Patrick O'Connell

Thanks Andrew

Kind of cool that Andrew Careaga at E-Vangelism.com took the time to trackback to a post I wrote about his book and comment on my blog. I am really enjoying his blog book, Never Mind the Bible: A Theology of Punk and encourage you to have a look.

Thanks Andrew.

Punk & Jesus, or, Never Mind the Bibles

While at the Mercy Me show on Saturday I spotted a teenage girl wearing a black leather jacket with The Exploited painted on the back in white and red. Now for those of you who don't know, The Exploited are a punk rock band from Scotland who were absolutely my favorite during more rebellious years. I thought it sort of funny that this young girl, decked out in black combat boots, ripped candy-- striped pantyhose, with black and yellow hair should was standing in the lobby of Life Changers during a Mercy Me concert. It was this juxtaposition of punk and Jesus that has interested me for awhile.

And then I am reading through Bloglines today and find that an author, Andrew Careaga, is writing an online book on the subject, Never Mind the Bible: A Theology of Punk, a play off the seminal Sex Pistols album title: Never Mind the Bullocks, subtitled, Here's the Sex Pistols. I have long sensed the tremendous similarities to my former punk rock ideology and the Jesus theology that has saved me and thought that it might make for a good book. I am disappointed Careaga beat me to it but delighted that he's taken up the thesis and writing about it.

Here, read for yourself Careaga's thesis:

For punk culture – and, I believe, for the spiritual movement that began with the message and ministry of Jesus – the spirit can live on through the words and music. It lives on, in other words, through the message. Sometimes it takes a while for the spirit, the message, to blow fully into our lives and in our gatherings. We become like the dry bones of Ezekiel’s vision; it takes a strong wind to breathe life into us. And sometimes it is up to us to keep the spirit of a movement alive – not only in our memories, and certainly not only in our traditions, but also in our everyday, lived-out lives. To keep the spirit of punk culture alive – indeed, to allow it to thrive in our spiritual lives – means more than putting on a T-shirt from Hot Topic, shaving our head, sporting a tattoo or adhering to some legalistic doctrine of the punk subculture (veganism or communal living, for example). For the message of punk, and its spirit, is found beneath the surface of what we think we know to be true about the lifestyle.

Just as Jesus calls his followers to shoulder their own crosses and follow after him (Luke 14:27) – to live a life of sacrifice and service every day – so the message of punk calls us to strive for a higher purpose. Scratch beneath punk’s callous surface, and we’ll find a message that often reflects the Christian ideals – ideals as simple yet demanding as this refrain from the band 1208's song “Outside Looking In”: “turn your back to the world.”

Suffice it to say I am excited that more people out there see the similarities between punk and Jesus. I am eager to see where Careaga takes his idea.