Jesus and Rock & Roll

In today’s Christian church, music plays a big part in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Worship and praise music is for when we get quiet and give God thanks for all that He does and contemporary Christian music is used when we’re upset or having a bad day and need a word from God. Of course, you also have your old hymnals where the pastor’s wife plays the piano and the Baptist choir spends hours practicing to sound like angels on Sunday morning. Though tattoos and dress code are issues within the church, one thing that is not allowed in churches is rock music. Is rock music really that bad?

To my knowledge, rock music took the form it has today when Elvis Presley began his career in the mid-50s. Since then, like the government, rock music has took on many branches; folk, metal, symphonic metal, grunge, classic and so forth. In this topic, I will be digging deeper into the grunge and symphonic metal band of Skillet to see what makes them a Christian band. Do they really represent Christ within their music? Does the sound change the gospel at all?

If you listen to Skillet’s rock song, Monster, you would hear electronics, sounds and guitar riffs that you would normally hear on a Shinedown or Godsmack CD. Due to the clashing cymbals and the sound of a beast after the bridge, you would think that Jesus wouldn’t be making that kind of music. Skillet differs though from the secular bands like Godsmack and Shinedown. Skillet not only is a Christian band but also applies Jesus Christ to their music.

Aside from the motivation behind lyrics, secular and Christian bands have completely different fan bases. Mark Joseph writes in his book, ‘Faith, God, and Rock & Roll,’ “Those in the rock music world who preferred that faith-based ideas stay off the airwaves found unlikely allies in the authors, for in essence they were telling Creed, Sixpence None The Richer, P.O.D., Lifehouse and dozens of other artists that whatever they sang about simply didn’t even matter – it was inexorably overpowered by the ‘devil’s beat.’” (Joseph 237) On the Christian side, you have multiple church-going, bible-believing fans of all ages where as on the secular side, you have more fans who grew up in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s listening to hard rock bands such as Aerosmith, Metallica and Bon Jovi. You would find most of these fans drinking, smoking, and having sex or all at once on a regular basis. The difference between audiences makes it clear that Christian music doesn’t really attract the type of audience that the secular music does. The bible states in 1 Corinthians 15:33 a very good explanation as to why the difference is huge. “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’”

The difference between Christians and hard rockers is quite simple and outstanding. The question still remains though: Do Christian rock stars really represent Christ within their music? Skillet played at Night of Joy, a Christian music festival at Walt Disney World Resort, on September 12th, 2015 right in front of the famed Cinderella Castle. I attended the event with my church from home to see my 11th Skillet concert since August of 2011. Midway through their set, John Cooper, Skillet’s front man took a few brief minutes to

share some of his testimony and his beliefs. John Cooper describes the best, real description of Rock & Roll that I think anyone has ever heard. “People [want to] know… How does Jesus and Rock & Roll come together [?] and this is my answer for that. Rock & Roll is not about sex [and] drugs, you know the phrase ‘Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll.’ Rock & Roll is about writing something that says this is my song [.] This is my three minutes to tell the world what I am most passionate about in my life and it doesn’t matter what the consequences [are], it doesn’t matter what they say about me, doesn’t matter what my friends think about me, doesn’t matter what Hollywood has to say about, the celebrities, [it] doesn’t matter what my teachers or Facebook or twitter has to say about it. This is my song and that’s [how] Jesus and Rock & Roll come together because there is nothing in this world better than Jesus.”

Even though Skillet tours in both the Christian and secular world, Skillet has never been afraid to voice their beliefs, values and stories behind songs. Before 2013, John Cooper would talk to the audience about the song, Awake & Alive. He would tell audiences, secular or Christians, that there was a war in the world for our souls as Christians. He would say that people would try and tell Christian how to live and how he did not care what people thought of him and his relationship with Jesus Christ.

Aside from singing about beliefs, Skillet writes music that shares God’s viewpoint on his children such as Whispers in the Dark and The Last Night. The Last Night is about God coming to a girl who is about to commit suicide and saying, “This is the Last Night you’ll spend alone. Look Me in the eyes so I know you know I’m everywhere you want me to be.” John Cooper also writes songs of encouragement like Those Nights and Sick of It, displaying everyday life and how to fight the struggles.

Finally, John Blanchard and Dan Lucarini wrote in their book, Can We Rock the Gospel?, about whether or not God likes every type of music. “Does God endorse music of every kind, regardless of its structure or features?” This all goes back to 1 Corinthians 15:33. If the song contains any lyrics about a sin clearly stated in the Bible such as sexual immorality, lust, drunkenness, and idolatry or any other or is a stumbling block to others to fall into sin, then clearly God will not endorse it.

Rock & Roll attracts the audience that regular Christian music will almost never attract but with bands like Skillet and We as Human, who play at secular events, the Gospel of Jesus Christ can surely be told in a way only rock fans can understand. Jesus Christ says in Matthew 28 in verses 19 through 20 a very clear command to brings others to Him. “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Some secular rock fans will never know the name of Jesus Christ unless someone goes out and tells them. We as Christian need more missionaries to go into the enemies shadow and pull out the lost ones and sometimes that can only be done by attracting them with their type of music with a different meaning. With a clear definition of Rock & Roll, all rock music does not have to have the label of “Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll.” It’s not the music itself; it is the words behind the music that shape the reputation. Does the sound change the gospel at all? Rock on and find out for yourself.

#Rock #Music #Jesus #Skillet