by Marti Fischer

By now you are probably wondering, “What do Michael Jackson songs have to do with the book of James?” A lot, actually.

This is not an attempt to baptize pop culture, nor is it an effort to make Scripture “relevant” by attaching it to celebrity. Rather, it is an act of engagement.

The Book of James addresses real-world issues: favoritism, injustice, pride, self-deception, suffering, speech, endurance, and communal responsibility. These are not abstract doctrines but lived realities. Michael Jackson’s later music wrestled openly with many of the same themes — the dignity of the marginalized, the corruption of power, loneliness in public life, the need for personal responsibility, and the longing for healing.

Michael Jackson, for example, offers a public confession in his “Earth Song” lyrics. Michael asks, “What have we done?” —  not “What happened?” That mirrors James’s insistence that human suffering is not accidental but often the result of pride, greed, and the misuse of power. James’s voice behind the song says, “You planned. You consumed. You exploited. And now the cries have reached heaven.”

We are not equating song lyrics with Scripture. Of course, Scripture stands alone in authority. But culture often names the ache before people recognize the cure.

When a generation already grapples with questions of justice, identity, hypocrisy, and hope, we do not have to restate the problem. We step into it. We allow familiar art to surface the emotional questions — and then we allow the truth to answer them with moral clarity.

In this case, the songs expose the tension; James directs the transformation.

Faith has always entered culture rather than retreating from it. The apostle Paul quoted poets, the prophets used imagery from their world, and even Jesus referred to the Greek philosophers. We do the same — not to soften truth but to press it deeper.

Our aim is not entertainment. Our aim is formation … and we hope it is entertaining.

When culture names the wound and Scripture names the remedy, faith becomes credible and takes a human form we can all recognize.

So stay tuned to the Catch; there’s more to come from both Michael and James.