letters to the editor # 5

(And THIS is the last of the day.)

File under Freaks for Jesus. This one's long, but beautiful. From The Barbados Advocate:

How can they sing the Lord’s song in a strange environment?

Web Posted - Fri Aug 20 2004

Some persons for and others against is more or less the natural outcome of the discussions surrounding the participation of Christians, The Experience Tent, in the recently held Pic-O-De-Crop finals at the National Stadium.

It first has to be stated that the occasion of the Pic-O-De-Crop where calypsonians compete with one another and vie for a reward started out as a secular event and continued in this vein for many years.

This is the first year that Christians have ventured into this competitive, swinging, uptempo song burst.

When one reflects on the involvement of Christians in this activity one should acknowledge that there are and always have been a few religious denominations which seemingly, according to their interpretation of the Holy Bible, never had any objection to their members partying and enjoying themselves at certain secular events while still remaining partakers of Holy Commu-nion, and yet not being labelled unChristian.

The profiles provided by the Press of members of the Experience Tent suggest that they are worshippers in churches known for their evangelical and fundamentalist zeal. These churches would therefore embrace teachings of the Apostle Paul as found in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17 which reads: “When anyone is joined to Christ, he is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come.” (The Good News Bible)

They would also hold to the manner in which Christians should conduct themselves as found in the epistles from the Book of Romans to Jude together with any other relevant texts of the Bible.

At Luke chapter 16, verse 13 Jesus speaks thus: “No servant can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (The Revised King James Bible)

If persons who asked questions or raised objection to the Experience Tent being involved in the Pic-O-De-Crop and related activities have been led to their conclusions based upon relevant scriptural passages, then they cannot be regarded as being out of place or being on slippery ground since they have taken their stand on the “It is written” principle as Jesus Christ Himself did when He responded to Satan during the temptation by him in the wilderness.

In support of the Experience Tent some persons have commented that Jesus Himself was found among persons of ill-repute and questionable places (not that they explained His purpose for being where He was).

Others said that David danced before the King until his clothes dropped off. Still others have remarked that this is another way of spreading the gospel outside the conventional four walls of the church and that the spirit of God has turned up in the finals of the Pic-O-De-Crop and His purpose and destiny is being shown in this respect. The church has come of age, it was declared.

We imagined that members of the Experience Tent have not lost their first love for the belief that Jesus Christ can transform lives and can cause believers to speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs making melody in their hearts to the Lord, then the wonder is: how were they able to sing the Lord’s songs in the strange and new environment of the Pic-O-De-Crop?

Phyllis O. Murrell

worm "Plastic Jesus," Mojo Nixon

namecheck Clint "Preacher's Son" Hadden