Today (Friday, October 25th) Kanye West dropped his new album, “Jesus is King.” As of this moment, Kanye West is not trending, but #JesusIsKing is trending on social media. Before we dive in, let that just sink in for a moment. I don’t even have to say it, but I will…
After listening to Kanye’s album the whole way through, I wanted to do an album review. However, this is much more than a mere album review. We will go beyond the music to talk about the gospel, conversion, justification, sanctification, church discipline, and apostasy. In other words, this album presents the church with an important teachable moment.
There is quite the stir right now, as there should be. Kanye West is a high profile public figure who has been well known for making vile and blasphemous music and for living an equally blasphemous lifestyle. Those of us with discernment and sound doctrine know that there are real dangers regarding false conversion and regarding the mass hysteria surrounding the Christian celebrity cult. Nevertheless, there has been evidence over the past few months that Kanye has been genuinely converted. Evidently, his pastor is actually a Master’s Seminary (think Dr. John MacArthur) graduate, not some Charismatic prosperity preacher. That fact alone ought to give his profession of faith some serious credibility.
So, how should mature Christians think about all of these things?
There is actually much more I could have said about the music in a full album review, but I’m sure that others will cover those grounds. I felt that it was important, not only to talk about the album and play some music clips, but also to talk about the much more important realities of our character as Christians and the practical implications of the gospel of Christ.
I hope that you all are blessed by this album review, and may we all pray for Kanye West in hope that King Jesus will continue to be glorified through his life and music!