Recently, Beyonce dropped a video album, “Black is King.” Before it even came out videos were popping up on YouTube accusing her of comparing Black people being kings to Jesus Christ being the king due to Kanye West’s album. Other accusations went out as well. I watched the film this past Sunday and it did not appear that she was trying to take away from Jesus Christ being the King of Kings. She simply associated Black people with being kings and royal because we are children of God. I do not believe that it is sin for Black people to see themselves as something positive such as a king or a queen. We are made in the image of God and we do take on royalty as we’ve been adopted into the family of God.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. – 1 Peter 2:9
However, I will say there was a lyric where she said we are the living word. I’m not sure if she was saying that Jesus was Black because Jesus is the Word that was made flesh or perhaps, she was saying that we are a living representation of God’s word that was spoken in the Bible. Her meaning was unclear.
To be honest, I try to stay away from videos of people accusing other people of things whom they do not know and have not met. In our culture, there is a tendency to abuse celebrities as if they aren’t people. Just like I would not want someone to gossip about me; I try to practice the same thing regarding public figures and other people—because we all are just people.
Secondly, the accusations against celebrities on YouTube normally do not have any proof they are simply based on appearance and speculation. The meaning of speculation is to form a theory or conjecture without firm evidence (Google Definition.) I was not trained to accept accusations about people without evidence. Being one who has been trained in media, we were trained to look up at least 2-3 reputable sources before reporting information.
Even the Bible says to not accept a charge against an elder except on the evidence of 2-3 witnesses. The Bible also cautions us of our tendency to judge by appearance; while God judges by the heart.
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7
God gets down to the meat and the heart of the person and the matter. This is the way that I desire to go. I am a person who values getting to the depth of things and not judging simply by the surface. In doing so, I have to rely on the Holy Spirit and the Word of God because it isn’t in my nature to judge according to the heart of a person or the matter. It’s simply easier to judge by appearance and that is what so much of us do.
Another scripture reminding us not to judge by appearance:
Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” – John 7:24
Art is subjective to the viewer. One person may see one thing and another may see something else. It’s okay to say this is my opinion. I perceive what the art is showing to be such and such. That creates a healthy dialogue, but it is totally different when we say this is what the artist meant without consulting or considering the artist who made it. It can be prideful to try to explain someone else’s work without consulting them. It can also be disrespectful.
A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle. – Proverbs 18:19
In our ignorance, we shut ourselves out of being in a position to share the gospel with the subjects of our gossip because we’ve already offended them through our disrespect. If God ever positioned us to be in relationship with the celebrities we’ve talked about; they would not have any respect for anything we have to share including the gospel because we’ve already messed up our creditability through gossip. It’s better to say I’m not comfortable with their art or I did not understand it or simply ask what was meant than to assume their meaning behind a particular thing.
I remember in the past watching a video about the Illuminati and how they would say if you see an album cover with one eye covered; that means that person has been initiated into the Illuminati. I ran into one of my favorite gospel rappers at a conference who had recently released an album with one eye covered. I went up to him and asked him if there was any particular meaning, he meant to imply with his last album cover. He said, “no, why do you ask?” I said because I’d seen a video sharing that when one eye is covered that means the artist has been initiated into the Illuminati. He was like aww Nah. I’m not affiliated with that.
It’s really simple to respect people in humility treating them like human beings rather famous or not, but as I shared earlier; we tend to abuse celebrities saying things about them we’d never say to their faces. We have to keep a clear conscious in dealing with all people including celebrities because Christ loves them too and died for them also. His will is for all men to be saved including celebrities. When we cast meaning on their art without proof putting them into hell, satanism, and blasphemy without proof; we’ve already condemned them in our minds.
Now, there is something called media semiotics where many artists and media creatives study other ancient cultures including the Bible and they borrow from those cultures making it their own for creative purposes. A good example of this is the film, “The Fog.”
In the fog, there is dialogue borrowed from the Bible. The purpose is to have an unfamiliar language said in a voice that appears scary to the audience. The film was somewhat of a scary film. They borrowed the below:
“This is the inscription that was written: mene, mene, tekel, parsin. – Daniel 5:25
The above scripture comes from a story in the Book of Daniel where a new king in Babylon had taken the holy instruments from God’s temple and used them as unholy. He had a party with the instruments that were to be used to minister to the Lord only. Defiling God’s instruments earned him a direct judgment from God. God sent a hand to write the above words on the wall. The king did not know how to interpret the words and he was scared. Daniel was summoned who interpreted them as saying that the king’s actions had been weighed in the balances of heaven and he has been found lacking. Thus, the judgment was to come.
That was the original scriptural meaning of the use of those words. However, they were used in the film, “The Fog.” To infer curiosity and fear. It appears foreign to those who do not know the Bible. Media semiotics is simply borrowing from various cultures and creating your own meaning for them.
Another example of this can be seen in the days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The names of the days of the week have come from various ancient gods that we do not worship in America. However, because the names of the days of the week were borrowed from various gods doesn’t mean that everyone who says, Happy Tuesday is referencing a god. This is why it is so important to judge righteously and not by appearance.
The scripture speaks about these things in Romans 14. He warns us to not judge one another based on our convictions. One person has a conviction not to eat meat that is also offered to idols; while another says that God made all meat and thus, he eats all meat. God accepts both of them. Similarly, some people may love Beyonce’s music; while another feels it is a sin to enjoy her music. I don’t think we should fight with one another and accuse one another of not being saved if one listens to her song or if another does not. I do believe it is wisdom to guard our spirits from any music that is contrary to the Word of God.
I believe the greater focus should be on building ourselves up in God’s Word so that we can think and be discerning for ourselves. Understanding what the Word of God says should be the greater emphasis. Many believers don’t know that God is opposed to divination in the form of psychics, tarot cards, horoscopes, and zodiac signs, astral-projection, witchcraft, contacting the dead through necromancy, mediums, spirit guides, and worship of our ancestors. Some of these themes were seen in the film, which is in total opposition to God’s Word.
The above are clear sins laid out in Deuteronomy 18 in the scripture. It’s a form of idolatry because access to other spirits called familiar spirits are the gateway rather than the Spirit of God. We have access to know the future and in some cases to receive messages from our loved ones who have passed on through Christ and the Spirit of God only. Anything else is idolatry and God is opposed to it.
Finally, from what I’ve seen in the media, it appears that Beyonce made her visual album to share positive images of Black people and Black culture. She mentioned she wants us to see us from a position of royalty rather than less than. That is noble. It is a good thing. However, I would add while that is good; there is a greater importance to see ourselves from our identity in Christ
For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. – 1 Timothy 4:8
As Black people, we’ve dealt with the challenge for years of fully embracing ourselves due to racism in this country and even in the church. I think it is valuable and honorable what Beyonce is trying to do with her film. She encouraged Black women to embrace their beauty and not to believe the lie that we’d be alone because we are Black. However, we have to remember that it isn’t enough to simply build ourselves up naturally. We cannot afford to hide ourselves in pride or our own strength. We have to build ourselves up on God’s Word. That is what will keep us sound when the challenges of life come.
Building ourselves up simply after natural things alone is like a woman who becomes scorned by men, so she decides to only focus on building her career and becoming successful. When her career gets taken away; she has nothing left. However, the woman who builds her identity on what God has said about her in his Word will always have the strength to continue forward in life because she isn’t founded on natural and temporary things only, but she is founded on what is eternal the Word of God.
I completely believe in embracing our Blackness, but not without trusting in the Lord. We need more people who love being Black as God made us and being found as a true worshipper of Christ. We can have those who trust in the Lord, but who do not draw strength from the flesh, but we cannot have those who draw strength only from fleshy things—it’s simply dangerous and it will cause our hearts to turn from the Lord.
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. – Jeremiah 17:5-7
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