When it turns out you have more in common with the Pharisees than you thought, what do you do?
Brandon Lake’s Hard Fought Hallelujah came out and captured many people’s attention and got the attention of another artist, JellyRoll. He is not a Praise and Worship style artist, to say the least, but some of his songs include a faith element and he is known to talk about God during his concerts.
When I heard JellyRoll was going to be joining Brandon on the song Hard Fought Hallelujah I thought “Really?!” I guess I have been jaded by other celebrities claiming they have turned to Jesus only to see them a short time later falling back into their old way of life.
It can be disappointing when you have hopes of change in someone’s life. Maybe you have experienced this with a friend or family member yourself.
Before the updated song came out, I saw a video with JellyRoll and his wife talking about maybe being called to ministry. He goes on to say, “I think we’ll end up serving God in a bigger purpose one day, but it’s not now. Right now we’re a gateway to God. We’re like a gateway drug to Christianity.”
I started thinking this guy is not serious, he is just messing around with faith. I even had the thought of he’s lukewarm, not hot or cold. Then, his wife says “no shame or disrespect” to hard-core Christians, and I found myself on the defensive, like, “why should there be any shame?”
I listened to this clip 2 more times before I really heard what they were saying. She said sometimes a “hard-core Christian” can have a very harsh approach. I realized there may be some hurt and pain here. And my response to a simple comment showed me that I could easily become one who causes some of that hurt and pain.
I went from thinking of all the verses that talk about false teachers and lukewarm Christians to looking up what Jesus said to the Pharisees, because I wondered, “am I like them?”
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.[a] 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach…
13 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.[e] – Matthew 23:1-3,13
A few days later a chat between Brandon Lake and JellyRoll was posted on YouTube and it really spoke to what I was thinking, specifically from minute 16:58 -19:07.
To paraphrase, JellyRoll says he thinks somewhere along the way we lost sight of the journey, “where I was and where you are today.” He said he’s somewhere in the middle and trying to work out his faith.
He also talks about not feeling welcomed by Christians and that at times he doesn’t want to claim Christianity BECAUSE of Christians and their attitude.
I thank God that He spoke to me and gave me ears to hear before I ran off with my hard-hearted ideas. I don’t know all the things in this man’s past and I should not judge the journey. I’m far from perfect and I have a checked past, redeemed only by God (Eph. 2:1-5). I also know I should not look at other celebrities past claims about their faith in Jesus and let that bias my thoughts about anyone coming to faith in Jesus.
