Rock’s False Gospel

Sometimes false gospel messages in music are easy to spot. For hip-hop, it’s blatant self-promotion and indulgence. For R&B and pop, your boyfriend or girlfriend relationships will save you. But with a lot of rock music, the message is more abstract. If prompted, what would you say is the false gospel of a band like Coldplay, or better yet, Radiohead?

Radio Who?

Radiohead is an especially unique band. Ever since they redefined Brit-pop in the mid-90s, countless bands have been influenced by their music, and they've drawn a cult-like fan base, many of whom are culture-makers. Radiohead embodies postmodern music.

Culture Teaches—Whether You Notice It or Not

In Luke 6:40 Jesus says, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.” In your life, where have you given way to the lies that the world teaches? Lies are usually subversive. Before you know it, lies can become so much a part of your worldview that they disciple you to an imbalanced view of the gospel. This is what happened to me. As a Radiohead mega-fan, I passively bought into their ideology: hopelessness, cynicism, apathy, and generally a “down with the Man” attitude. My gospel understanding was only half true—my total depravity and Christ’s crucifixion, without the new identity and Christ’s resurrection.

Pay Attention

Whatever you do, don’t focus so much on contextualizing as a missiologist to the point that you lose sight of how the gospel contextualizes to you. Understanding the message behind the music that we love is not just important for how we see the culture that we minister to, but also how we see culture teaching us. We need to remember that every moment is a gospel opportunity, and leisurely listening to music shouldn’t be an exception to the rule. Joel Brown leads the Mars Hill band Red Letter. Get Red Letter's album for whatever you want to pay from Re:Sound.