Is Kanye's faith legit?
Image Credit: Dpwolf (licensed under CC)
Molly Fairclough,
30th Nov 2019
Tags:
Music
Blog
Kanye West
Rap
I don’t know about you, but I have always liked rap music. However, it has also been a constant point of conflict for me.
I don't always agree with the lyrics.
I like rap, but I don’t always agree with the things that I am listening to. And at some point, I find myself questioning whether I should really be listening to something that goes so blatantly against what I believe.
For example, many big-name rappers like A$ap Rocky, Eminem, Rick Ross etc. have misogynistic lyrics littered throughout their songs.
As a woman, I find it hard to listen to these things. And there-in lies my conflict.
Kanye West walks the line between thoughtful art and misogynistic nonsense.
For this reason, I have always enjoyed rappers like Kendrick Lamar, who use their music to speak eloquently about poignant issues. I've noticed that Kanye West always walks the line between thoughtful art and misogynistic nonsense.
For instance, his album ‘College Dropout’, with songs like ‘Family Business’ and ‘Jesus Walks’, is one of my favourite rap albums of all time. But he also has songs like ‘I Love it’ that are frankly painful to listen to.
However, he recently released his album ‘Jesus is King’, which is essentially a worship album that proclaims Jesus Christ as King, and details Kanye’s own thoughts on his relationship in God.
We can listen to rap that actually reflects our own feelings.
You would think people would be happy right? Especially Christians? After all, we can now listen to rap that is actually reflecting our own feelings and views as opposed to contradicting them.
Well, personally, this was how I felt, but many other people had different reactions to Kanye’s new-found faith.
It is fair to say that West’s new album has divided communities in two: one side thrilled at Kanye’s new turn to faith, and the other side condemning him for ‘Fake Christianity’.
Regardless of what side of the argument you take, one thing is very important to make clear: The fact that someone’s mistakes were more public than yours, doesn’t make them less forgivable.
We don't decide who is worthy of being forgiven.
This lesson goes beyond the discussion of Kanye West, and can be applied to pretty much all areas of life where judgement is concerned. The bottom line is, God forgives all things.
It’s not up to me or you to decide who is worthy of being forgiven, it’s up to God.
In the Bible, Jesus says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3-4).
Even the ‘best’ people make mistakes every day.
No one is perfect, and even the ‘best’ people make mistakes every day. So, don’t judge people based on what they have done in the past, but take them for who they are in the present.
