Catching Idle Butterflies

Dude! You need to CHILL!

I mentioned a while back the Christian Hip Hop band tobyMac and even added the lyrics to a recent song from their new album Portable Sounds. This morning I was listening to another one of their songs called “Face of the Earth”. It gave me an idea for a blog entry, but I needed the lyrics first. With my CD at home and not at work, I decided to search online for them instead.

I found one titled “TobyMac Exposed! -Sings devil's music in Jesus' name”. If you’re interested you can check it out for yourself:
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20America/tobymac_exposed.htm

I’m sorry, but I found the entire site laughable, as well as irritating. I couldn’t read the entire thing because my eyes tired from constantly rolling them around in my sockets.

In short, because tobyMac chooses to sing in hip hop, it’s automatically “of the devil”. I want to ask the person who wrote the tirade (I’m assuming it’s a man) if he ever listened to the lyrics. I’d bet not. He did add lyrics to some songs, but they seemed to be only portions of them. I’m inclined to think him adding the entire song would have blown his premise to pieces.

But that’s not what bothers me. Everyone is welcome to dislike any kind of music. What bothers me is his attitude is typical of many Christians – especially older generations (and that includes mine).

On a Christian writer’s forum, a gal started a thread expressing her uncertainty of painting Christian-themed Anime, because most of it out there is non-Christian. She feared she would be going against God by painting in a secular medium even if the content was obviously Christian. She added some of her sketches, and they were impressive.

I responded to her concerns this way: My thoughts are to go for it. It's not the tool, medium or whatever we use that is inherently good or evil, but how we use that tool and/or medium. I think Anime is a perfect way to get younger people who love that style of painting interested in Jesus. Remember, God will use any and all methods to get our attention, so you're not going backward, but forward. A teenager in a bookstore will be more attracted to a book with an Anime style cover than a Rembrandt.

Remember, if God doesn't have a problem with it, we shouldn't let what some people think of it hamper that. In the end, only his opinion matters. If you keep God your focus, everything you create will reflect him in it.

How do we expect young people to be attracted to Jesus’ love if we present a harsh Jesus that desires only to take away everything they find joy in, and attempt to mold them into an old fuddy-duddy? I’m and old fuddy-duddy and I don’t want any part of that!

We have to meet all people on their terms, not force them to meet us on ours. After all, that’s exactly what Jesus did.