Admittedly when I read the great commission in Matthew 28 my mind doesn’t normally jump to fast upbeat songs. However this morning while checking my Facebook feed I saw that Jefferson Bethke had posted a link to a video by Family Force 5, one of my favorite bands from a few years ago, featuring Lecrae and I couldn’t help but start thinking of the great commission. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you may not get there with me without a bit of explaining but watch the video below and then we can talk about it.
After I finished watching the video I had a few mixed emotions. First off I had this odd idea that the song really was the great commission being acted out. I wasn’t even sure how I had gotten that I idea but it was there. On the surface the video is really a bunch of 20 to 30 year olds going crazy in a mud pit while talking about going cray (translation crazy) too a lot of crunk core music with a bit of rap mixed in.
Now before I make one song deeper than it is realize whats going on here. Both Family Force 5 and Lecrae have a heart to see a generation know and love Jesus. Admittedly the song has no lyrics about Jesus, the church, the Bible or anything else religious at all. However it is a catchy song that will grab lots of peoples attention and thats the point. Lecrae says it best in his song “Rise” off of his album Church Cloths,
So if they wanna reach us with Jesus
They gotta do it better than some screaming preachers
‘Cause homie, we don’t believe ya, we’ve seen grandmas,
Raw bodies, cold knees with heaters
So we’re skeptical, it’s easier to believe
That there’s a Heaven for a thug than to mess with you
It’s hard to rise
In case you can’t translate what he is saying it basically boils down to the fact that much of my generation and the generations below me have seen a lot of people go to church, but not be the church. So while the screaming preachers proclaiming the Gospel are needed and necessary in many cases they are not the first way people hear about Jesus. People hear about Jesus by seeing it lived out in the lives of those that say they love and serve Jesus. The great commission goes out first by the people of the church not the pastor.
The song is catchy and there will be people that hear it that will have no idea who Jesus is or even care about Him. However they will start to Google Family Force 5 and Lecrae and find out that though they sound like the bands and artist they like there is a difference between them. They will find that the difference is in where these bands find their identity. They will see that Lecrae is fiercely passionate about the gospel of Jesus. They will find that Family Force 5 may play at some of the same clubs their favorite bands do they will also proclaim the gospel while there.
This is the great commission. Go into all the world (every venue, every stadium, ever club) and make disciples of Jesus Christ. Its going to be cray!
Pastor Mike Moore 