Something To Believe In dealt with loss on a level that caused Michaels to examine life beyond the immediate, to reflect on the bigger picture. Poison was notorious for wild backstage antics and excess, living as if there were no tomorrow, yet, Michaels, like every one, eventually pondered the question, "what's it all about?"
In the first verse of the song, Michaels sings of Jesus, "Some say he was a good man, but Lord, I think he sinned, yeah." Michaels rejects truth and then cries out, "Give me something to believe in." How many, just like Bret Michaels have rejected the truth of the love of Christ only to search in futility for something to believe in?
Is the church somehow complicit in turning people away from truth because we refuse to confront and silence those who would use the name of God for personal gain? The opening line to Something To Believe In: "Well I see him on the TV, preaching 'bout the promised lands, he tells me to believe in Jesus and steals the money from my hands." Our loudest voices are sometimes the most corrupt. Charlatans like Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar and Jesse Duplantis live lifestyles of the rich and famous, profiting off the name of Christ while the hurting and lost are going to hell.
Oh, should I have not named names? Well, I could name many many more!
Ripping people off in the name of God is nothing new. Before con men like Benny Hinn or Kenneth Copeland came along, a Medieval Monk named John Tetzel played on the emotions of the faithful through indulgences. Indulgences were payments made to the Church promising to help free souls from purgatory. Martin Luther, a Monk himself, understood Tetzel was using the name of God for personal gain and opposed Tetzel and the Church while maintaining his faith in Christ. Martin in turn, sparked the great protestant reformation and forever changed the world.
Michaels chose to reject the truth of Christ, presumably because of corrupt preachers, and ended up writing a catchy song which will most likely be forgotten in less than 100 years.
More tragic, Bret Michaels is in danger of damnation because he rejected truth. Bret Michaels will continue to cry out for something to believe in until he understands Jesus' word: "I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no man comes to the Father but by me."
Please pray for Bret Michaels.
Now, go live as Christ... and give the devil hell
Here's the thing: I do not see a direct correlation between the "church" and the teachings of Jesus Christ. I've personally seen the hypocrisy that Christ was so very vocal about alive today behind the walls of so called "christian" organizations and it makes my witness that much more difficult. I know it's not supposed to be easy, but heck, why are pastors making it so much more challenging? It seems like the chaff is overgrowing the wheat. I put my trust in Jesus because only in him can I know that I am in league with God. Also, I certainly have no idea what's in the hearts and minds of those mega-church pastors you mentioned and it's really none of my spiritual business, in fact it's just a distraction from what I keep coming back to - my Lord and Savior, the perfecter of my faith.
ReplyDeleteBrother, I have seen far too much hypocrisy in far too many churches at the business level that i am all but burned out on the modern model of he local church. The local churches are businesses with business concerns and unfortunately many find themselves preaching to the tithe in order to say in business.
DeleteChurch should be a place where like minded people can come together and praise God, strengthen one another and disciple new believers, not a vehicle to provide a salary for staff members and build multi million dollar structures. Thanks for sharing and be blessed as you pursue the savior!
This is interesting...I have been thinking about this song since I heard it as a kid when it was released. I pondered Bret Michael's motives and intent with this song. I thought about how possibly he may have never read the Bible but instead only used phony mega pastors actions as justification for his indictment on the church. With the words he chose to use in the song, he paints a broad brush on all bible believing Christians. What if I were to do that with all musicians and lump him in. He wouldn't like that. In fact it would be pretty easy to use HIM as an example as he sings about the poor never having a chance and no one giving a crap about them while he parties it up with the millions he makes off of his records. In fact he is USING the poor to make himself richer. I did some searching on the internet to see if he in fact actually cared and maybe set up a charity for the homeless or veterans....nope...nothing. He recently started a charity for diabetics, only because he is one and it can benefit him.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame. I pray that a fellow believer is able to reach Bret with the true gospel.
But, we have no reason to self-examine our motives as Christians due to his lyrics because the ones he talks about are not Christians at all.
I really liked Poison as a kid. I liked their melodic compositions and style. But as a follower of Christ, I reject their way of life, lyrical content, and hypocrisy.
One more thing, you stated "Michael's chose to reject the truth of Christ, presumably because of corrupt preachers...". Actually, Bret rejected the truth because he wants nothing to do with God. The Bible says that NO MAN comes to the Lord on his own. ALL have gone astray. ALL desire wickedness. If given a choice, we will choose to reject God 100% of the time unless God draws us. Michael's is not a victim of false preachers. At the judgement seat, Bret cannot blame the false preachers. Pray that God draws him to Himself.
Excellent insights, brother, I too was a pretty big Poison fan back in the day but today I do not own any of their music. Michael Sweet and Alice Cooper travel in the same circles as these guys, so hopefully, they will be able to present a good witness. I do believe the false teachers harming the Gospel message will be held accountable for stuff like this and I am probably a little less reformed in my theology than you when it comes to the TULIP. but I would not consider myself Armenian either. I fall somewhere in the middle with God initiating and providing the faith to believe but there still being a bit of human responsibility to respond.
DeleteThanks for reading and commenting, you made my day!
Blessings brother!!