Sex, Drugs and Rock ’n’ Roll: A Good Place to Start

Our Churches are Empty but the Night Clubs are Full by Geoff Ryan

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
(The Hollow Men, T.S. Eliot)

According to Jesus, being tempted is not a sin. The impulse prompting and nudging us to do something that we really shouldn’t or ordinarily wouldn’t, as long as we don’t indulge it or act on it, is not blameworthy.

Might the converse also be true? What if an impulse or yearning starts out legitimately and even commendably, but somewhere between “the essence and the descent” a shadow falls and it veers off on a wayward path, dead-ending in a cul de sac? What then? Sin has likely been birthed, but only as an end result. It is causes that I am interested in. I believe Christians should be interested in root causes. Our theological language, echoing Biblical language, speaks often enough of “rooting out,” of “dealing with the source,” particularly as it pertains to the heart. Therefore (and in no way arguing against the doctrine of original sin) can legitimate, God-ward impulses be recognized as such and affirmed? Surely it is these that we most need to discern under the encrustation of sin and stupidity.

Sex, Drugs and Rock ’n’ Roll: the unholy triumvirate of popular culture. A term coined in the freewheeling ’60s and a credo that numerous pop stars have lived and died by, from Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrisson, Janis Joplin and Keith Moon to Sid Vicious, Kurt Cobain, Rick James and Michael Hutchence, to name a select few. Keith Richards and Iggy Pop may be the only ones to have truly taken this philosophy seriously and survived – to date.

It is a chance to save souls and so instead of running away in fear and loathing, we might consider running toward it with intent to offer a steadying, helping hand

Naturally enough, these three vices are roundly condemned by many Christians who view them as a frontal assault on all that is holy and God-glorifying. This is as it should be. My contention here is simply that this “philosophy” (if such a term can be ascribed to it) should be seen and heard for what it really is. In essence, God-ward impulses gone awry and therefore, heaven-sent opportunities for the mission-minded to engage with people. It is a chance to save souls and so instead of running away in fear and loathing, we might consider running toward it with intent to offer a steadying, helping hand to keep things on track before they head off to dark and dangerous places.

What is sex but the desire for intimacy and love? Admittedly, in the context of popular culture, it usually engaged in as a wrong time, place and person kind of thing and exalted as a worthy end in itself. This is something other than God’s best. But who can fault the desire for intimacy? Isn’t that why God created men and women, to enjoy intimacy with Him and with each other? Pop culture only ever mirrors the reality of society as it develops or degenerates. Our culture is one in which, as John W. Whitehead wrote, “We are afraid of being alone, but terrified of intimacy, so stare face to face and say nothing.” Sex is not love, nor is it necessarily intimacy, but you work with what you’ve got, and that’s all a lot of people have, if they don’t have God.

Those who live without faith and apart from God actually tire of this world more easily than those who have the hope of heaven

What are drugs but the yearning for a better place, a different world – for heaven? C.S. Lewis wrote: “Because we love something else more than this world, we love even this world better than those who know no other.” If true, then it needs to be understood that those who live without faith and apart from God actually tire of this world more easily than those who have the hope of heaven. Their need for escape and their instinctual knowledge that there is a better world is more intense than ours, due to desperation. Hence the drink and drugs, symptoms of hopelessness. If “the future belongs to those who give it hope,” (Teilhard de Chardin) then the ultimate future includes heaven and this is the message of the gospel.

What is rock ’n’ roll but an expression of humankind’s innate need to worship? According to an anonymous blog I found on the internet, “The true nature of Rock-n-Roll is…communication…it is a continuous interchange of information…Rock-n-Roll is live. It’s dynamic. It’s unpredictable and unknowable… the nature of Rock-n-Roll is about crowds, about speaking to the group-mind that forms out of fragments of people’s unconscious, or perhaps superconscious, minds, like a hive forms out of the behaviour of individual bees.” This sounds like a corporate worship experience to me. Actually it sounds like “church” to me. The honesty and intensity and abandon and adulation that characterizes the very best rock-and-roll is everything that true worship should be…and so often isn’t. Is it any wonder why churches are empty while nightclubs are full?

Geoff Ryan, along with his wife, Sandra, leads a Salvation Army church in downtown Toronto. He is co-founder and co-editor of theRubicon and coordinator of the 614 network. He has written a couple of books and is interested in politics.

1 Comment to Sex, Drugs and Rock ’n’ Roll: A Good Place to Start

1. Geoff Ryan, what a nice article. My thoughts go back to my Sunday school teacher back in B ermuda, who would often go to night clubs and be with the people. I agree that we should not run away from these night clubs, but we need to go towards them. I will admit it is very easy for me to get caught up in the party vibe, (I had a good time in some clubs, when I was in college man!!!!!!!)but with the right people to hold you accountable you can do it. Holla Back……….TP77
The Total Package on May 1st, 2006

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