As I sit here, staring at my computer for any inspiration, in addition to desperately observing my surroundings and finding the deeper meanings in everything, my music playlist has saved me once again from the deep, deep pit of writer’s block! My Spotify playlist is consisted of more history more than I realized.
From the civil rights liberations interlaced in Aloe Blacc’s “The Man”, Bastille’s echoing, rock alternative eulogy in “Pompeii”, to the classic Coldplay song that interprets Napoleon Bonaparte’s triumphs and failures in “Viva La Vida”. History not only shapes the world into what it is today, it becomes inspiration to the culture of music; it has always been and always will be a theme in music.
If historical events can be molded into a song that dominates the charts and their lyrics that can influence people to burst out unashamedly, what if the Christian music scene followed in those same footsteps, and derived their lyrics from events from the Bible? Yes, there are countless songs out there that are based solely on specific verse, but what if there was a song based on David’s life, before he was anointed as king; he was chased down by a power-hungry, evil spirit-influenced king for almost 20 years. That would be one intense, rock/screamo anthem.
It would force people to listen the lyrics carefully, and they would interpret the Gospel in such a way that it can be a bridge into today’s music scene and reach for the lost. However, I know for a fact there is a band out there that has experimented with this method of producing music: the International House of Prayer’s, based in Kansas City, Mo., Electro-Indie band, Pas Neos.
Pas Neos, in Greek translation meaning “All things new”, is a band that sings straight-up scripture, in a way where all people can understand and interpret the Gospel for themselves. From the times when Joshua conquered city after city, to the life of Jesus and relatable parables that reached out for all ears who wanted to hear.
As this is an underground method of spreading the Gospel, I believe that people do respond to it, whether it be strongly for or against it; nonetheless, it has people talking about the most controversial figure in human history and questioning the true meaning of life and where to find it. Either way, Satan is losing because even if people may not understand or believe in Scripture now, they are talking about Christ, seeds are being sown in their hearts and may surrender and believe later in life.
With their electric riffs, atmospheric melodies and powerful vocals, literally and metaphorically, Pas Neos lures you in with its mysterious lyrics and forces you to reflect on the words they are replicating from Scripture. People get to relive the Gospel through the music, as Christ spoke to masses thousands of years ago. To watch the power of their music, check out the link below as they depict the battles of Joshua and God placing his enemies into his hands and “Take it All Back”.
Here in modern terms, if Jesus were a musician, I believe He would reach out in a way similar to this, as He shared parables throughout His life. There would be the beautiful strokes of the instruments and raw words speaking of hope, resulting in music that would attract all ears. There would be crowds by the thousands, as their hungry hope for revolution is fed in listening to whom they believed would overthrow a corrupt government, but there would only be a few who would truly follow Him and listen/digest to what He has to say, and scrape underneath the surface. The disciples were His crew and got to know Him on a level that required full dedication of their lives to Him; they were the ultimate roadies and died for the One they followed to share the message of love He offered then, and today.
Consider this: Would you rather be swallowed by a crowd that only gets to see Him from a distance, or would you rather be with Him, with a VIP pass and follow Him all the days of your life?