I love music. I started learning drums about eight years ago and have been privileged to play in numerous bands during this time. I also enjoy playing guitar and currently play in a rock band called Fading Rebel and love it! My interest in music led me to start reading a book I found in my school’s bookstore called The Gospel According to The Beatles by Steve Turner. It is a fascinating book about the spiritual journey of the Beatles and what part religion played in their lives. As I was reading the other day, I came across a controversial comment John Lennon made during the height of their success, where he claimed the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.” Needless to say, that one statement blew up into something much bigger! Radio stations pulled Beatles’ songs out of their rotation, towns held record-burning assemblies, and many religious leaders started preaching against the blasphemous rock group. It was seen as an arrogant quote by someone whose ego had grown to such a degree that he now placed his band ahead of Jesus. In my opinion, however, Lennon never meant for his words to come across that way. It may have been poor judgment, but he was simply noting that people were far more excited about the Beatles than they were about Jesus. And you know what? He was right. Beatlemania was taking hold of Europe and North America in a powerful way and church attendance continued to drop. People were treating the Beatles as messiah figures; looking to them for guidance, praising them, and even hoping to be healed by them. During this craze, many people let Jesus take a back seat in their lives as The Beatles sat up front.
This made me think about my life today. Sure, the Beatles aren’t around, but what is more popular than Jesus today? The first of the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20, says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Am I living this? There are all kinds of gods out there: money, success, fun, sports. Anything that rules my life can be a god. I constantly have to look at my own life to see what gods I have chosen for myself. A good indication is how I spend my time. Some days I’m on the run all day, and then I come home and have time to only read one chapter in my Bible before I drift off to sleep. Is God really God in my life, or is He just one of many? There is a war waging every day for first place in my life, and I need to make sure I am fighting for the right side.
Mike Blackaby is 25 years old and is the college and young adult pastor at First Baptist Church in Jonesboro, GA. Mike loves to play music, loves to snowboard, play hockey, and cheers for the Colorado Avalanche. He is terrified of spiders, but loves reading fantasy novels, watching movies, taking road trips, building camp fires, and will do any roller coaster if someone goes with him. You can contact him via Facebook.