Christians, Please STOP Doing This!

For something entirely different. Welcome to this video. My name is Nate if this is your very first time with me. Well stick with me. I think I think we'll have we'll have a good time and maybe we'll talk about something important.

If you saw my community post Recently, then you know that there's things going on right now in my life, and I'm trying to figure it out. So I appreciate all of your patience and I figured you know all this stuff that's going on with me.

And I'm trying to figure things out and I appreciate your prayers. Let's let's just do something light. Let me just I have a little bit of time let's see if we can have a good laugh and Maybe do something out of the norm and so hence this video.

Reacting to Christian Parody Music Videos

So we have a magazine article from relevant magazine not really familiar with relevant. I know they've been around for a little while but Relevant magazine has an article that says 15 Christian parodies of pop songs that you've got to see to believe.

That caught my attention. And so we're gonna get into it. Here's the beginning of the article for almost as long as there have been pop songs. There have been parodies of those pop songs people who want to ride the coattails of a hit with their own unique spin on it sometimes these can be funny as Seen in the work from the likes of weird al yankovic.

Sometimes these are annoying as seen in most others and sometimes They are fully sanctified as you can see in the deep and wide YouTube rabbit hole of Christian pop song parodies. Stop, is there a rabbit hole that I'm not aware of along these lines.

Do you guys know about videos? That you could go down a rabbit hole in this broader category of Christian parody. I don't know if I want to know the answer to that. There is virtually no limit to these unholy concoctions, but there is a ranking.

So and then they list some of these videos, let's just jump right in and take a look at what some of these are. Okay, step one start off with a skit where you're using only a camera and it's stock microphone and nobody can hear what's being said.

So that's that's great. And then step number two. Let's get Creflo dollar to be in our skit. Creflo, can you can you just come in here for our music video and just participate with us for a little bit here?

Cripples like I'll tell you what, why don't you pray for a jet and You know what? God will bless you. If you're believing him for a jet don't get the wrong idea folks. Okay. I love my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I'm if I'm not a fan of these kinds of things. I I do actually Agree with the things that they're saying so don't don't hear what I'm not saying. This is not an exercise in Boy pouring Boiling water over on top of somebody's head.

I just I Think that there's a better way and I'm gonna talk about that at the end of this video. So stay with me. But for now, I think we can laugh it at ourselves, that's all I'm trying to do here.

Okay, I.

See what's happening? So the guy you can this guy right here. Where's my mouse? You see this guy right here? He's been in a few plays. He's he's had some background and experience. He's very expressive.

His facial expressions in terms of you know matching the person that's in the video next to you. He's outperforming the lady.

Yeah, I.

Mean they're committed. Do you know what I mean? Like they're they're into it. They they're they're trying really hard. They're trying very hard. Okay.

Yeah.

Oh.

He doesn't know how to pray. Yeah, there's something wrong with his hands cuz look at this. There yeah, he doesn't. He's not entirely sure. He's looking at her. For some guidance and a model of how to put your hands together when you pray.

She's going straight up old-school. This is like puritanical, right? So we got the steeple fingers, right? Here's this is the church. This is the steeple. Open the door and see all the people close the door and listen to them pray.

Open the door and they all walk away, right? Thank you. Thank you very much. I think I got the gist of this one. I'd say a for effort and that's all I would say.

I.

I feel it.

Okay, is it JC. Plus plus equals eternal life, oh my gosh, this is so. There's a there's a moment when you eat too much spaghetti and And you get indigestion, right? That heartburn that goes along with too much tomato paste, right?

Cuz your body can't. That's what I'm feeling currently at the moment. I uh, it's a cringe. Somebody forgot to tell the lady over here, you know a little bit more pep a little bit more pep sis. Somebody they didn't really spend a whole lot of time on choreography cuz Sister over here is she keeps looking over at everybody else to see what the choreography is gonna be next.

I got it. I got it. I got it.

I got it. I got it. I got it. Totally affirm the message. That's it. What do we got here? It's important. If it's trashy, you got to put the muumuu on it ladies. I Think it's very important that you understand girls all you girls watching.

If it's trashy Put the muumuu on they had somebody off-camera. It's like what was the job description for this person when you hired them? We need you to stand offstage and at the appropriate time in the proper in the song.

We need you to throw a muumuu at my head, which by the way, whoa. Do you know any maybe I'm at the wrong church? Okay I've never seen a Christian wearing muumuu like ever I think didn't muumuu's go out of style like decades ago or something.

Like what what are we trying to say here ladies? I love the guy. Whoever the guy is he's crouching. He's crouching down and he's like do I do it now? No, wait. Whoa. Yeah. Hit her right in the head with a muumuu.

I.

Did that?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, stop it. Stop it. Stop it. I got it I got this. I got it moving on. Okay. All right.

Yeah, yeah.

Amen.

Amen. I Mean you can't it's hard to like, you know this beat and you know Bruno Mars. I mean, come on, it's hard. Like I'm bumping my head like this is it's gonna take a little bit of effort to ruin this song.

Yeah.

Amen.

HSC.

All right. Here we go. Here we go. Six months practice to do this one move. Yeah, let's do it again. Yeah, you didn't see it the first time. Here it is again.

Yeah, I'm proud.

What is HSC? Put some Jesus in it. I see what you did. I like him. He's good. Amen, you know that I am.

Yeah.

What is HSC? What is HSC high school choir? No high-strength cholesterol. No, what is HSC? I don't. I don't understand. What's happening right now if I'm looking for God just watch. You know what by the way.

There's a lot of God in those gold chains around their neck. You know, I mean if I If I want to show people God and I say hey you're looking for God just watch. Look at all these gold chains. That's there it is.

There's God. Yep. There's a lot of gospel in these gold chains. Like if you see these guys on the regular street and you're walking by and they say hey, you know what? If you're looking for God just watch this.

Okay, I got saved when I was 30. All I hear are the original lyrics to this song. This is one of the pride. I'm gonna talk about this at the end of the video. All I hear Are the original lyrics to this song like is what is the goal of doing something like this?

I don't.

Great.

How long did it take for this person to write down the lyrics to this before cutting this video. How. A month two months three months six months and Then and then perfecting the you know, slim shady voice.

Spread the truth.

I.

Mean, you know again a for effort most of its to the beat. And then you get into these weird things where you want to shove this one word in because it's it fits into your agenda. But it doesn't and you go so be it.

You just throw it in.

Gosh.

Christians, can I can I just ask why? Why would they say that why would they when people walk on by look at that and go man, he's whack. I'm not saying it. Are you?

I.

Don't look at my body look at my buddy. Who's your buddy? I don't know but look at my buddy. It it really needed to fit right because we're just cutting out words. We don't like and trying to place in things that are Christian.

And so instead of buddy, it's her body. It's buddy. Okay. Got it. Look at my buddy. I Got. I got news for you if you are in, you know older golden years. Okay, and you're sitting on your walker cuz you're probably tired cuz you know.

You've been out and about you're walking around and you see that guy walking up to you run as fast as you possibly can. There's so much oh my gosh.

What.

What is what is somebody had to record that. Hey look at my buddy.

I.

Blessed and I know it.

All right. Oh.

Please.

Those aren't those aren't real. Those aren't real homeless people. Are they. Please don't put real homeless people in your parody.

Sexy and I know it video. I love it. I love it. There's so much gospel in that sign.

There's just so much gospel there. You know what I mean? I'm blessed and I know it people look at that. That's what Jesus told the disciples to do. You know what. Go and make disciples of all the nation and teaching them to create signs that say I'm blessed and I know it.

Puppets. Puppets. Let me ask this question. What is it with Christians and puppets? Like if you go back Away's a couple decades. All you saw were Christians using puppets for everything, right? And probably what's going on here is again intentions in the right place hearts in the right place.

Puppets probably for the kids, but I mean, come on if you go back a couple decades to the 80s I was alive back then. Christians in their puppets. There's something going on with it. You know, I mean, by the way puppets we're gonna have nightmares tonight.

Oh.

There you are.

There is. He's getting ready. I love it too. You see but there's probably under the curtain, right? There's just these guys that with these sticks like this, you know. They're so happy.

God night. Yep.

In no way am I actually singing in my own head the original lyrics. I've completely forgotten them and now they're replaced with these words God night. Yeah.

Oh, there she is.

We're gonna have a lot of nightmares tonight. Catchy beat.

Oh.

Amen. Let's praise him. Let's praise him. Yeah Yeah. After that song I have a feeling what is it with Christians and puppets. What is Who. For sure we'll call Mo.

W.

What do you have to do with your mouth in order to make that pronunciation of W why is that Yates? My gosh why. Let's just stop it. Why I Mean why here's the deal. No faulting these brothers and sisters for their hearts and where their heart is trying to you know engage Christians in today's kind of culture.

I totally get where that comes from. I have the same heart. Okay. But I think we have to understand a few things and now I'm talking to you know Those of us who are creatives we have that drive in us.

We are we we have a desire to Make some kind of art, you know. Well, we have to understand that the role of the artist, you know, the role of the storyteller whatever is to create a Space for people to react to your art in order to become enchanted.

Okay, Paul Gould talks about this in his book cultural apologetics the reality is that we as a people have largely become disenchanted from the Transcendence of the world that is around us. You know, we walk around many of us in the church as well Do this but we walk around like practical atheists.

All right walking talking speaking as if all there is to the world is the physical, you know. All all there is is what we can see taste and touch, you know molecules matter in motion, right but art. What art can do if it's done?

Well, what it can do is it can give folks a glimpse of and a longing for that far-off country. You know that that transcendent space that's right around the corner of our own experience. That's what good art should be attempting to induce in all of us good art in my opinion.

Or maybe I could say like the best art is not meant to make people Like travel a journey into the furthest corners of their own subjective experience. But rather to let people feel the real experience of the transcendence of the world around us there's just there's something else going on in our reality that is deeper and spiritual and Wonderful and amazing and more than anything that we could possibly imagine and it's all true.

Okay, it's real. Paul Gould says it like this. The whole world is haunted. All right, it's haunted by a spiritual dimension. There is a spiritual realm to to the nature of our experience but we've been led astray from a real connection to that experience and so many of us have Lost much of the understanding of our real desires to transcend the physical the desires are there.

But we're seeking to fulfill those desires with other things and it always falls short, you know, CS Lewis kind of said it like this. Every natural innate desire inside us corresponds to some real object that can satisfy our desire.

And so a baby feels hunger, you know, well, that's because there is such a thing as food. You know a duck desires to swim or something. Well, that's because there's such a thing as water. But here's what he says if I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy.

The most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. We have to keep alive the desire inside all of us for our true country. You know, that's the role of the artist in my opinion whether whether they write stories.

Write songs make music make movies, whatever the case may be. And so how do we get there as artists? You know, how do we instill this this this longing this this? Deeper level understanding we create art that awakens those desires in people and.

And the way to do that is to make art that at at base is authentic, you know. So this is this is where I'm going. This is my problem with Making videos and music and songs of this nature right that we just watched.

Authenticity is huge in the realm of art. Why. Because it's one of the fundamental ways to connect to the audience to real meaning. The flip side of that is. Inauthentic art is not meaningful. And if it's not meaningful then people are just going to dismiss them.

You know these music videos that we saw they are not authentic. They're they're like those fish that swim under the belly of sharks and whales, you know. I mean, you know the fish that like they travel.

Where the bigger fish are going and they exist off the leftovers of whatever the bigger fish is doing. That's what I'm trying to say. Like these songs these what these Christians are doing. They're derivative of someone else's authentic artistic expression.

Mind you the the originals are secular and Largely antithetical to the Christian worldview. Okay. But the way to deal with secular art as Christians is not to make weird Al Yankovic style covers. Okay, no offense to weird Al fans alright, but if the trend of artistic expression is going in a direction away from God and the Christian worldview right that the trend is slouching away from Judeo-christian values and towards hedonism and self-centered living the way to change the direction of that trend is not to Surgically remove the content and message of the art while keeping its unique artistic aesthetic.

Right keeping the beats and the music and everything exactly the same because it's very difficult to remove one from the other in a way that Ultimately transforms its original message. I said this before but I imagine most people listening to these Christian versions of the songs.

They simply hear the original lyrics in their own head, right? Because the beats are so iconic. They just they stick, you know, cuz it's very hard to remove these things. No instead as Christians we need to create brand new aesthetic expressions.

Brand new aesthetic expressions that are beautiful and compelling while also communicating what we want to communicate. Like if we can do that if we can make compelling art that is beautiful in its own, right?

Well, then we can steal the Christian worldview past the watchful dragons of those who would reject it and I would go so far as to say that We can entirely change our culture the direction that the culture has been traveling if enough Christian creatives would make beautiful Authentic and compelling stories music and movies and some of you are like well some of these people are Nate.

Have you seen you know the chosen? Are you watching this or do you hear in that great, but we need more. We need you. Okay, if I'm talking about something and it's stirring your heart and getting those creative juices going then we need you.

I'm talking to you. We need your art. We need your talents for the sake of the glory of God. All right. What do you think? Am I just a snob am I way off here or am I on to something? Let me know in the comments below.

A Better Way to Make Christian Art

Hey, listen, thank you for being patient with me. All right. I'm gonna figure myself out and you know, what's going on in my current situation and I will come back for more videos soon I promise but in the meantime stay patient and I'll say bye for now.