The Gang Jesus

We have warned repeatedly that the average Christian in the West worships a false christ and that the very dangerous world of contemporary worship music represents all of these abominable idols. Those who are playing with contemporary worship are building bridges to this world. There is the non-judgmental christ of The Shack, the Roman Catholic wafer christ, the Mormon christ who is the spirit brother of Satan, the Jehovah’s Witness christ who is Michael the Archangel, the natural-born christ of theological modernism, the liberation theology christ who is a communist freedom fighter and social justice hero, the contemplative christ who is encountered via such things as centering prayer and repetition prayer. The most popular of all, it seems, is the rock & roll party christ. Rapper Jayceon “Game” Taylor venerates this christ in his new album Jesus Piece, the cover of which features “Jesus” portrayed as a gang member, complete with a gaudy gold chain and a tattoo on his face, surrounded by marijuana leaves. Taylor isn’t a CCM artist. He is a secular rapper, but his philosophy is no different than that of many of the “Christian” rockers and rappers. Taylor is inventing a “Jesus” in his own likeness. He says, “Last year in August I got baptized [at City of Refuge Church in Gardena, California] and so I’ve been going to church, but I still been kinda doing me out here [in the rapper world]. I still love the strip club and I still smoke and drink. I’m faithful to my family, so I wanted to make an album where you could love God and be of God, but still get it poppin’ in your life” (“Jesus Portrayed as Gang Member,” Christian Post, Oct. 24, 2012). Taylor says his new album is intended to encourage those who “love God but are still street and wanna remain themselves.” Hey, Taylor, this is the essence of the emerging church! They might want to temper your zeal for strippers a bit, but you have the basic idea. The Bible presents an entirely different scenario. It says that the true Christian is “a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Scriptural baptism is a picture of dying with Christ to the old sin life and being raised to an entirely new life of holiness.

(Friday Church News Notes, November 2, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

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