Lausanne World Pulse – World Pulse Archives – World Pulse Archives

Jammin’ for Jesus. Saturday night, seven o’clock, come as you are” declares a sign posted outside one of my neighborhood churches. Is this a context-ualized missiological statement, or the application of ethnomusicology? Those monstrous terms often descend like fog on what our missionaries do. They make it difficult for ordinary folks to understand what missionaries do. It would be much better for us if we heard that our missionaries are jammin’ for Jesus.

This church obviously tries to cut through a lot of roadblocks to Jesus. Like coastal lighthouses, these folks are trying to penetrate the fog and offer some simple clues about what it means to know Jesus.

Whether people think jammin’ music is appropriate is not the main issue here. The devil likes nothing better than to get Christ’s people arguing about their personal preferences. Missionaries have the advantage of trying things far away that perhaps would not pass muster in their home churches. We need some fresh kinds of jammin’ for Jesus because cultures and tastes and entry points are as different as fifty varieties of French cheeses. One taste never satisfies all, but popular music comes close to having a universal appeal.

About 40 years ago guitars edged into some churches with a great hullabaloo. One of my favorite guitar evangelists was John Guest, and I knew when he came to a campus where I was working that he would draw a crowd, and he did. John also knew how to talk about Jesus in ways that appealed to college students.

I hope young people flock to “Jammin’ for Jesus.” I also hope they come away with a clear understanding of who Jesus is and what he has to offer them. Drawing a crowd is not our goal; drawing people to Jesus is.

We have to be careful that our icebreakers, whatever they may be, do not obscure the good news. At some point, if we are trying to gain a hearing among Americans, Africans or Asians, we must be confrontational, not just entertaining.

This does not mean that we fire all of our cannons at once. We have to be more subtle than that, but not too subtle. Some people think the apostle Paul, who used a clever icebreaker at Athens, was too subtle. He decided that because idolatry prevailed among the Athenians he would address that issue first. Then he warned of impending judgment, made certain because God had raised from the dead “the man he has appointed” for the job. That was a pretty cool icebreaker, I think, because it aroused curiosity about Jesus. Would that we could be so subtle, and yet so clever, that after we jam for Jesus some people will want to hear more.

Whether it’s in Cairo, Tokyo or Lima, we have to pry open some doors to mass popular culture. God gave us music to use to good advantage for attracting people to come as they are.

With our music we have to make sure that people do not suspect us of having ulterior motives. Is jammin’ for Jesus really for me, or is it just bait to get me to buy your religion? That’s what people in the crowd are asking when they pull up to our venues.

Our sincerity and love must be transparent, whatever icebreakers we employ. Jesus must stand out all over us, so that people will be drawn to us long after the boom boxes have been turned off.

The hard work begins after the jam session ends. Who is going to invest time, love and energy to connect with someone who showed up just for the music? Whether we use the Jesus film, or bring in a contemporary Christian rock group, we must act like beagles on a rabbit’s scent to bring Jesus into someone’s mind and heart.