Just when you thought that you had the good guys and bad guys separated into their neat little categories, up jumps this statement by Lil Wayne to the crowd attending a recent concert in New Jersey:
This is quite interesting. I'm not sure I could find many people who would list Weezy F. Baby (Lil' Wayne for the uninitiated) as one who will be in the number when the "saints go marchin' in". However, is it possible that he could be a Christian? Several question come to mind as I ponder this:Lil Wayne had three things to explain. No. 1, a religious confession: “I believe in God and his son, Jesus. Do you?” He interpreted the roar as an affirmative response. No. 2, a professional confession: He said he was nothing without the fans, adding, “Make some noise for what you created!” Noise was made. No. 3: Same as No. 2. More noise.
- What does he mean when he says he believes in God and his son Jesus? Does he believe that Jesus was God in the flesh, was crucified, died, buried and was raised to life? Does he place all of his hope and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ as being the sufficient substitute for his own deserved punishment (namely eternal separation from God) and that his trust/hope/faith in the work of Christ is the thing that makes him acceptable to a pure, loving, and just God?
- How can one really know if another person is a "believer"? 18th century theologian Jonathan Edwards, in his book Religious Affections, cautioned against making determinations about what a person believes based solely on external actions that seem to be "Christianly" (a new word that I just made up). It is true that you will know a tree by the fruit that it bears (cocoa trees don't produce mangos), but it is also true that God is the only one who truly knows our hearts and thus is supremely qualified to be the final judge. I'm not saying that Weezy is a believer, but I'm also not saying that he isn't...
- Are we even comfortable with the idea that Lil Wayne could be a brother in Christ? How gnarly would it be if we could know with certainty that dude is a Christian? Would you welcome him into your church all tattooed, sporting a wife beater and smelling like weed? For those who would welcome him, would you gravitate to him because of his celebrity and his uncanny ability to spit over anybody else's beat and make that song better than the original? Or would it be because he is someone who just like you realized that he needs redemption has found it at the feet of Jesus.
