Name 5 gay, Parsee Indian rock-and-roll phenomenons.
You can’t.
There’s only one, unfortunately.
Soon after the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody hit the screen, media outlets began decrying the movie for its legion of inaccuracies, the biggest being Freddy Mercury’s performance at Live Aid London having been recently diagnosed with AIDS. Pretty manipulative. Turns out he was perfectly healthy at the time.
It’s as if we’ve never seen Hollywood spin a true story to make it more interesting, more emotional. But something did happen at Live Aid that us Christian folk would do well to take note of, a truth that the movie delivered spot-on.
Bohemian Rhapsody’s rendition of Queen’s Live Aid London performance is nearly a mirror image of the real thing; 170,000 people moved by 3 musicians on a stage, led by a performer with a singular mission:
To give people what they had come to see, and to perform without pay for famine relief in Ethiopia. I’m sure all the bands at Live AID weren’t without their dark, self-serving agendas (none of us are), and it seems that the money raised, sadly, didn’t land as intended, but the effort by these bands was heroic in my opinion.
Were drugs involved? Sure. Was FM high? Did he have a few drinks before hitting the stage? Probably, according to eyewitnesses. And did Queen whip some @ss? Yep.
Now, picture God, looking down on all of this. What’s He thinking? Does He approve? Is He firing up the lightnin’ bolts or did He bang His head a little? Did Jesus back Him up with a little air guitar? Holy Spirt sitting behind them in a Ford Pinto backing them up on drums?
Whenever you see throngs of people moved by the charisma, talent, and passion of one rock band, who knew more about the concept of relational commitment than most of us church-hoppers, you have to ask, “what’s happening here?” Devout folk are tempted to chalk up Live Aid London’s Queen-infested fervor to the Devil. “They’re just high,” we might say.
I was high at most of the concerts I attended long ago, but not all of them, especially the ones in a stadium where it’s hot and the show lasts for the better part of a day. I can attest, from multiple personal experiences, that when people are moved at a concert, it’s not always drugs.
For those of us not-so-convinced that a rock concert is little more than devil worship, we’re left with some interesting options when we ask, “what’s happening?”
I have to wonder – was FM annointed by God to do what he did? And as the crowd was moved to “worship,” was God involved? Does He show up in secular spaces? Or does He only make appearances at our “worship” services, much as we try to pattern them after a rock concert?
I have a friend who shares FM’s annointing. She was once randomly asked to hit the stage at a local bar and play a few songs. The crowd loved it. She then took a risk, made a brief apology for what was about to go down, then whipped out her version of the hymn, “Amazing Grace.”
The place went from bar to church service for a bunch of people “done” with God. The crowd was moved, multiple people broken and warmed to the idea that God might be real, and good.
One guy, in a shirt that had the phrase “B@lls Deep” emblazened on the front for the whole world to see, approached, in tears, sharing the sordid details of his life with my friend, wanting nothing more than to have an honest talk about God.
Now, picture God looking down on all of that.
It’s easy for us Christians to become convinced that God only shows up in our holy spaces. If people are having fun, or otherwise enjoying life outside of some religious context, there must be something wrong. Unholy joy is not legitimate joy.
We frequently get sucked into what I’d call “proprietary” theology – the idea that God only works on behalf of those who follow Him, or on behalf of those who will soon follow Him. God’s endgame, in other words, is Christianity. Anything outside of that is worthless.
For example, when we’re asked the question, “How can a good, all-powerful God, the self proclaimed embodiment of love, allow the world to suffer as it does?” we declare that suffering is God’s way of coaxing Christians into becoming better Christians, or convincing non-Christians that they should get “saved.”
Famed Christian thinker C. S. Lewis said that suffering is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world to His existence. What about people who aren’t interested in God? What about people who will never be interested in God? Is their pain meaningless?
Proprietary theology.
Everything we think, feel, and experience has to do with our religion. Anything outside of that doesn’t matter.
So, the idea that God would annoint a gay man to “minister” to a throng of people who don’t want anything to do with faith is anathema to us. Doesn’t God hate gay people? And I’m sure that Jesus, if He came again like He did the first time, wouldn’t be caught dead at a rock concert, and He certainly wouldn’t do His magic for throngs of people who aren’t Christian.
Sure, He hung out with prostitutes and made 180 gallons of wine at a wedding where folk were clearly getting their drink on, but a concert?
The Bible’s rife with stories of God anointing people to serve others, regardless of who the others were, the most famous being that time when Jesus empowered His disciples to feed thousands with something akin to a Lunchable®. These weren’t Christian folk per se. They had simply witnessed Jesus’ disciples do some miraculous things and wanted to see more, like anybody would, religious or not.
It’s funny. The interchange goes something like this:
so they can get something to eat.”
Jesus: “You feed them.”
Disciples: “Wait, what? We only have food for US, and we’re certainly not
spending all of our money so they can have one meal. Nope.”
Only the people closest to Jesus and His disciples understood that a miracle had just taken place, everyone else got a free dinner, totally clueless to the fact that they had just eaten miracle food.
And let’s not forget that Jesus’ disciples were less than holy. The Gospel narratives go out of their way to let us in on the sin, stupidity, and faithlessness of these people, as well as ourselves.
God’s Kingdom – his work, his ministry, his annointings, etc. – isn’t limited to our holy spaces, and, conversely, the Devil’s Kingdom isn’t limited to our secular spaces. Evil is just as present in our sanctuaries as it is in the church of Freddy Mercury. Any pastor can tell you that.
After my wife and I watched Bohemian Rhapsody, we found Queen’s Live Aid performance on YouTube. While I was struck at how similiar the movie was to the real thing, I saw God in a place where I usually don’t look.
Where does talent come from? Good ideas? Wisdom? Rock and Roll? Scripture says that ALL good things come from above.
I’ve come to believe that Freddy Mercury is no exception. If you watch Queen’s Live Aid performance and don’t see the hand of God, I can’t help you.
I’ve also come to believe, as I’ve grown older, that it’s better to be a crazy person who sees God everywhere, in everything, than a modern, savvy, educated, smart person who sees Him nowhere.
I like it. It’s not up to us to decide where God will be. The Desert Fathers understood that he is indeed in all things.
Agreed – we get so wrapped up in what’s righteous, holy, and clean that we miss the majority of what God’s up to in the world, which drives a ton of confusion about what His endgame is.
Proprietary theology is scary. Look at the ways in which Trump and company have used the evangelical endgame to convince us if you are not white or Christian, you are Other… and we all know what happens to Others especially when given permission by our white supremacist overlords.
I won’t get into Freddy because there is too much. Suffice it to say that concerts of that caliber by any number of great rock bands, WAS going to church. Drugs were sacraments. Rock and Roll was the collective spiritual glue. A feeling of oneness. Rare. You are in the presence of the “Lord.”
Though I comment infrequently, I do read your articles. You are one of the very few Christians I have met whose views often mirror my own. I do not understand why you are not banned from church, excommunicated for not towing the line. I guess that’s why I like you.
The Unapologetic Hippie
Always a pleasure sir. Thanx for your comments. Would love to hear you unpack Freddie a bit as I think you and I are close in age. Also hope I didn’t miss anything. Re church – things are changing, Xians are beginning to think beyond conservative/cultural bounds into the deeper/harder/not so simple things. The next 5 years will see change of Biblical proportions I think…
There comes the judgemental attitude of elevating oneself while bringing someone else down. Trump actually invited many people white and black artist to the White House. He had Rap group DC Talk frontman Michael Tate also of Newsboys over and he is Black. Trump had probably done more for hardworking black people than you and I combined. Whether he himself believed is another question but he did the right things and brought God and Worship back to the WH unile the previous and current President and that is commendable.
God is everywhere. I really believe that myself. While playing by the rules is advised it isn’t always needed. Church is a great place of worship but God is also in the most unlikely of places. Thanks for your insight.
You bet – thanx for your comment. I agree with you re playing by the rules. How can there not be rules? I just think we get so tied up asking “what’s sin” and “what’s not sin” that we get really befuddled in our understanding of what the rules should be.
Just curious too, if I can ask – what’s your faith background?
I think sin is such an ambigious thing. It’s not very clear cut because so much of what Christians think is sin could have so many gray areas. I was brought up Roman Catholic, but after coming out as a bisexual, I feel like the safest bet is to say Christian in the moment. I believe in God with all my heart and all of the spirituality I was brought up on just tryna to find where I fit in with all of it now. Thanks for the reply!
Nothing ambiguous about sin it is clear in the Bible especially the New Testament it’s the Justice part of God’s Character but what is even more clear, amazing and wonderful is the endless love of God that leaves the 99 to pursue and find that one lost sheep and also the never ending Mercy and Forgiveness, the other part of God, for he took upon the sins of the World for all who believe in Him.
Wow…what a twisted view of who God is. The Bible says that God is a holy God. That he has nothing to do with the deeds of darkness. It’s easy to put one’s own views from a “rational” perspective onto a situation, but that is irrelevant. Freddie Mercury was not a minister of God…and not because your youth pastor from the ’80’s convinced you to throw away your secular trash…but because God says that to be friends with the world is to be enemies with God. Mercury was a Zoroastrian… Far from a servant of God. Jesus said there is only one way to God and that’s through Him. Not through Zoroastrianism, or through Freddie Mercury or any other way…
Not sure you follow my intent. Based on your response, I think I know how you’d answer this, but hang with me – would you say Freddie Mercury was justified before God?
I think you should revisit or visit some of the song lyrics of FM definitely something going on there. It’s not in the top hits it’s in the little unknown songs especially the older ones. As a believer me and my family were surprised. He grew up in a Christian schools so who knows maybe he committed his life to God at one point but was on the fence or fell away later. We do to really know. As Paul says wretched man that I am, who can saved me from this sinful body where: I don’t dothe things I know I should and do the things I shouldn’t do.
Can God use a Gay man? If he can use a Donkey, I don’t see why not?
Amen. Not sure that God using a devout Christian man is much different than using a donkey…
God uses all kinds of people to further his kingdom. The three wiseman were considered astrologers/ magicians, but were compelled by God. Those ‘pagans’ got to see baby Jesus first and financed his flight to Egypt. I don’t think the author has a “twisted view” of who God is. I think he sees God more fully than most Christians. Jesus spent his time on Earth ministering to all people, including the ‘secular trash’. In fact, the only people that Jesus had conflicts with were so called “Holy People”. God tells us not to judge others as only He can see into the human heart and find the truth. Only God knew Freddie’s heart and only God knows how he used Freddie to fulfill his purpose. We will never know what his relationship with Jesus was, but if you listen to his music, it suggests there likely was a relationship. The lyrics to “Somebody to Love” suggest that he believed in God and prayed to him. Regardless, God made Freddie. He loved Freddie deeply. He died for Freddie. I hope Freddie is with Jesus in glory, where there is no more pain and judgment. Where he is loved completely even though he doesn’t deserve it. I can’t wait to weep at Jesus’ feet even though I don’t deserve it either.
This is so good. Including the wise men in this discussion is brilliant. Thanx for your thoughts on a very old post 🙂