This entry was sent to us by Chris McReynolds of Proyecto Amistad which disciples young followers of Jesus in México and the U.S.
At a conference in Mexico City last January, Darrow Miller, co-founder of Disciple Nations Alliance, taught that the church has a great, untapped potential for discipling nations, i.e. Christians working in the arts. Many young people are gifted in music, poetry, painting and film making but are often discouraged by the church from pursuing their God-given talents. He commented that non-Christian artists sharing atheistic-materialistic or neo-pagan values have more impact on our culture and on Christian youth than the church does.
Darrow observed that the church should be the “well spring” of the arts for our nations. He cited the notorious “Madonna and Britney kiss” as a deliberate act of discipling young people, both Christian and non-Christian, to embrace same-sex activity as legitimate. This vice was promoted as a virtue to millions of youth, including Christians, around the world using music and other art forms. Given that arts are “upstream” from politics and economics, one lamentable result is that legislators are passing laws to redefine marriage.
Darrow challenged those at the conference to call the church to create a platform for young Christian artists to use their gifts to speak prophetically to culture. Christian art does not mean “religious art” – songs about Jesus or pictures of Christ and the cross. Christians should create art that promotes Kingdom Culture – Truth, Beauty and Goodness – in winsome ways to the culture.We are to speak prophetically, to critique our cultures. Young Christian artists who catch this vision and are encouraged can become disciplers of their nations.
Impacted by Darrow’s comments, Francelia Chavez, wife of coordinator Chris McReynolds, began discussing with seminary music students, church music directors and others the idea of using music to disciple youth. From these conversations, a music ministry called DJ-MuC took shape.
DJ-MuC – translated from Spanish – stands for Discipleship of Youth for Christ Using Music. The idea is to integrate teaching, testimony, and music that speaks to young people, and then offer follow-up counseling and communication.
To date, we have held three national-level gatherings of youth in the Presbyterian church of Mexico, one each in Monterrey, Tepecoculco (in the state of Mexico), and Playa del Carmen. At these events messages have been presented and the band has performed and provided testimony of Jesus Christ’s influence in their lives. The response has been encouraging.
Many of the youth chose to devote, or re-devote, their lives to Christ. Several have received help with serious problems. One of DJ-MuC’s main objectives is to maintain contact with the youth through social media and other means. Another objective is to inspire and facilitate the formation of similar music ministries in various regions of Mexico.
The youth and adults of DJ-MuC hold up their index fingers to say, “God is One, and we are one in Christ!”
This program is a work in progress, so please pray for its growth and continued fruit.
Two weeks ago, I shared the first part of a helpful paper from Kingdomizer Garry Tissingh, who has served in Senegal and traveled widely across Africa.
63% of Americans claim to be Christians, yet our culture is becoming increasingly chaotic and full of sin. Why is this happening? The reason is that most Christians only know how to apply the Bible to certain areas of life. The consequence is that Christians have little to no impact on culture. Do you see it?
This episode will give you an introduction to Ideas Have Consequneces, the podcast of the Disciple Nations Alliance. This is an action-oriented show where you’ll hear from a variety of biblical worldview teachers, writers, and cultural commentators. Our goal is to apply the Bible to every area of life by wrestling with the most prominent ideas in our cultures and seeking to practically interact with them from a biblical perspective.
