Lil' Wayne and Gang Rape Are At Least First Cousins

I get asked all of the time if it is okay to listen to secular music? My typical answer (depending on the person asking) is that it is okay, given he or she is listening to it redemptively - with the goal to glorify God, through the standard and lens of Scripture, and with the motive of love.

Secular music is extremely powerful, having the ability to steer emotions, transform culture, and motivate millions to do things they otherwise would never do.  Therefore we must not only listen redemptively, but carefully.  More importantly, however, we must not allow our over-desire for "over-cleanliness" to keep us from this redemptive activity.

The work of redemption demands that we come in contact with dirty things - even dirty people.  If we don't, dirty people will die.  If no one had, we would have already died.  Our refusal to learn about the things that harm other people, simply because WE do not struggle with those things, leads us into countless accounts of spiritual malpractice.  It's like refusing to stop a child from smoking crack because you don't want to touch drugs.  

With this said, I want to address some things that I have recently come in contact with, and propose that the two are very related.

While driving down the road the other day, I was listening to the radio and heard the Lil' Wayne's song, "I Just Wanna F**k Every Girl in the World."  Yes, this was on the radio.  If the title has startled you, the lyrics are nothing short of derogatory and explicit verbal pornography.

Place really good music behind those lyrics, and you have a song that makes its way onto public radio.  When confronted, people say things like, "I just like the beat...I don't really listen to what he is saying..."  Sure.  Countless songs from this artist and others are filled with this misogynistic, heinous, image of God hating crap.

Then I read things like this in the news:

In 2009, in Richmond, CA, investigators say as many as 20 people were involved in or stood by and watched the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a California high school homecoming dance.  Even more disturbing was that not one student sought to intervene during the 2.5 hour ordeal.  

In April of 2010, a 15-year-old went to a house party in an apartment complex in Trenton, NJ.  She was accompanied by her 7-year old step-sister.  During the party, the older girl allowed men to have sex with her for money.  Seeing an opportunity to make more money, she began to take offers to touch her younger sister.  This initial molestation quickly turned violent as at least seven men raped the child.  

In March of 2011, The New York Times reported the gang rape of an 11-year-old Texas girl by 18 men ranging in ages from 16 to 28.  

The purpose of this post is to simply state that the music and the news above are not unrelated.  And while we cannot relieve the criminals of their obvious responsibility for their crimes, we should not relieve the arts of their culpability either.  

The constant objectification of women; the constant promotion of the acceptance of such; the constant message that women must act this way to be accepted; and the condoning of all of the above has led to a culture where the grace of God seems to be waning, and where the gospel of redemption seems to be completely absent.  

As Christians we must see the connection and attempt, by whatever means possible (without falling into sin), to bring the fulness of Christ to these dark, related areas of our culture.  The shock of the lyrics and news above should bring color to our doctrine of depravity; it should bring us to our knees; it should send us into the streets with the Good News.  Christians do have something to say.  Nothing but redemption will do.  There is simply too much at stake.

For more on this, I suggest the book called "The Deadest Rapper Alive" by J. Johnson

The Glory of Marriage

The vows of two individuals to remain committed, loyal, understanding, honoring, and faithful til death is nothing less than glorious.  And when a community gathers to observe such a union, in marriage, they see a reflection of that glorious love Christ has for his church.  It is a shame that many from Justin's community have seen more funerals than weddings.  This is a fact that should plague our prayers, haunt our evangelism, and completely remove superficiality from our very existence.

Marriage is glorious.  And when it is marred and left without expression, Christ is misrepresented and defamed.  But when it is celebrated and fought for, Christ is proclaimed as the strong, faithful, sacrificial, and loving husband that he is.   

Meet the Bumpers who are now married.  With every serious and sincere bone in my body I beg you to pray for this couple who have made Christ the object of their faith and seek to live under his reign and rule every day.  

Sin In Other People

Every person is sinful.  This is theology we know and even notice in our world.  Though the media may not call it sin, they know it is; and because it is what brings the most traffic, they love it.

While we may respond to the reports of sin by giving our attention, we often fail to know how to address sin when it slaps us in the face.  Americans are really good at trying to avoid it altogether. Billions of dollars are spent on numbing activities such as sports, movies, games, and the like.  Not that these things are bad; but to deny that they can be is plain denial.

Again, every person is sinful.  Relationships will always be spotted with inevitable sinful collisions. Trying to avoid them is like kicking the proverbial can down the road. Only people are not cans. And if you kick them long enough, they become more like pit bulls.  Eventually you're gonna lose a leg, a hand, or worse.

If we are honest, the most common way we deal with sin in others is by making every attempt to have them stop sinning.  We neglect, avoid, yell at, pacify, or even abuse in order to put out the sinful flame in those around us.  No matter what, however, we can never reach sin-deep.  Instead of saving, we end up aggravating.  Why? Because if we use another means other than the gospel, we only treat sin with sin.

We do this because we don't really believe that Jesus can and does redeem us, and others, from the enslaving chains of sin.  He simply takes too long.  I want sin gone now.  But, he apparently doesn't.

The gospel calls us to love and trust.  We are to turn the other cheek, to return good for evil, to bless when we are cursed.  We are to give when others take - to die so that others may live.  I understand this is harder than it sounds - even impossible.  But this is the light of the gospel.  If we don't believe it, we are fools.

The Spirit gives us the faith to trust that Jesus works in the lives of others.  After all, he saved us.  I personally struggle to trust him here.  Even with those closest to me, I feel as if it is my job to save - to get the sin out.  But lately I have been so broken by this activity, I simply cannot do it anymore.  I have found that when I try to be Jesus to others, I turn out to be more a Pharisee.

And as odd as it sounds, he is using the sin in others to humble me and to sanctify me.  He is using the sinful actions of others to point out my own sin.  And he is using all of this to draw me closer to himself, in complete dependence upon his grace, to save me and those I love so much.

A Few Example of How Not To Do Church

I might get in trouble for this but...

People Lack Neither Information Nor Evidence

Here is a helpful excerpt from Dr. Bahnsen's work on Van Til concerning the "believing" status of all people, and how the apologist is to address such in the work of evangelism or argumentation:

"Based on our previous observations about knowledge, we would analyze the concept of intellectually knowing God as believing certain propositions concerning God that are true and for which one has good evidence.  Scripture teaches that nobody is ignorant of the living and true God.  People lack neither information nor evidence.  Everybody believes important things about God that are true and well supported.  Thus, all men know that God exists, that he is almighty and all-knowing, that his holy character forbids theft and murder, that we will all be judged by him, etc.  Accordingly, the apologist embarks on the wrong road altogether if he thinks his task requires, for instance, providing data and proofs about God to someone who does not possess such things and simply needs them cogently brought to his attention in order to become a believer.  In a crucial sense, all men already are "believers" - even "unbelievers" who will not respond properly by openly professing and living obediently in accordance with the knowledge they have of God.  In the end, the work of the apologist is not simply an intellectual mission (akin to a scientist trying to convince colleges about his new research conclusions), but embodies as well the work of morally convicting the non-Christian for not owning up to the truth that he already knows and cannot escape.  The apologist is not simply challenging the unbeliever's reasoning, but in the process also (inherently) challenging the unbeliever's controlling personal attitudes, intellectual behavior, and lifestyle."

As I have said at other times, if you don't own this book, get it.  If you do own it and have not read it, read it.  It is worth its weight.

It Goes Both Ways

Every human is created in the image of God.  This means, at the very least, that everything we do as image bearers is extremely significant.  When we communicate with words, people are affected.  When we act with our volition and use our hands, we are creating ripples that continue on in the lives of other image bearers.  There is no way around this.  When it's good - it's good.  But when it's bad - it's bad.

This is one reason why we desire to be noticed when we accomplish something great.  Parents praise a child's first words, friends praise the graduation of a friend, and societies praise the heroic efforts of others they don't even personally know.  When people do great things, people praise and rejoice greatly.  This validates the weight of our lives as image bearers.  In these times we find significance beyond our failings - a significance that is rooted in the intrinsic value given by our Creator.

But it goes both ways.  When image bearers commit heinous acts, other image bearers notice and respond accordingly.  The height of human experience reached when a hero saves a life is now thrown into the depths of human sorrow when a murderer takes one, or twenty.  And the praises that are given a student at graduation are transformed into charges given a criminal at his trial.  It goes both ways.  It must in order to preserve the value of the image bearer - the value of the victim as well as the criminal.

This is why societies that praise no accomplishments and punish no crimes are filled with people who feel as if they have no value whatsoever.  A student who is awarded a degree for doing nothing is worthless - not to us necessarily, but to himself.  And a criminal who is left unpunished for his crime is also worthless.  Though he would probably never say it, he would ultimately agree that a death sentence is better than no sentence at all.

We have to wonder if this is why crime is to prevalent in our day.  Kids are rewarded for doing absolutely nothing.  They are not justly punished for committing crime.  A lack of justice on either side of the spectrum - reward or punishment - has left them empty, devalued, and less than image-bearers.  This is probably why the strong hands of a police officer, though painful, are deeply meaningful.  And this is why the indicting voice of a judge, though condemning, feels loving.  He at least has value now.  His actions have meant something.  Finally, even behind bars, he is somebody.

The Average Life Span...

The average life span of an individual living in the United States is roughly 75-78 years.  Now that I am creeping into my mid-thirties, I am becoming more and more aware of this fact.  At any moment I could receive news that would drastically change my life.  Am I to die early?  What about a family member or friend?

Death is something we all look at with a particular uneasiness, hoping it doesn't visit us "before our time."

Things would be different if we knew for sure that the dead are raised.  We would say with the Apostle that "dying is gain."  And instead of uneasiness, we would have a particular excitement when the word "death" showed up in conversation or life.

We would spend money differently knowing that storing up treasures for 75-78 years is relatively futile when compared to storing up treasures in heaven for eternity - for billions and billions of years.

We would spend our time differently knowing that every act of obedience to God's law could change another person's spiritual condition.

Yes, the law is for the other.  When we obey, they are safe.  When we obey, they see our Master.  When we obey, they are led to the gospel that saved us, and provides the gracious foundation of our belief (Jn 15:17).

The fact is, we do know for sure that the dead are raised.  The Bible tells us so. What more do we need?  Christ's bones are nowhere to be found!  His grave is empty.  He is alive.

Therefore, those who have hope only in this life should see our life, as Christians, and pity us.  They should consider us foolish for investing in eternity; for spending our time and resources for something very different - something very "other."  Losing our life is odd.  We save our life by different means.

Those who hope in eternity are different.  Christians are different.  We do not say, "Eat, drink and be merry (now) for tomorrow we die."  We say, "Let us die to ourselves now, for tomorrow we live!"

I personally struggle to believe that Christ is raised from the dead.  My own selfishness attests to this.  I can only pray that the Lord will help my unbelief.  I make it my request to trust his word more and more.

The average life span of a person is about 75-78 years old.  This is true.  But it is not all true.

The average life span of a person (in Christ) is eternity.  We have souls that never die.  And one day, when the trumpet sounds, we will put on the imperishable (1Cor 15)!  I cannot wait!  Come Lord Jesus!