Brian Welch’s Salvation from Himself

"Feeling like a freak on a leash/Feeling like I have no release/Every time I start to believe/Something’s raped and taken from me." This is part of the lyrics of one of my favorite Korn songs, "Freak on a Leash". It used to be one of my favorite rock bands. According to the experts, their genre could be qualified as "rap-metal", a mixture between hip-hop rhythms and heavy guitar sounds. In short, their music is basically angry, filled with powerful emotions, the explicit lyrics mostly inspired by the traumas encountered during his childhood years by the band’s front man, Johnathon Davis being dark, deeply disturbing and even haunting. For these very reasons Chicago Tribune once called them "perverts, psychopaths, and paranoiacs."

I used to listen a lot to their songs, for they very much expressed my own thoughts, the emptiness in my life, the anger towards the falsity of society, and how bad things happening when you are little can follow you throughout your life. My listening to Korn represented in fact the perfect image of me living without any faith, without God. When I found Christ, I simply stopped listening to such music; it didn’t seem to suit me anymore.

I guess what I admired most about Korn and their music was their sense of genuineness. The pain was real, it was there, and they didn’t hide it, the same as all the other bad feelings and dark thoughts. I heard many prayers for "the lost souls." But among the nicely-looking, neatly dressed-up people you could find in churches any given Sunday, would anyone pray for such souls as the ones who made such "devilish" music? Or are they seen as a lost cause?

"O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who have most need of your mercy." This is one of the prayers included in the Catholic rosary, which needs to be said after each decade (Hail Mary prayer said ten times.) I love this prayer which reminds us that salvation is for everyone willing to accept it, not for just "the happy few." In Mark 2:27 Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Bearing these in mind, we should not be surprised to find out that Brian Welch, Korn’s lead guitarist, has become a fervent follower of Christ, giving up drugs, alcohol, a meaningless life, and choosing health, hope and joy instead. Caring for others instead of looking only after himself.

Here’s what he said to the MTV News: "It's not about this church; it's not about me. It's about the Book of Life, and everybody needs to be taught this. It's crazy. It's gonna do stuff like this - like change a guy in a rock band." So, about three years ago, Brian Welch decided to leave Korn band and got baptized in Israel, in the River of Jordan (the same river Jesus was baptized in...I’ve always wanted to do that, too!)

Later on, after Brian got baptized, he said to the CNN, "I told you right before. Remember? I told you I was angry. I'm not angry anymore. I just want to serve God, and do what He wants me to do, and that's to teach people that this is real. I just want to see kids, whatever, come to the Lord."

Welch expresses his gratitude towards God for saving him from addiction to drugs and a meaningless life. It’s just like Jesus once said about Mary Magdalene "he who is forgiven much, loves much."

Many churches would be utterly shocked to see Brian Welch walking in: he has lots of tattoos-the letters from the name of Jesus tattooed on each finger from one hand, and the word "love" on the fingers from the other hand; he also has an unconventional hairstyle. To those who might complain of his look, I’d like to quote I Samuel 16:7: "for the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Ecclesiast 12:13-14

God is the judge, the One Who will make justice indeed, but in the meantime our duty as people is to search and get to know God and what He expects from us.