Spoken Word

Spoken Word

     A contemporary movement of religious expression that I would like to share with you all is spoken word. Spoken word is performance-based poetry that is focused on the aesthetics of word play and story-telling. In this particular context it is being used for the portrayal of religious messages. I believe that in today’s day and age, it is through methods such as this that a younger generation can be reached in a more meaningful way. Instead of incorporating lyrics that promote violence, idolize wealth and objectify women, these pieces teach grace. However, what makes these pieces radically effective is that they accurately portray the love of Christ, but not in a preachy, self-help form. Instead they make use of rhyme and beat to reach a younger generation and to make the same message of grace more appealing and applicable. The particular artist that I would like to share with you all is Jeff Bethke, although there are several other artists of his kind today. I stumbled across Jeff’s most popular Youtube spoken word piece a couple of years ago on Facebook actually. I believe that the fact that this message reached me through Facebook is no doubt a testament to the saliency of videos of this form to today’s generation. The video is entitled “Why I hate religion, but love Jesus” and has amassed over 28 million views to date. The video seeks to explain the difference between what society has entitled “religion” and having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. This is particularly interesting to consider because in a society that emphasizes the role of churches and organized religion, it cuts down to the core of the issue, and that is a relationship with Jesus.  

So take a couple minutes and watch his video (link below). I hope that it will make you think too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY

-Katie Clark