Music Superstar Stuns Fans by Retiring and Devoting Life to Jesus
In “Mere Christianity,” legendary Christian author C.S. Lewis had a message for those he called “intellectual slackers.”
“If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you, you are embarking on something that is going to take the whole of you, brains and all,” Lewis wrote.
On Sunday night in Puerto Rico, music superstar Daddy Yankee showed what happens when Christianity takes “the whole of you.”
According to NBC News, the 46-year-old Spanish-speaking reggaeton performer — reggaeton blends music genres such as reggae, dance and rap — closed his final show by announcing live on stage that henceforth he will give his life to Jesus Christ.
“My people, this day for me is the most important day of my life. And I want to share it with you because living a life of success is not the same as living a life with purpose,” the singer said in Spanish, according to NBC News.
In the Spanish-speaking music world, this qualifies as a bombshell. For context, Daddy Yankee has 48.9 million followers on the popular social media platform Instagram.
The music superstar used that platform to post a clip of his live, heartfelt message to fans. That post already has more than 1.7 million likes as of Tuesday morning. Readers can view the post below:
View this post on Instagram
“Tonight I recognize and am not ashamed to tell the whole world that Christ lives in me and that I will live for him,” he wrote in Spanish, according to a Google translation.
Daddy Yankee’s message reminds us yet again that God works through every medium, including music.
For instance, according to NBC, the reggaeton megastar stood on stage and quoted a version of Mark 8:36: “What good will it be for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”
Earlier this year, overnight music sensation Oliver Anthony of “Rich Men North of Richmond” fame delivered the same message. At the end of Anthony’s second viral song and video — “I Want to Go Home” — that same New Testament passage appeared: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
After quoting Mark 8:36, Daddy Yankee then shared his new purpose in life.
“That is why tonight, I recognize, and I am not ashamed to tell the whole world, that Jesus lives in me and that I will live for him,” he said, according to NBC.
The retiring performer then pledged “everything that Jesus gave me — is now for his kingdom.”
Finally — and most important of all — he invited fans to heed his example and give the whole of themselves.
“To all the people who followed me, follow Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life,” he said. “Just like Jesus, with his mercy, allowed me to travel the world, in your mercy, Father, I hope you allow me to evangelize the world from Puerto Rico. Amen.”
Afterward, drone lights in the sky outside the venue made the shape of a cross, along with the message “Cristo viene” (“Christ will come”).
Henceforth, Daddy Yankee plans to go by his birth name, Ramón Ayala.
Thanks to social media, every manner of evil crosses the globe in a matter of moments. But so can messages like Ayala’s.
Indeed, we must pray that artists and public figures of similar stature will create similar moments for U.S. audiences.
“Give up your self, and you will find your real self. Lose your life, and you will save it,” Lewis wrote.
As Ayala explained, Christianity takes the whole of us.
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