The Depths Of Blasphemy From Johnny Depp

Just in time for Christmas 2011, we bring you the latest from the front lines of the Culture Wars.

So you like Johnny Depp as an actor, huh? You might want to reconsider and pray for him instead.

Johnny Depp’s Christmas Tune Blasted As Blasphemous

Forget turning the other cheek—what some offended Christian groups really should’ve done is plugged their ears.

In a move Johnny Depp had to see coming, the conservative groups Christian Coalition and Focus on the Family have lashed out at the actor after he lent his voice to a tongue-in-cheek (and now ragingly controversial) new Christmas tune by the British act Babybird.

The track’s name: “Jesus Stag Night Club.”

Basically, the song tells the story of a group of teenagers who hire a Jesus look-alike to organize a stag night (better known in these parts as a bachelor party). Over the course of a raucous night, the son of God doppelgänger ends up passed out drunk (possibly dead, some have inferred), and it’s revealed that he’s not just a copycat, but the real Jesus.

Babybird (Featuring Johnny Depp) - "Jesus Stag Night Club"

The lyrics include...

"Saw a man in a bar with his hair like a lady/ Bloody thorns round his ear like he was a crazy/ He had holes in his hands and a cross for a spine/ Crushed a berry in his Perrier and called it wine."

"I can't remember where I was last night/ Think I was hanging naked off a church spire/ Tied by my ankles to a weather vane/ Felt like I was Jesus on fire/ Cuffed to the bumper of a big truck/ I begged my dad to take me to a strip bar/ Drank kerosene through my eyeballs/ Drove myself home in a stolen car."

Sad and sickening.

Can you imagine if he did a song like this that portrayed Muhammad in a similar light? The response would be outrageous, and yet, we Christians are the ones who are always the 'intolerant' they say.

Look, Johnny Depp can exercise his freedom of speech. So can we. Please let me explain what I mean by that because I think it's time we started acting like the "ambassadors" (2 Corinthians 5:20) that we are.

Truth is, while I cringed and was saddened when I first read this story, I was hardly surprised. More to the point, I wasn't too offended. Instead, my heart broke for all the members of that band and anyone who might take a liking to this song of theirs. Why? Because it's clear that they are hurting, lost, sinful souls since those are the only types of people who could possibly produce such blasphemous filth.

Besides, one anti-Christ song will hardly drown out the message conveyed by various Christmas classics played non-stop on just about any radio station this time of year.

I want to do something RADICAL for those people. In years past, I too, probably would've responded with righteous anger and sought to 'protest' in some way. This year, I want to exhibit righteous prayer. Why?

James 5:16 (ESV) Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

We are 'righteous' in Christ Jesus, are we not? We do believe in the power of prayer, don't we? Then why don't we act like it in these instances?

I want to share something else I found that's related to this story to help emphasize my point. It's a compilation of the comments given to E! News and a Tweet from the band's frontman Stephen Jones.

"The Bible is the greatest fiction book of all time. Incredible stories of magic and mayhem. Full of Hollywood storylines. I was in a Days Inn hotel room last year and in the bedside drawer was the Book of Mormon. But the second 'M' had been scraped off, so that immediately got my interest, and once I delved in, the lyrics for 'Jesus Stag Night' just flowed out of me as though the Lord himself has touched me in my secret place.

Every song I've ever written is full to the brim with meaning, and this song takes the idea that if Jesus was around today, he would probably be laying low, like I was, in a Days Inn single room, staying incognito to prevent fueling any religious hatred.

If they were true Jesus lovers, they wouldn't own CD players and iPods, they would be wandering the world preaching love and understanding. Christians go to heaven. Sinners go to hell. This is their message of peace. Oh yes and gays can f--k off too. It's a beautiful world, Jesus."

Pay close attention to these words and the feelings that are being communicated here because they're not uncommon to those expressed and felt by most non-believers. In fact, we should remind ourselves that we most likely sounded like these people at one time before we were born again.

No, faith is not about feelings, but it's obvious that these people (born sinners like all of us were) have been scarred by someone or something that they identified as being 'Christian' instead of receiving the Gospel in the way God intended for believers to share it with the lost, and that's a real shame.

Like I said before, only hurting, lost, sinful souls could produce such blasphemous filth. That's why our response should be sincere prayer on their behalf rather than just throwing up our hands and treating them like lost causes destined for Hell. That is not for us to decide. We are to preach the Gospel and preach the truth...IN LOVE.

No, that doesn't mean we waver when it comes to the so-called 'hard truths' (isn't that the ENTIRE Gospel to the unregenerate mind anyway?), or we get all 'wishy-washy', but it does mean we become emboldened to try and penetrate that hate with the love of Christ.

So, go ahead and spout your blasphemous rhetoric, Johnny Depp. Just know that me, and millions of other Christians like me, will still continue to pray for your conversion and salvation until we see true evidence of it in your life because that's what we're called to do.

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