In Atlanta, my favorite radio station is V103, the “People’s Station.”It's a hip hop station that plays mostly rap and R&B. The best part of V103 is their morning show. Everyday when I’m driving to work they do what they call an “Inspirational Vitamin.” They read a Bible verse and play a gospel song or a clip by a charismatic minister from Atlanta. I honestly find it to be an uplifting experience overall. The thing I find most interesting however is how they wedge the Inspirational Vitamin into their normal programming. What often happens is that right before they transition to the spiritual segment of the show they play some sort of booty song. Let’s say, “I’m in love wit a stripper.” Then they do the Bible verse and then they go back to booty music when it’s over. The essentially bookend the Inspirational Vitamin with booty, following a fairly simple formula – Booty, God, Booty.
It’s easy to laugh at how insincere that Inspirational Vitamin seems when it’s sandwiched between hardcore rap songs, but to do so misses the bigger point – we Christians often live our lives the same way. Maybe God is listening to the broadcast of my day and this is what he hears:
- Quiet time in the morning. Read the Bible, prayer, give thanks.
- Go into work and act completely different and disconnected from God.Come home.
- Spend time with wife. Read the Bible, pray.
Chances are, that to many outside listeners, the format of my life is just as out of synch as the people station’s “booty, God, booty.” It might not be as graphic or as neon, but the juxtaposition between who I am when I’m in “God mode” and who I am when I’m in work mode is pretty substantial.
I know you’ve probably heard this a million times before from other Christian writers, but next time you transition between two parts of your day, think to yourself, “Did I just go booty, God, booty?”
If nothing else, it’s a fun phrase to say.
(Old school readers will notice this post was something I originally wrote about last September.)
25 comments:
Booty, God, Booty....if this was 1992, DC Talk would write a song about that line.
Ok, what Christian word rhymes with booty?
-shawn
Hey Man...I gotta say I horse laughed...not even sure what horse laughing is...but I did it today reading these posts. And oh yes, out loud. I linked you on my blog (www.confessionsofaworsipper.com) and posted some of my favs. Keep up the humor man!
I love it! Just love it!
Found you through Sara at Coffee Randoms. I love your witty humour mixed with heart connecting truth.
Booty, God, Booty.....hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!
Oh Jon, that is beautiful! Not only did I laugh (like I often do when I stop by your blogs) but I also had to take a moment and say "ouch".
Like I often do when I stop by your blogs.
Spot on, my friend, spot on. I see a cool youth-group lesson right there, if that's okay...
Jon, I'm very disappointed that you don't listen to the Fish! The programming is so original...you never hear the same song twice. 8 times maybe, but never twice.
-Wally
Jon looking forward to meeting you when you do chapel. Maybe we will side hug.
Romans 7 says "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." -
which is King James for "Booty, God, Booty."
Love your blog, I come for a laugh everyday.
Don't know where to leave this suggestion... and it might get you into hot water.
But, I've noticed that Christians like to pretend that the earth is really only 6000 years old, and that Science is really a big evil Satanic conspiracy and that we have the "Truth". We also like to use the bible as a science textbook. Then we wonder why kids leave the church when they get to University levels because they think that it's one or the other: God, or what all my Profs are telling me is "reality".
Might be too hot a topic, but if you're brave...
(Grew up in an ACE school, so I know of whence I speaketh.:) )
Funny and true. On a serious note though...the people that listen to "booty...booty", well chances are they aren't tuning in to "the fish...the fish" so in the midst of their booty why not give them a change to hear a line from the Word (no judgment)? Reminds me of sinner...tax collector. Just sayin'. I'm usually yellin' about "meet 'em where their at" but this seems to be the year that the Lord is telling me, "Hey...meet 'em where their at" Maybe...some of those "booty...booty" listeners will become "praise...God...Praise" listeners.
Again...just sayin'. Love your posts.
-KCB
Found your blog through a friend's...the title Booty, God, Booty made me wonder what in the world and how it would tie into anything...but I completely understand and can't wait to bring it up in conversation with my friends here. I'll be back to check out other postings.
Personally I find it somewhat disappointing that you would listen to hard core rap that can be degrading to women and devalue life without any convinction and then justify it with the fact that the station has an "Inspirational Vitamin" in the morning.
however, I do agree that we Christians live a life of "Booty" (sin)and then do a "God" thing. This God thing makes us feel better about ourselves for a few moments and then we to go back to the same sin (Booty. )I think this why the world refers to us as Hypocrits. I hear this justification from our youth all the time..."What's wrong with it, they mention God"
"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what the unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable"~ DC Talk
HAS
LOL I love Good old Hip-Hop music. It may be sex-drivin but it's better than some, popular rock music. I'm reminded of Black Hole Sun please come!
(basically praying for death!)
at least Hip Hop and R&B is uplifting and encouraging and keeps my hopes up... and praying for a wife one day.
"Booty, God, Booty" absolutely sounds like it could be a quote from Gilmore Girls. And lest you take offense at that (you are a guy, after all, and even guys who like GG are loathe to admit it), know that that is a very high compliment coming from me!
P.S. GOOD POST. I do that a lot...
"Ok, what Christian word rhymes with booty?"
DUTY!
Hilarious blog. I'll be a regular reader!
Oh my word. I too love hip hop music. But I'm a Mom of a 3 year old and 5 year old and a wife to a man that hates R&B for the most part. I have a hard time fitting in my hip hop addiction but I do manage at times. I absolutely love your site. Sometimes my life is Booty God Booty, and I like how you tagged that phrase. That reminds me, I need to turn on Baltimore's best lunch time blast from the past re-mix hour. I need my PM Dawn fix.
Well it's lovely knowing you can listen to songs like that and laugh. You might be rotting from the ears down, but you've got a sense of humor about it. o_O
In Dallas we have K104 and it does the exact same thing, an Inspiration Vitamin or whatever. The pastor of a black megachurch comes on to do a, like, 2-minute devotion. The best part is when a song comes on afterward that is SO nasty - and nobody running the show catches even a little bit of the irony. Very booty, God, booty, heh. It's like if the local pop station's morning show had on one of the local televangelists to give listeners a quick shot of God each morning, then "I Kissed a Girl" came on right afterward. Heh!
The title alone of this blog is incredible.
I love what you have to say and you do have a very valid point... it is not okay to live a Booty God Booty life.
Nice post, made me laugh and made me think.
Scrolling through some of the comments on various posts you've done saddens me in some ways though, because there are Christians on here who seem to be a bit over-ready to "call you out" for something they disapprove of - often in a snide or judgmental way. These are EXACTLY the things that make people say things like my coworker did last week - "If I wanted to be judged I'd go to church".
Ouch.
Take-away for this:
There's nothing wrong with asking what is or is not appropriate for a Christian to be doing. However, it should be done graciously and preferably privately. That's what Christ tells us to do - we should only be calling people out in public fora if they have already rejected discipline one-on-one and/or amongst a smaller group.
On music: Before you criticize rap, think about what the lyrics for a lot of pop music, country, rock, etc. say or imply... are they really that much different?
this is great... calling it booty, God, booty makes me want to reinstall meditation (!) time back into my life.
i have to say though that when i read the title i thought you were calling God to a booty-dance or something. hahha.
i was paging through steve harvey's book act like a lady, think like a man...
1. steve harvey is a prominent christian figure.
2. he is african american.
3. his book emphasizes the booty, god, booty like i've never seen before.
my friend said that the african american church is no different than the caucasian church - they just don't hide all their dirt in the closet. it's all out there for you to see.
hey, more power to em. at least someone's honest about their junk.
HA! So good.
i think i did this today.
listened to michael w. smith's "this is the air i breathe..."
then turned to timberland's "the way i are"
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