Heroin Jesus

Most of us remember our baptisms as holy but quiet occasions that attracted little fanfare outside of friends and family. But if you're a rock star, converting to Christianity sparks a lot of speculation, much of it cynical.

People have made web careers by obsessing over Bob Dylan's spiritual journey, including the two years in the early 1980s when he recorded a couple of gospel albums.  John Lennon flirted with Christianity by way of his correspondence with televangelist Oral Roberts, but, according to this account, Yoko would have none of it.  Alice Cooper claims he's been Christian for many years. I believe he's sincere, because he makes some pretty astute comments, like this one:   "Drinking beer is easy. Trashing your hotel room is easy. But being a Christian, that’s a tough call. That’s real rebellion," he told the London Sunday Times Magazine.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing Brian "Head" Welch, former lead guitarist of the heavy metal band Korn and author of a new book, Save Me from Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn and Lived to Tell My Story. Here at UMR, we've affectionately dubbed the bearded, long-haired, heavily tattooed man "Heroin Jesus."

But in fact he was accessible and unassuming -- a sincere Christian and an obviously devoted father. 

His Christian conversion, covered heavily by the media, sparked much controversy and skepticism, which he acknowledged in our conversation: "Here I was getting baptized, then I grew a beard out and I looked like Jesus," he said.  "People are saying, 'Oh man, this guy is a nut.' One day I was this guy everybody knew, the next day I was totally different. It shocked everybody that I just left like that. Usually, your band washes up, you lose all your money and then you go to God."

I read his book over the weekend. What struck me was the fact that, while blessed with tons of money and endless adulation, most of the members of the band were married with children. The marriages didn't last, but the yearning for love and a home for the heart was there, even among people who seemed to have everything.   Mr. Welch wrote with sorrow of his failed marriage, too.

I thought of the lyrics by Bruce Springsteen (who, as far as I know, never flirted with Christianity):  "Everybody has a hungry heart."

Mr. Welch's heart seems to have found a home in the Christian faith.  He's getting some flak for it, and he asked me to ask for your prayers.

Welcome to the faith, Head, and God bless. 

Comments

[Jeffrey Weiss]

The Boss was raised Catholic.
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/BruceSpringsteenReviewDevilsandDust.htm

A nugget:

Springsteen spoke about his Catholic faith, and how it influenced his latest album, in a recent interview with the New York Times. “I’m not a churchgoer,” he said, “but I realized, as time passes, that my music is filled with Catholic imagery. It’s not a negative thing. There was a powerful world of potent imagery that became alive and vital and vibrant, and was both very frightening and held out the promise of ecstasies and paradise. There was this incredible internal landscape that they created in you….As I got older, I got a lot less defensive about it. I thought, I’ve inherited this particular landscape and I can build it into something of my own.”

[Mary Jacobs]

My brother tells me that Eric Clapton embraced Christianity for some brief period - maybe only a few days - but Google turns up nothing.

[Rebecca Copeland]

Regarding Springsteen, as the previous poster wrote, yes he was raised Catholic. Christian imagery abounds in his lyrics, and for the most part, his theology is spot on too. I think Bruce is more Christian than he realizes. For the most part the way he conducts his personal life (with a few exceptions about 20 years ago), his life's work, and the causes he embraces are about as Christian as it comes.

Me, I'm preaching on Hebrews 11:39-12:2 this Sunday, and titling my sermon, "Is a Dream a Lie if It Don't Come True" -- which is a line out of "The River" from 1980.