The above question is a very good example of what is termed an Urban Legend. An Urban Legend, according to the urban legend website (www.urbanlegends.com), is a story that "appears mysteriously and spreads spontaneously in varying forms", and "does not have to be false, although most are." These are stories that have surfaced and circulated during the good part of the 20th century, and still continue today. Of the most popular, to give examples, are: The couple parked at Lover's Lane and hear over the radio of an escapee from the local asylum with a hook for a hand, they take off and later discover a hook on the car door handle; the lady who took a vacation in Mexico, found what she thought was a stray Chihuahua, took it back home with her only to find out that it was a Mexican sewer rat; a finger/syringe/whatever found in a bottle of Pepsi/Coke/whatever; the Kentucky Fried Rat (that one's pretty much self-explanatory right there)...these are stories that seem to be true, and many sound authentic from the use of the phrase "it happened to my friend" or a "friend of a friend", or the "friend's second cousin twice removed best friend's summer camp bunk mate"...you get the idea. Without some basic research behind the stories, one may be inclined to believe the Urban Legend at face value.? At best, Urban Legends make for very spooky campfire stories; at worst, they're fodder for a rather cheesy and badly-made movie from 1998 (egad, that thing reeked). The Christian community has its fair share of Urban Legends, the above quote being one of them.
For those not commonly associated with this particular story, let me give a basic interactive blueprint:
A Christian missionary to [enter country here, tribes from South America and Africa used the most] brought along his [child/children]. Since the [child/children] didn't want to leave all the conveniences of modern civilization behind, the [child/children] brought along their [enter Christian music style here, rock and metal used mostly]. One day, while the [child/children] were playing their [enter Christian music style here], the [elder/medicine man] of the tribe came to the missionary, asking why the [child/children] were trying to call up [spirits/demons].? When the missionary asked the [elder/medicine man] what [he/she] was talking about, the [elder/medicine man] stated that the beats in the [enter Christian music style here] were the same as the ones the tribe uses to contact the [spirits/demons]. The missionary and the [child/children] realize the danger within the [enter Christian music here], and promptly got rid of the music, denouncing it all together.
Okay, now that we've established the basic groundwork of this tale (remember that this was something of a composite from all the versions I've heard through the years), let me explain why I believe this to be a Christian Urban Legend:
There are certain signs that indicate this story to be one. According to www.truthorfiction.com (much thanks to Paul Birdsong for tipping me off to this website), the first sign is that there is a LACK OF GOOD, FIRST-HAND INFORMATION. It really is lacking in specific details, the "who, what, when, where, and why". I've heard many versions of this story, and almost each one of them differ at one point or another.? Sometimes the location the missionary is at changes. Sometime the number of children with go from one to two to the highest I've heard being four. Sometimes the Christian music is rock, sometimes it's metal, and sometimes they mention specific bands and artists being played, most going from Carman to Petra to Stryper.
Second, every time I hear this story, it always seems to happen to "a friend of a friend of the missionary", or something similar. I have yet to see written documentation or even see the missionary that has experienced this first-hand.
Lastly, and this is probably the most important point I'd like to make, is that this story smacks of "I told you so." It seems to be constructed to confirm the fears, predictions, prejudices and expectations of those who look for something inherently bad in Christian rock.
Obviously, using something like an Urban Legend is a bad way to persuade someone in their thinking. But, now that I have hopefully set you on the way to investigating various stories and reports objectively, I do wish to address one more thing before wrapping up this article:
Take a look at I Corinthians chapter 8. In this chapter, the Apostle Paul was addressing eating meat that was previously sacrificed to idols. Back then, meat that was symbolically sacrificed to an idol in one of the many pagan temples usually were taken to the area butchers who sold the meat in the marketplace. Some of the believers were at odds, wondering if by eating such meat they were somehow participating in the worship of the pagan idols.? Addressing this, Paul wrote:
So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols- We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. But not everyone knows this.? Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. -I Corinthians 8:4-8 NIV
Paul was stating that, even though we as believers know and are set free by the knowledge that there is only one God and Lord, some may be coming from a background of pagan worship where eating meat that they know was previously sacrificed to pagan idols made them feel weird, to the point of thinking that they're worshiping, inadvertently, that pagan idol, thereby displeasing God.? Nowadays, there are those who are Christians coming from a background of drug use, sexual abuse or even satanisim that used rock or metal music for a backdrop to these previous activities.? They may associate any type of rock?or metal, including Christian rock or metal, to be "meat sacrificed to idols", and not want anything to do with it.? Now, the inclination might be to say, "that's wrong," but there's another part to this that the Apostle Paul addressed in the same chapter:
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what have been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. -I Corinthians 8:9-12
Although there is freedom in Christ Jesus, this freedom is inseparably tied to Christian responsibility. New believers are often very sensitive to what is right or wrong, what they should or shouldn't do.? Some actions may be perfectly all right for us to do, but may harm a Christian brother or sister who is still young in the faith and learning what the Christian life is all about. Remember, "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." -I Corinthians 8:1b. And sometimes that means laying off the Christian rock or metal when we're hanging out with them.
So, to wrap the thing up for this article in the series, beware of taking, or giving, Urban Legends as fact. Always check things out a bit more instead of taking things at face value. On the other hand, there might be a deeper lesson that God wants to show you, so always keep open to that. Until next time, as always, e-mail me your comments and questions on this...
God bless...
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