-tonk gospel. "I grew up in a God-fearing family, so that's always been in the back of my head, for better or worse," guitarist Peter Hayes told Boston's Weekly Dig. "It was fun letting go and writing music like that. There's kind of this fear that you are going to be labeled Christian rock or it's going to be taken the wrong way. But not worrying about that, just letting it go, it's just a better feeling."
Parted Ways
A year ago, guitarist Brian "Head" Welch left the hardcore metal band Korn because of his newfound faith. "Korn has parted ways with guitarist Brian ‘Head' Welch, who has chosen Jesus Christ as his Savior, and will be dedicating his musical pursuits to that end," read a statement from the band. "Korn respects Brian's wishes and hopes he finds the happiness he's searching for."
Not long after that announcement, Welch shared his story with the congregation of Valley Bible Fellowship in Bakersfield, California. "I thought I had it all, everything I thought was important when I was a kid — money, fame, pretty women — but I came to a point where I didn't want to live," he testified. He told the congregation — filled with kids wearing Korn shirts — that he had come to the church in hopes of kicking a furious addiction to methamphetamines.
"With Korn, I got the money, all kinds of drugs of choice, everything, but this is my life now," he told MTV. "I'm never gonna change. That drug [meth] is known for making people crazy, but I'm in my right mind."
Since that time, Welch was baptized in Israel, launched an orphanage in India, and began recording a new record reflecting his new beliefs. Welch is not the only one speaking out about the change in his life.
"I've tried everything in my life," heavy metal superstar Dave Mustaine of Megadeth told CanWest News. "I was baptized Lutheran and brought up as a Jehovah's Witness. My mom was Jewish. I experimented with black magic and witchcraft and read the satanic bible. But I became a Christian about three years ago, and that's a positive thing."
Blues guitar prodigy Jonny Lang went to the crossroads and came out a Christian on the other side. "Aspects of the entertainment industry not really related to music began to sidetrack me," he confessed to the Lexington Herald Leader. "For a while, I was headed down not such a good path. But God brought me out of that. He totally saved me."
Alice Cooper
A few years ago, the spooky granddaddy of shock rock Alice Cooper stunned the London Sunday Times by stating: "Drinking beer is easy. Trashing your hotel room is easy. But being a Christian, that's a tough call. That's rebellion." That's an especially interesting perspective coming from a man who works with a guillotine every night.
At the height of his worldwide fame, Cooper drank a bottle of whiskey a day. But the bottle almost destroyed his marriage to Sheryl, his wife of twenty-five years. He started heading off to church with her and felt as if God was speaking to him every Sunday. Even at the pinnacle of his ghoulish career (which he believed was no more provocative than a horror movie musical) he still believed in God. The son and grandson of preachers, Cooper's faith was crippled by the weight of fame and the toxicity of alcoholism.
He experienced every pleasure that money could buy but found it did not satisfy. "I was the prodigal son. I left the house, achieved fame and fortune, and found out that that was not what I wanted," he tells HM magazine. "Now I read the Bible every day, I pray every day. That's really what I'm about." He continues: "I was one thing at one time, and I'm something new. I'm a new creature now. Don't judge Alice by what he used to be. Praise God for what I am now."
Cooper has taken the opportunity to speak to curious fellow musicians about the reality of the devil and the change in his life. "I have talked to some big stars about this, some really horrific characters… and you'd be surprised," he says. "The ones that you would think are the farthest gone, are the ones that are the most apt to listen."
In describing the importance of his Christian faith, he says, "It's everything. It's what I live for. If you gave me a choice between rock and roll and my faith, I'd take my faith," Cooper told the Observer in Australia. "Rock and roll is fun — it's what I do for a living. But it's not what I live on. I believe in classic Christianity. I've given my whole life to the Lord. But I don't think that means you can't be a rock and roller." After all, as Cooper has said, "I must be the only father that bangs on the bedroom door and says, ‘Turn that music up!'"
Conversion Superstars
I don't imagine that there will be politicians, movie stars, lawyers, baseball players, musicians, generals, or theologians in heaven. There will only be believers. It seems that selflessness and humility — and a singular focus on God — will be the prevailing ethos of eternity. Christian "superstars" whose egos are stroked here on earth will find an entirely different modus operandi on the other side. If there are superstars, I don't imagine that most of us will have ever heard of them. I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a different set of requirements to be well-known on the streets of heaven than here on earth.
All of this is to say that celebrity conversion is no more impressive to the great cloud of witnesses than the changed life of one who is known only by a small community. As Jesus said, "There is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent" (Luke 15:7). Having said that, we are often captured by the interesting and eccentric testimonies of celebrity prodigals. When I was young, I paid far more attention to the testimony of a professional football player than I did to my youth pastor.
I'm not attempting to justify my reaction — only pointing out that we all have gatekeepers who help us process truth. Perhaps it is a favorite author, a professor, pastor, or poet. Perhaps we are drawn to artists because they are more prone to deal with the mystical issues of love, betrayal, purpose, disillusionment, hope, despair, and truth because they are subjects that make great books, movies, and songs. They often bring splashes of color into our black and white worlds.
Writing in a different era, G. K. Chesterton once said: "I don't deny… that there should be priests to remind men that they will one day die. I only say… it is necessary to have another kind of priests, called poets, actually to remind men that they are not dead yet." While it's safe to say that Chesterton would be appalled at most aspects of the rock ‘n' roll world, he would be gratified that so many of the unkempt troubadours are now giving the prince of darkness one devil of a time.
Steve Beard is the editor of Good News magazine, editor-in-chief of Risen magazine, and the creator of www.thunderstruck.ws — a website devoted to faith and pop culture. He is also a contributing author of Spiritual Journeys: How Faith Has Influenced Twelve Music Icons (Relevant, 2003).
