I grew up in the sixties, the heyday of the Beatles. And no doubt have been shaped by their music. I consider myself a fan, and own many of their albums. I can sing along with most of their songs. While I never got caught up in true "Beatlemania"--and am more partial to the later albums than the earliest records they made--it would be hard to deny their influence in my life.
At one point, John Lennon rather famously compared the Beatles to Jesus: "We're more popular than Jesus now," he said in an interview. He went on to predict the demise of Christianity. "Jesus was all right," he said, "but his disciples were thick and ordinary." Needless to say, it created quite an uproar, but in terms of the disciples Lennon wasn't saying anything that the writers of the gospels hadn't said themselves! Over and over again Peter, James, John and the others are portrayed as being rather dimwitted and slow to understand! But eventually most of them did get it. And, then went on to share the good news of God's love throughout the Roman Empire. And, at least according to legend, most of them died as martyrs.
But I wonder if the disciple we really need to think about aren't those from the first century--but rather those of us who follow Jesus in the 21st century. In that interview Lennon went on to complain that it was the disciples who "twisted" the things Jesus had to say. Do we? Do we take the words of Jesus and make it fit our own ideas? Or do we allow his teachings to shape who we are?
If you look at my music collection you'll quickly see that I'm a Beatles fan. And that's fine. But more importantly, I wonder, if you look at my life, can you tell I'm a follower of Jesus? I hope so!
(Photo Credit: Library of Congress, Public Domain)
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