He’s back! And trolling Christians once again.
Since rocketing to fame with Old Town Road, the Georgia rapper has become infamous for his ability to provoke us and anger us. And he’s perfected it.
First, in his music video for Montero (Call My By Your Name), he descended to Hell and gave Satan an enthusiastic lap-dance. Then – back on earth – he released a custom-made version of Nike Air Max 97’s he called “Satan Shoes”, which were supposedly made with a drop of human blood. (Only 666 were produced, of course.) FYI: scholars debate whether the number of the beast is 666 or in fact 616….
He’s done a lot since then. He split his pants on Saturday Night Live. He collaborated with Kanye West. He took a world tour. He became a fashion icon.
But what he hasn’t done in a while is release new music. That changed last week, when he dropped his new song and video. Its title? “J Christ.”
(Read the Time Magazine article about the release here, which situates the song within the history of pop songs about Jesus. It draws on my research into this phenomenon and features quotes from yours truly.)
THE CONTROVERSY
In typical fashion, the rapper started to tease us a week ago. First, he tweeted an image of himself nailed to a cross. Then he said he was beginning his Christian era. And, appropriately, he posted a picture of himself dressed like a priest with the caption “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, amen.”
And that’s when, ahem, all hell broke loose. Judging by the comments on his posts, many of our Christian compatriots were quick to assume he was trying to offend us. Lil Nas X going full Kanye? Becoming a Christian artist?
And what about that photo? That’s our Jesus: how dare he co-opt our Lord and Savior!
But the rapper quickly posted a rebuttal:
the crazy thing is nowhere in the picture is a mockery of jesus. Jesus’s image is used throughout history in people’s art all over the world. I’m not making fun of s[***].
THE VIDEO
He’s right. And what he has to say about the photo applies to the whole video, which is full of Biblical imagery. Watch the whole video and here’s what you’ll find:
• First, dressed like Jesus, he takes on Satan in a vicious game of one-on-one basketball. He breaks Satan’s ankles and dunks right over him – just like Jesus will at the end of time.
• Next, he appears on the cross. At first, he’s upside-down, singing “Which way that we goin’?” Then as he answers the question – singing “Hmm – this way” – he turns right-side up. Seems clear to me which way he chose. (FYI: Lil Nas X directed the video.) Finally, crucified on a hill, he’s surrounded by mocking crowds. Just like Jesus was in the Bible.
• Cut to the scrubby landscape of Judea. There’s Lil Nas X, a good shepherd tending his flock.
• Finally, he appears as Noah, herding all the animals into the Ark to save them from a deluge due to global warming. (His embrace of that reality might actually be the most heretical aspect of this video for many conservative Christians!)
Then there are the lyrics. The verses are full of boilerplate hip-hop boasting. But the chorus is something else. It’s about God. But it’s not offensive – far from it:
Is he up to somethin’ only I-I know?
Is he ’bout to hit ’em with the high-igh note?
Is he ’bout to give ’em somethin’ vi-iral?
Is he ’bout to hit ’em with the high-igh note?
We may not use these words, but we echo this message in church whenever we acknowledge our belief that God will do great things for us. Why can’t Lil Nas X believe it, too?
NO SURPRISE
Neither the chorus nor the video should be surprising. That’s because he is a Christian. And if you wonder if he “really” believes the most important article of faith when it comes to Jesus himself – his resurrection – check out what he tweeted upon releasing the song:
MY NEW SINGLE IS DEDICATED TO THE MAN WHO HAD THE GREATEST COMEBACK OF ALL TIME!)
Yet none of this has stopped the deluge of hateful comments from his fellow Christians. And we know why.
In this video he wiggles his butt while wearing a cheerleader costume. He wears a bedazzled choker that says SEX. But the big reason, of course, is that Lil Nas X is gay.
This is not the first time he’s felt our hatred. As he says in this Time article from 2021,
I grew up in a pretty religious kind of home—and for me, it was fear-based very much….Even as a little child, I was really scared of every single mistake I may or may not have made. I want kids growing up feeling these feelings, knowing they’re a part of the LGBTQ community, to feel like they’re O.K. and they don’t have to hate themselves.
Lil Nas X has said time and again (including in this apology in the aftermath of the storm surrounding the video.) I believe it’s true. But the media provocations, the teasing tweets, the the Satan Shoes…they all tell a different story. They reveal a broader strategy. The rapper knows what he’s doing. He’s engaged in a calculated and targeted form of mockery. But he’s not mocking Jesus. He’s not mocking Christianity.
He’s mocking Christians.
And thank God he is.
Lil Nas X is mocking the Christians who terrified him as a boy, the pastors and parents and compatriots who wielded their religion like a club against him and other LGBTQ+ kids. He’s mocking the Christians that continue to pour their hatred and anger into comments sections and Twitter feeds and Instagram posts. He’s mocking the Christians who believe that Jesus, the Bible, and the cornucopia of Christian imagery belong only to them – the “real” Christians: the ones who aren’t gay (but who happen to get divorced at a higher rate than the national average.) The ones whom Jesus has really forgiven, despite their continued choices to sin.
He’s mocking the Christians who are 100% sure that they have identified the one sin that will keep you out of heaven (but who seem to ignore the other sins Jesus actually mentions in the gospels – most notably, judgmentalism.)
At the end of the day, Lil Nas X is mocking Christians who claim to follow the God of Love, yet who have no problem treating their fellow man with hate.
CHRISTIANS’ FAVORITE SIN
Lil Nas X is calling us out for the one sin that’s actually the most damaging one for Christians: hypocrisy. And, of course, that’s the sin that’s actually going to keep people from discovering the love of Jesus. Because no one – no one – is going to become a Christian unless they believe that Christianity is the way, the truth and the life. And they are only going to believe that if they see it prove itself in the redeemed, sanctified, and utterly transformed lives of its adherents.
What’s the best and only real proof that our lives have been transformed? When the love of Jesus radiates in everything we do and say. (And remember, we’re not just supposed to love our friends: we are also supposed to love our enemies. Think about that if you consider Lil Nas X an “enemy” of our faith.)
If we don’t show the love of Jesus in our daily lives, no one is going to see him at all. And we aren’t showing Jesus to anyone with our responses to Lil Nas X.
THE MESSAGE WE NEED RIGHT NOW
That’s why I’m angered by this song. That’s why I’m offended by it. Because it brings out the worst in so many of us. Because it proves once again that we Christians are judgmental, cruel, hateful, self-righteous, and hypocritical. Because it spurs so many of us to commit sins that guarantee no non-Christian will take us seriously when talk about our faith.
Lil Nas X is a Christian who is holding his fellow believers to account. He is calling us out. He is challenging us to prove that we really love Jesus. He’s daring us to prove that we are real Christians. And we are failing.
We’re not just failing to show the love of Jesus, to exorcise the sins of judgmentalism and hate and anger. We are also failing to recognize our own sins. We are failing to change.
There’s a name for someone who calls out his brothers and sisters for their hypocrisy. Someone who call on them to repent and believe. Someone who warns of dire consequences if they don’t:
A prophet.
Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and John the Baptist, Lil Nas X stands in the wilderness – a desert utterly devoid of Christian love, it seems– and courageously calls us to answer for our sins. And we aren’t listening. But everyone else is, and they can hear our silence loud and clear.
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