Why Not Center Jesus?

Michael Tait and Austin Becton

File: Savery Noah's Ark.JPG - Wikimedia Commons

I’m so late this morning because, well, besides bashing my poor little car so that it needs a new door which, amazingly, Matt and a friend found in the afternoon and will pick up on Thursday for suprisingly little money, what really happened was that I got stuck watching a lot of Newsboys videos. I did know about the existence of the Newsboys, but haven’t lived sufficiently in the rushing stream of popular Christian culture since my youth to stay up to date, as the youths certainly don’t say these days. So apparently, the lead singer, a person named Michael Tait, was credibly accused of treating people, young men in particular, very badly, using drugs, and committing many awful sins that put a lie to the kind of music he was famous for. Here’s a song that came out last year (or at least that’s what YouTube says):

The lyrics go like this:

Like a comet blazing 'cross the evening sky
Gone too soon, but left a burning light
We were chasing dreams, we were reaching high
Now you're dancing where the angels fly

There’s a Pre-Chorus:
Every moment, every memory
Points me to eternity

And then a regular Chorus:

Heaven on earth, where the streets are gold
Where the love is real, and the heart is whole
I can see you there, in the Savior’s arms
Singing hallelujah, free from harm
Heaven on earth, it’s a glimpse of grace
Every tear is gone, every fear erased
Till we meet again, I’ll hold this truth
Heaven on earth is a world with you

It goes on like that. Fairly unobjectionable, which is a blessing given the theological state of so much contemporary Christian music. Though, I do find the suits they are wearing and the way they jump around a little bit disconcerting. If you’re going to sing about the new heavens and earth, I wish you would wear golden robes and process in a dignified manner, but that’s just my Anglican showing. Yesterday, Michael Tait posted a confession:

Many online are lauding this statement as an excellent model to follow, should you ever find yourself caught in gross and abhorrent sin. Personally, I love the appeal to Psalm 51. You can’t go wrong there. I pray Tait will continue on his path towards Jesus and that those he used so badly will find healing and peace.

Meanwhile, over in Anglican land, area priest, Austin Becton, appears not to have noticed the vibe shift, that Pride Month is not such a big deal as it was last year or the year before, and so thought he would retrench himself in outdated sensibilities. He’s taken the post down, but Mark Marshall screenshotted it:

…who you are, but in the fullness of how God has created and called you. Your presence is not a…

I’m so disappointed to read something like this from an Anglican cleric, not just because it is wrong, but because it is so badly reasoned. I will, as usual, number my thoughts.

First, twenty years into the Anglican Unpleasantness is not a good time to call anyone to simply “listen.”