“We all have a hunger” - that empty feeling inside us, that loneliness, that weight with which our heads hit the pillow at night, when no one else knows. It’s part of being human, as if we’re born with something missing, something beyond us and beyond this world. Sometimes this heartfelt need is expressed in honest art, when an artist is bold enough to speak out.

“Avoid the idle talk, post what really matters.”

Challenging times, these. A lot of what we see in pop culture, mainstream news, the entertainment industry, and our social media feeds promotes views and values that often seem incoherent, void of hope, or immoral. We get confused about what morality even is today, and whether anyone knows right from wrong anymore.

It was a good year for Imagine Dragons. With their hits “Believer” and “Thunder” earning nearly a billion combined plays between them on Spotify, they are considered 2017’s most successful rock band. Stormzy, king of grime, did alright, too: from his freestyle video filmed on a mobile phone in a park hitting 70 million views on YouTube, to collecting three Mobos, the Q Award for best solo artist, and BBC Music Artist of the Year.

Twenty One Pilots, Depression and Suicide.

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Without a doubt, we’re facing a crisis of purpose, and suicide has become an increasingly more prevalent theme in pop culture. Whether it be Netflix series like “13 Reasons Why,” nihilist meme trends on social media, or the growing number of hit songs addressing it, there’s no doubt this is an issue on our minds.

And so we come to the end - the fourth and final chapter of Philippians. The story of Paul starting this church in Philippi was like that of a band on a very intense tour: he was doing concerts in a prison, had people heckling him in street performances, got beaten up, and eventually started a church with a fashion designer called Lydia, an ex-demon possessed girl, and a prison warden.

We’ve been reading through Philippians, and looking to Paul and his team to set the example for us in the art and music scene today. Paul toured all over the place, preached Jesus, and planted churches. We’ve been challenged by his love for his audience, dedication to the proclaiming of the message, and sacrifice for the cause.

You see, if Paul had had a band, they would have been different to most bands and artists today because they’d be completely sold out for Jesus. In Philippians chapter 3, Paul declares, “Indeed, I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord.”

In the ‘70s and ‘80s, punk bands were often hailed as radical or revolutionary, challenging social conventions. Some bands today like to wear “revolutionary” images and take political or social stands in their lyrics, as well. But if Paul had had a band, their commitment to the greatest cause of all would have outplayed any other band in history. If Paul had had a band, they would have radically poured themselves out, sacrificially serving the cause of the Gospel.

I recently watched a documentary about the Maidan Revolution in Ukraine. The boldness and determination of the Ukrainian people fighting for their freedom was shocking. Many lost their lives defying the authorities and going against armed police battalions with sticks and stones. They fought for a political change and a temporal freedom.

Jesus grew up in a storytelling culture. The Greeks told fables, and the Jewish rabbis spoke in “mashal,” a very common oral and literary art form used when teaching the Torah. Storytelling was possibly the most well-known and appreciated art form of that time, and it is still very present in Middle Eastern culture and tradition today.