8 minute read
the ultralight beams of paul the apostle and kanye west
by Tuppy Morrissey
“Every knee shall bow. Every tongue confess. Jesus is Lord.” These are not the words of Paul the Apostle. They are lyrics written by Kanye West. It may seem strange to compare one of the most influential figures in the Christian church to a rapper whose fashion label is currently selling a pair of socks for the eye-watering sum of £405. But despite first appearances, there are a number of parallels between the two men. Just as Paul did in AD 33–36, Kanye has undergone a dramatic conversion to the Christian faith; like Paul, he is now spreading the Gospel; and, like Paul, Mr West has received criticism from Christians and non-Christians alike. Parallels between the two men go back a few years, too: Kanye’s 2016 album, The Life of Pablo, is a (very) loose retelling of the great apostle’s life. Unfortunately, Kanye was struggling with his faith more than ever at the time of release, and the album does not end with his redemption. The closing song, “Saint Pablo”, may well allude to Paul’s conversion, but Kanye is still “wonderin’ whether God’s gonna say hi.”
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Three years later, the story is very different. With his latest album, Jesus is King, Kanye West has become the first artist to occupy all top ten spots on the US Christian Songs and Gospel charts. He has spoken openly of his conversion to Christianity, and the album provides a great deal of evidence for his sincerity. Its emotional centrepiece, “God Is”, begins with the lines:
A passionate expression of faith if ever there was one. Meanwhile, West released two operas in the space of a few weeks, Nebuchadnezzar and Mary, and he produced the wonderful gospel album Jesus is Born, which is performed by his Sunday Service Choir. And yet, the likes of Rod Liddle from The Spectator and Tobi Oredein from Premier Christianity still believe that “this generation’s closest thing to Einstein” is simply pulling another of his famous publicity stunts. How could a man who once appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone wearing a crown of thorns, a man who released a song called “I Am A God” only six years ago, suddenly become a soldier of Christ?
We need only look at Paul to see that Kanye’s change of tune is indicative of the enormous power of Christian faith. In Acts 9:1–19, we see a conversion even more rapid than Mr West’s. At this point in his journey, Paul, or Saul as he was then known, is “still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples” (9:1 NIV). In other words, Paul is no better than Kanye West; he is a sinner rejecting Christ. But then Paul’s life changes forever, as “suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him” (9:3).
When we use the idiom ‘to see the light’, we tend not to think of this light as literal. But the Bible tells us that the light shining upon Paul in this moment is not figurative; it is as real as the magazine in your hands (or perhaps the glare of your phone screen). It is the light of God’s love and truth. Whilst few have shared Paul’s transformative experience, we still say that someone has ‘seen the light’ when he or she undergoes a religious conversion. In fact, when Kanye was asked what inspired his sudden dedication to Christ, he said, “I was just under the weight of my sin and I was being convicted that I was running from God, and I knew I needed to make things right, so I came to Christ. I came out of darkness into the light.”1
Kanye’s critics often forget that the man they are mocking is acutely aware of his own shortcomings. Above all else, he has always understood that a human being’s spiritual journey is an endless struggle between darkness and light. It is this dichotomy, this battle between two diametrically opposed—yet interdependent—forces, that marks the entirety of West’s discography. One of his first singles, “Jesus Walks”, features the refrain, “God show me the way because the Devil’s tryin’ to break me down.” This personal battle is reaffirmed by the next two songs on The College Dropout: “Never Let Me Down”, in which Kanye tells us that God has always been by his side, and “Get ’Em High”, whose chorus includes the lines, “And if you’re losing your high then smoke again / Keep ’em high.” This struggle between light and darkness is made explicit in “Ultralight Beam”, the opening track from The Life of Pablo. The titular light is a reference to Paul’s conversion, which reaffirms the connection between the two men. The song begins, “I’m tryna keep my faith / We on an ultralight beam.” The shift from ‘I’ to ‘we’ is the key to these lines; even as he wrestles with his own commitment to God, West recognises that Christians are always held up by the ‘Light of the World’, as Christ called himself (e.g. John 8:12). It is interesting that Kanye says “on an ultralight beam”. Rather than looking towards a metaphor, followers of Christ are supported by a substantial light, which once endless struggle between again aligns Kanye’s darkness and light. story (and ours too) with Paul’s.
And now, in “Selah”, a particularly hard-hitting cut from Jesus Is King, Kanye raps, “God is King, we the soldiers / Ultrabeam out the solar.” Looking to the literal light of the sun, he has finally been struck by the divine ‘ultralight beam’ that once struck Paul. Having listened to the album, conservative pastor Greg Locke tweeted, “We’re watching a modern day Damascus Road Apostle Paul conversion experience before our very eyes!”2 Whilst The Life of Pablo drew parallels between ‘Ye’ and Saint Paul’s respective struggles with their faith, Jesus Is King shows that Kanye is now on the same Christian path that Paul once took. This is not to say that Kanye should receive the same level of admiration or even attention that Paul does, but a conversion as wholehearted as this is bound to evoke thoughts of the great apostle.
But why does all this matter? Why does it matter that Kanye West is a born-again Christian? Well, this tale of redemption matters because one of the world’s biggest artists has an incredible opportunity to spread the word of God. “Follow God”, the fourth track on Jesus Is King, reached over one hundred million streams in two months alone. Regardless of what those listeners believe, the vast majority have been typing the words ‘Jesus is king’ into their search bars. In fact, Bible Gateway reports that there has been a huge increase in faith-related searches online since the album’s release.3
Kanye has stated that his mission is to work for God. “Now that I’m in service to Christ,” he said to Zane Lowe in a now-famous interview, “my job is to spread the gospel, to let people know what Jesus has done for me.”4 This is in direct contrast to a line from “Jesus Walks”: “I ain’t here … to convert atheists into believers.” What Kanye longed for back in 2004 was a relationship with Jesus that would cure his personal woes. Whereas now he raps, “Jesus, flow through us / Jesus, heal the bruises / Jesus, clean the music / Jesus, please use us / Jesus, please help / Jesus, please heal / Jesus, please forgive / Jesus, please reveal.”5 Although still seeking help in his own life, West understands that he must serve Christ rather than himself, and thus he prays for fallen man. Given his incredible notoriety, his near-limitless reach, Kanye’s newfound faith could have radical implications for the Church, and thus for the world.
There has long been a profound connection between Christianity and music. As it says in Psalm 104: “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.” (Ps 104:33 NKJV). But music can be a force for both good and evil. The great Christian apologist Francis Schaeffer saw the detrimental effect that artists such as The Beatles had upon the Christian faith in the 1960s, as they encouraged young listeners to experiment with Eastern religions and psychedelic drugs. In our own time, Post Malone’s “Rockstar”, whose lyrics range from “Cocaine on the table, liquor pourin’, don’t give a damn” to “L.A. bitches always askin’, ‘Where the coke at?’”, has racked up almost two billion streams on Spotify, which suggests that popular music has become even less Christlike since Schaeffer was writing.
And so, Christians worldwide would surely better serve God by welcoming Kanye’s conversion and assisting him in his mission to spread the gospel through music. The vast majority of believers and non-believers do not want to sing the hymns of Isaac Watts; they want to hear Kanye spitting out lyrics like “They say the week start on Monday / But the strong start on Sunday.”6 He may still have narcissistic tendencies, his fashion label may well sell ugly, overpriced shoes, and he may have been a little rude to media darling Taylor Swift a few years back, but Kanye West has seen God’s light—and his Christ-serving potential should not be underestimated. Instead, it should be embraced by all those who are serious about spreading the Christian message. <
Tuppy recently finished studying French and German at Christ Church, but he is back in Oxford this year studying for a Theology diploma at Regent’s Park. He is a big fan of the Epistle to the Hebrews, as well as this pithy statement from David Foster Wallace: “You’ll stop caring what people think about you when you realize how seldom they do.”
1 J. Sarachik, “Kanye West tells Pastor Adam Tyson that he’s been ‘radically saved”. Rapzilla, 16 October 2019.
2 pastorlocke (2019, October 29). [Tweet]
3 T. Goins-Phillips, “Massive spike in faith-based Google searches after Kanye’s ‘Jesus Is King’”. CBN News, 1 November 2019.
4 B. Kaye, “Here’s everything Kanye West said in his interview with Zane Lowe. It’s a lot.”. Consequence of Sound, 25 October 2019.
5 K. West, “Water”. Jesus is King (2019).
6 K. West, “Selah”. Jesus is King (2019).
