Happy Metal

I went to my first real metal show last week at the Troc in Philly. It was the most intense concert experience I've had. The energy level was through the roof. We were up on the balcony, but the floor was insane. I was so glad to not be down there. It was this mass of humanity, moving and singing -- all celebrating the same thing: metal.

I was sitting there watching the most phenomenal guitarist I've ever seen and looking at this crowd and a thought came to me: this is a pretty authentic form of community. A crowd of people coming together for one purpose, thoroughly enjoying that purpose and invading one another's personal space for the sake of the purpose.
When the band was performing its set, everyone was dancing, moshing, yelling, singing along and freaking out during unbelievable guitar solos. These were real music fans too, not teenyboppers celebrating celebrity stereotypes with no musicianship. There was celebration of some incredible creativity, art and beauty. I know a lot of you out there don't get metal, but that's not the point. In the words of Nelson Mandela (I think): "that which is loved is always beautiful". And this crowd rallied around a common beauty that translated into passion.

Makes me wonder why the beauty of Christ that we rally around doesn't translate into passion like that. Would we stand in line for an hour and a half to get to church? Would we stand for four hours while the service goes on? Why do we seem bored with Jesus? He's better than metal -- and that's the understatement of the year.


Totally random thought: I think it's cool that when people get together for a concert, a common form of expression of passion and tribute is for people (people who don't necessarily know Jesus) to raise their hands in the air.