Written by Pastor Tim White I didn’t watch the Grammys, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. But several pastors sent out messages that there was a theme of horns and Satanism that had been added to the event. It started with Black Sabbath handing out souvenir horns for people to wear during their song. They have made a lot of money as a result of their use of rebellious religious symbolism. However, the crowd seemed to enjoy it and Katy Perry and other performances continued to use satanic symbolism. At one point (according to the religious news that I read) an announcement was made that said the participants were free to keep the horns as souvenirs but please take them off during the rest of the program. It sounds like a youth event – because of course the participants did the opposite of what they were told to do. The program ended with Madonna’s closing song, which had a satanic theme to it.
Now I admit that I am not an expert on pop culture, we have other pastors that are much better missionaries to our current pop culture. I also am aware that getting my news about an event from the religious news may not be very accurate. Religion creates a following reacting to events like this. But I wanted to use it as an illustration of the kind of character that we all need to have and draw from, in order to be uncommon and standout.
The opinion of the majority is not always right – it takes a person of courage and faith to have the character to make a difference in this world. In fact, it takes every one of us. In the future, our children will face a time of choice when we either become another partyer making bad decisions, going with the flow or we can be a leader who sets a higher standard. Even if we have, in the past, made the easy choices we can change our direction. Recently, Johnny Football (Jonathan Manziel, quarterback for the Cleveland Browns) made a courageous choice to go in for treatment to deal with the addictions that were disguised as just a young guy who liked to party. And I am praying for him. We all have the potential to make that change- to challenge the accepted, to walk the harder, narrow path.
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it." Matthew 7:13-14 (NLT)
I am so proud of people like Russell Wilson that make a choice to have high moral standards and use their accomplishments to better the community. But I am even more proud of the young people in our church like Josh Zappone (our Middle School Pastor) and the kids in the youth band that spend time practicing, growing in their faith, and leading others in worship. They are all examples of the power of a few. There are so many examples in our church, so many inspiring stories and people that reach out and follow the higher standards that Christ has called us to obey. This weekend we will study the power of the few in the life of Gideon. I hope that the message strikes a strong note of deeper Christ like fiber in each of our lives. Please join us.
Photo Credit
The Youth Band practicing at Winter Camp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cuCK0_0BUI