I wrote this article in 2006 over the first organized This Day Festivals – there were arguments and counter-arguments at the comment section. Kindly read on…
Every time I see comments made by my fellow Christian brethren, I can’t but cringe at the blame game that is prominent in these comments. The comments always reveal helplessness by the same people who are expected to be a watchdog on this earth. When I posted “Your take – “THIS DAY MUSIC FESTIVAL“, my dear readers immediately assumed I totally agree with the write-up of my dear friend, Bolaji Osinuga, but I don’t. I am actually not very happy with the comment; I am actually awed by it. Write-ups like this have kept me thinking all night on how we (the Christians) are re-incarnating the drama that took place in the Garden of Eden.
I keep on saying the only reason why there is darkness is because there is no light. Darkness is simply defined as the absence of light. How can we be passing the responsibilities of beaming the light to others who are by themselves lost? We give so much power to people who are expected to be holding our skirt, begging for the way of salvation. This is the story of Adam and Eve; Adam said “God, it is the woman that you gave me that lured me into eating the apple”. The Christians say “It is Beyonce, Madonna, Snoop Doggy Dog that are using lewdness, profanity and sex to sell their music that is the major responsibility for the decadence in morality”. No matter how much we try to justify perversity of these artists, we are only making them a model to be reckoned with.
I personally appreciate these artists a lot because they are good at their game; they know how to connect to their customers big time and they are rewarded by their customers wallet for a job well done. There is nothing as profound as someone discovering one’s talent and exchanging one’s talent for a greater value; there is nothing as profound as that. The value of this person may be in question but the ability to generate traffic and make a profit from this traffic is regarded as greatness. No wonder the same Christian that critic these artists know the names, the dance style, and the video of these artists. Is this not worth taking a heavy reflection on?
Then some Christians bring flimsy arguments like sex sells; perversity sells; and I start wondering what they are talking about. Titanic has the highest Box Office sale world wide, the Bible is the best selling book of all time, and Passion of the Christ sold far more than Basic Instinct. These are indications that following the same principle of “connecting with your customer”, you will make great sale. It is not a matter of the content of your art but the principle of connecting to your customer. Beyonce connects to the emotional level of people with her song and dance steps; Nicole Simons connects to the spiritual level of people but due to heavy promotions, Beyonce is more popular thus makes more money. This simply means Christians need to up their game; they need to get more platforms of reaching out like Cable, Stage Promotions, Radios, Televisions, etc.
I strongly believe it is better for Christians to learn how to appropriate the immense powers they have within them than to blame others for the misfortunes they face. The artists we critique today could be the proponent our dear gospel if only someone would up his game. We saw the same talented Paul who persecuted the Christian becomes the chief Proponent of the Christians. We have seen the Samaritan proclaimed to be better than the priest and a fellow Jew by Jesus because of his altruistic act. We have seen Jesus baffle at the faith of a Roman Centurion over his own people. We should learn to appreciate their talents and pray for a change in their value system.
Then the role model argument comes in, and I get pissed off when Christians call Bill Gates. Bill Gates proclaimed live that he is not sure if he believes in God. Is that the role model, we want? Is it because he followed the principle of sowing and reaping, and achieved enormous wealth that we regard him as a role model then there is no difference between Beyonce and Bill Gates; both maximize their talents to get to where they are but Beyonce still proclaims her love for God and to me will change with time…
