When I interviewed Alice Cooper seven years ago, one of the subjects that came up was Halloween. He stated that, growing up in the midwest, Halloween was just a time for candy and fun — nothing satanic about it at all. When I was a newlywed and began to start thinking of having kids one day, I envisioned telling them, “We are not like everyone else. We’re a peculiar people, chosen of God, and we don’t celebrate this holiday…” That sort of thing. I figured I’d play the “we’re set apart” card. It’s true, as Christians we are God’s people, grafted into the vine with the Jewish people. There are different values instilled in us. We are like strangers in a strange land. However, when I actually had kids, I gave up this battle in favor of being a part of my community and allowing my kids to play with the other kids in the neighborhood. Sure, I could have stood my ground and chosen this issue to battle over, but I just don’t see it as a crucial one.
It’s kind of odd how some Christians view spiritual warfare and things that they are told are “evil.” Take rock music and the old (and racist) cliche story about the missionary whose son played some Christian rock music for another child his age from the bush. “Turn it off!” said the African child. “This is the same drum beat we use to conjure demons in my tribe’s old ways…” The (false) assumption is that the drum beat in rock is therefore evil. ‘If it’s used to conjure demons by a tribe of animist or spirit-worshiping natives, then it must be a beat of the devil.’ The real smart response to that, if it were a true story, would be, “Oh, so this tribe used a syncopated drum beat to conjure demons in their rituals? That’s fascinating.” It wouldn’t matter if devil-worshipers used a rock beat to accompany their false god worship or if they used a country slide guitar (and a Johnny Cash sound-alike’s booming vocals, for that matter). It doesn’t prove anything. The guilty-by-association principle was in full effect when Christian anti-satanism was at its peak of popularity.
“See this symbol?” someone might point out. “This is a reference to Molech, the demonic entity that folks used to worship and offer child sacrifices to. The fact that this so-called Christian pop music guitarist has this sticker on their guitar means that they’re satanic.”
“Oh my gosh!” a frightened but relieved parent would reply. “And we were about to invite this band to play for our youth group. Thank the good Lord that you pointed this out. Tell the youth minister that Barstow Girl is not going to play our Fall Harvest Outreach … and tell him that he’s skating on thin ice, too!”
It’s too bad that someone couldn’t slap those two in the face and say, “Turn the photo to the right a little bit. See that? It’s a sticker for Red Bull energy drink. It’s not an allegiance to Molech. Why are you so stupid?”
Besides the fact that a lot of rumors and crazy stories turn out to be fact-less, the whole mindset of guilty-by-association is foolish. It is not wise to jump to conclusions. When a conclusion is met with prayerfully seeking God’s guidance, following principles in His Word, and the counsel of wise friends, then one is to have courage and stand up. It’s a serious thing. But this jumping-to-conclusions bit will hurt the “troops” morale after one false move after another. There’s also a little bit of fear. Tell someone a story sometime about some ancient evil symbol and how its infiltrated the church. Go ahead and make something up. Look for a Red Bull logo or something. Just tell the dumb story. Now look at the reaction from the quick-to-judge people. You might find alarm and a little bit of fear on their face. Why cringe at the sight of evil? Where is the confidence based upon our identity in Christ and the power of His blood and how His resurrection made a “public display” of His (spiritual) enemies?
There is no reason to shrink back in fear if/when we encounter true evil. By the authority vested in you — everyday, normal believer — you have the power to cast out devils. Our first reaction should not be fear. Granted, evil manifestations in the year 2009 might be a little strange to our modernized eyes, but we should have confidence in the Supreme Ruler of the entire universe.
And speaking of false starts and lies. I wonder what Mike Warnke is up to these days. His website shows an active schedule. I trust he’s doing well. I am friends with a couple of people that used to regularly book him for concerts. One of these friends is a guy named Greg, who is actually mentioned by name in the “two fat guys that get run into by sorority girls in Austin, Texas” skit. The other friend, a guy named Charles, used to book him as well. He also stayed in touch with him after the much-publicized expose on Warnke’s ministry that our other good friends (at Cornerstone Magazine) published in the early ’90s. Mike is a sweetheart of a guy and a funny comedian. He brought some good, solid teaching to many through his albums. My buddy Charles suggested once that we do a photo shoot with Mike and lots of the bands we cover and make that the cover story of Heaven’s Metal Magazine. This was right around the time of the slowly-breaking story. I considered it. Wouldn’t that have been a scandalous cover at the time? When this tragic story broke and Mike confessed to fabricating some of the details of his former-satanic-high-priest past (part of his “testimony”), the record label (Word Records) offered full refunds to any angry customers who had purchased Warnke’s albums. That is a huge apology effort, huh? Can you imagine Janet Jackson’s record company offering full refunds of her albums after the Super Bowl incident? I can’t.
So, I wonder how many people (if any) lost their faith when they saw Mike Warnke’s ministry take these blows. I hope nobody did. While it’s confusing to see “ministers” and/or “leaders” fail, it makes sense that we don’t follow and worship a preacher, but instead follow and cling to and trust in the Savior that these preachers point to — Jesus the Messiah. If the book of Acts is still being written in the invisible realm, I wonder if stories like this are chronicled. It’s a bummer (and a real mess) when something like this happens. But it can also serve as good instruction for us, motivating us to avoid deception and lying. It may give us the confidence to step up and say, “No! That thing you said about me being the hero of that situation — that’s not true! What really happened was…” Or something like that.
Because I had relationships with people that knew Mike Warnke, I never jumped on the “crucify him!” bandwagon. As much as it hurt to hear of the details of this tragic story, I also knew that this was a human being. A liar? Yes. A fraud? I guess so. But also a hurting human being that I hoped would face up to his failure, repent, and receive fully his right-standing as one forgiven and then restored. Just as the mess of a failure and unravel and cause damage and so on, so a restoration process can have its slip-ups and tough times. But the goal of a wounded soldier is to get healed and begin helping the “team” again. I prefer to assume the best in people. I keep my eyes open and will (most of the time) notice the signs of unrepentance or insincerity, but I will not actively “look for” these things. I would prefer people to assume the best in me if I were in such a situation, so the Golden Rule principle applies well here.
So, what am I doing this Halloween? Besides maybe manning the driveway as neighborhood kids come by, I’ll be tuned into ABC or ESPN 2 and watching the Texas Longhorns take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys at 7pm. All the marbles are at stake in this game for the Longhorns, for if they were to not emerge victorious, would seriously damage their chances of continuing this fun-filled season and playing for the National Championship. I guess this might be one game where I might say foreign-sounding-from-my-lips things like, “Boo Cowboys!”
Alice Cooper is like a part of the American culture landscape — just like Slirpees and 7-11. Don’t ya just love mixing the flavors of Slirpees?
…and so, in relation to all that, if anyone wants to win one of two Whip It movie posters (about 12″ x 18″), send an email to contest@hmmag.com along with your mailing address in the body of the email and “Whip It” in the subject heading. We’ll randomly choose two as winners and send your poster. There. That makes sense, right?
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