"Can God Use Rock Music?"

A friend recently sent me a link to an article by the late Keith Green (pictured to the right). If you aren't familiar with Mr. Green's work, the link provided (or click on the picture) gives a brief synopsis of his life and ministry. The song of his with which you might be most familiar is "O Lord, You're Beautiful".

The article that my friend forwarded to me is not the best-written article I've read on the subject addressed, but it does offer a fairly unique perspective from an "insider". I was a bit a surprised at some of his criticisms of the movement of which he was such a large part, and I found his observations to be as relevant now as they were when he wrote this article (late 70's). Here's the first statement that hopped out at me:

"It isn't the beat that offends me, nor the volume - It's the spirit. It's the "Look at me!" attitude I have seen in concert after concert, and the "Can't you see we're as good as the world?" syndrome I have heard on record after record. Jesus doesn't want us to be as good as the world, He wants us to he better! And that doesn't mean excelling them in sound, style, or talent - it means surpassing them in value - in our motives for being up there on stage, in our reasons for singing our songs, and especially in who we're singing for! If there's anything wrong or worldly at all about so-called "Christian rock," it's the self-exalting spirit and attitude that comes across so loud and clear in many of the records and concerts today."

Read the full article here.