The Gospel According to the Beatles

In the mid-1990’s, while pastoring a church in Michigan, we had a special outreach service where I presented a message entitled, “The Gospel According to the Beatles”—the fruit of a discussion months earlier with pastor Alistair Begg. Given the specific nature of the title, I was intrigued recently when I came across Steve Turner’s book by the same title, The Gospel According to the Beatles. Turner does a fascinating job of exploring the spiritual roots, spiritual influences, and spiritual messages tucked away in the music of the Beatles, and looks at the music from the perspective of those influences.

I want to come at it from a somewhat different angle.

I grew up in the 60’s and was given the band’s first American album “Meet The Beatles” by my Dad just weeks prior to the now famous Ed Sullivan Show appearances by the group in February of 1964. I was instantly hooked, and followed the group through the turbulent years of the 1960’s.

In many ways, John Lennon and Paul McCartney became the poets-laureate of my generation, touching the raw nerves of the very real heart cries of a decade that is still viewed as perhaps the most tumultuous in recent history. The result is a series of questions that still are being discussed forty years later, in a day when an entirely new generation has discovered their music and resonated with their message:

What were they saying?

• Why did so many people connect with their words and music?
• What cultural and spiritual nerves did they expose?
• How did their music respond to those nerves?

Over the next few days, I’d like to think through some of these things together—for the Beatles and their music continue to impact our world today.

I think what my generation’s parents never understood about the appeal of the Beatles to us was that their music was more than just music—it was a statement about life and love that we related to fiercely. As we moved further into the 60’s, the music developed and matured with the times that fostered so much fear, despair, and angst. In it all, however, were threads of a universal cry—the cry of the human heart.

What is that cry? To know love, to love, and to be loved. In the music of the Beatles, we see a certain progression of thought through their career, as the lyrics of their songs showed a growing sense of the things that truly matter—and the things that fade into unimportance.

On one of their first albums, they recorded “Money,” a raucous declaration that money is the answer to all concerns, so just “give me money, that’s what I want.” Having grown up in largely working class families where money was limited, it was a natural expectation, and one that I understood as a kid. I grew up in a family of 7 children, and know what it was to grow up without many of the things that others enjoyed. It seemed to make a lot of sense—life gets better with more and more money.

By the time the boys were working on the film “A Hard Day’s Night,” however, they had already begun to be jaded by the great wealth their fame and success had generated. In “Can’t Buy Me Love,” they responded to this new awareness, realizing that money can’t fix everything. As a result, they sang, “I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love.” In a world that lives by the philosophy, “for everything else, there’s Mastercard,” that is a rude awakening.

Later in their career, the Beatles were asked to make Britain’s contribution to the Our World global televised broadcast. Their choice? “All You Need Is Love.” By now, money was not even in the picture. Through failed marriages, the death of their manager, a measure of disappointment with religion, and growing scrutiny by the media and the public it seemed incredibly simple—the one thing that you cannot live without is love.

4 Responses to “The Gospel According to the Beatles”

1. lawmills says:

   February 24, 2009 at 2:05 pm

   Quite interesting that the Beatles attempted to build off the same foundation as Jesus Christ. However, The Beatles diffinition of love is different than God’s kind of ‘love’. God’s kind of love lasts – it’s eternal. PTL!
2. Bill Crowder says:

   February 24, 2009 at 4:34 pm

   I couldn’t agree more. I’m sure thankful that God’s love is so much greater!
3. lumama says:

   March 9, 2009 at 9:51 pm

   certanly.we couldn¨´t agree more.I am glad that God loves us with eternal love.THAT IS IMPORTANT
4. crossreference says:

   April 18, 2011 at 5:32 am

   It has been said that we can date the beginning of the rapid decline of America from the day the Beatles stepped of the plane in NY.