Jesus and Metal.

Those happen to be two things I'm really passionate about. I pretty much like all metal and could talk about the genres til I'm blue in the face but today I'm going to talk about the Christians in metal.

Bands like Phinehas, Killswitch Engage, War of Ages, August Burns Red, and countless others.

People like Alice Cooper, yeah, THE Alice Cooper, and Dave Mustaine (the dude from Megadeth).

There's still a LOT of people in the world that label the metal genre satanic because, often, one cannot understand what's being said because of the way it's being sung. Much like Jesus was labeled a drunkard, hooligan, glutton, and somewhat of a riot starter because at that time a lot of Philistines didn't understand what He was saying.

I saw a post on Facebook a few months ago condemning Christian bands for going on tour with non-Christian bands saying that the reason the world was confused about Christianity was those people hanging out with bands like Buckcherry.

Really, the world is confused about Christianity because the sayers stand on boxes and shout whatever pops in their brains while the doers are out in the world and actually living the way Christ called us to live.

Doers like Sean McCulloch, the vocalist of Phinehas, who my fiance' questioned about a band they were on tour with who were known for their drug doing and horrible music. Sean thought for a little while and then answered that even though that band wasn't filled with the people he would choose to hang out with, being on tour with them allowed him and the rest of Phinehas to show those kids who God really was through legitimate friendships being made.

I feel like the Christians in metal do so much more for the world than any church can ever hope to do. Every church I've ever been to has been filled to the brim with people who are safe enough to spout hate to the people that are outside of the fortress of the church. Often times the Christians in metal are about as unsafe as you can get and friendliness, being kind to one another is the ONLY thing that will get them through the next show, tour, van ride, whatever. Because metal is the genre that it is, Christians are often outnumbered but being in the minority can serve as a much stronger advantage. A kid that was just turned away from a church may happen upon someone in Phinehas; bearded, scraggly looking, and covered in tattoos. And when that man that looks like any other outcast talks of this outcast called Jesus it means so much more than a clean-shaven, suit wearing, strong voiced individual who has probably never experienced what being an outcast truly feels like.

The Philistines today are just as loud, if not louder, than the ones that Jesus corrected in his lifetime. The doers, though, the ones that are truly carrying out the mission we were charged with are in the metal community and they are definitely changing lives while the Philistines scream about how wrong they are.