On April 9, 1982, I very reluctantly responded to an altar call, putting my faith in Jesus Christ for eternal life. There are two things I want to highlight in that statement:
- “Very reluctantly”
- “Altar call”
I say “very reluctantly” because I knew enough to know that believing in Jesus Christ meant more than just receiving an amazing, free gift. It meant that I was also being called to follow Him. His words to Peter and Levi and James and John were already familiar to me: “Follow Me.” A simple invitation to a way of life completely focused on Him. That way of life has been much more difficult than I imagined in 1982. It is a way of life that — in many ways — imitates the life of Jesus. And we all know Jesus’ life in the flesh was not easy. It included a very important mission which led to rejection, betrayal, pain and death.
I say “altar call” because I want to highlight a song. A radical song. You see, I was at a Christian concert that night in 1982. The artist who gave the altar call was Russ Taff. His music and the music of several other artists was a very important tool in my faith journey. It only seems fitting that my journey officially began at a Christian music concert. The brother and sister who led me to the Lord gave me lots of Christian music. It was a completely new genre to me — and to much of the world. Of course, I’d heard of church music and choirs and hymns. But in 1982, something very different was going on. Just a decade earlier, a revival had taken place among the hippies in Southern California and out of that came the “Jesus People”. Out of that came “Jesus Music”.
I heard my first “Jesus Music” in about 1978. Larry Norman — the father of Christian rock — made me laugh out loud the first time I heard his song, “Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?” I was a little shocked by Petra’s astonishing claim, “God gave rock and roll to you.” I was blown away by “Water Grave” by the Imperials with Russ Taff on lead vocals. I still think it’s the best rock song I’ve ever heard.
But I’ve got a point here. I’m not just getting nostalgic on you. I want to tell you about a song. But you need to know that even though I came late to this “Jesus Music” — about a decade after the hippie revivals, it was still spreading like a wildfire. The music had a missional fire to it. No one was trying to get rich off it back then. They were trying to win people to Christ! They were trying to shake up the world! And — hang on — they were trying to wake up the church.
My favorite “Jesus Music” in the early 1980’s came from a guy named Keith Green. Now, don’t quit reading. I know his theology was a little off at times, but he was young. He was passionate about Christ. We who have well-established theology are often too quick to pounce on those who don’t — especially the young and zealous. We desperately need their fire but we snuff it out with our critical words instead of fueling it with our Spirit-led wisdom.
But I digress. Keith Green’s music was full of fire! I still have dozens of his songs memorized and going through my head on any given day. I wore out several of his cassette tapes as the Holy Spirit lit a passion in my heart for Christ and His Word that burns to this day. He wasn’t my only mentor and teacher and model, but he was one of them. I thank God for Keith Green.
But I’ve got a point here. I’m just introducing my subject. That subject is a song. A song by Keith Green. It was called “Asleep in the Light”. It’s a song to the church. And it’s still worth your time today. As we continue rethinking church in 2016, Keith’s lyrics from 1978 still ring in my ears.
I’ll include this link so you can go and hear Keith sing it (and check out his amazing “fro”). I’ll also paste in the lyrics below so you can follow along more closely. Then, I want to say two things after you’ve listened to and read this classic “Jesus Music”. (Go on! Listen to the song. Don’t skip that part.)
Do you see, do you see all the people sinking down?
Don’t you care, don’t you care are you gonna let them drown?
How can you be so numb not to care if they come?
You close your eyes and pretend the job’s done
Bless me Lord, bless me Lord You know it’s all I ever hear
No one aches, no one hurts no one even sheds one tear
But He cries, He weeps, He bleeds and He cares for your needs
And you just lay back and keep soaking it in
Oh, can’t you see it’s such a sin? ‘Cause He brings people to you door
And you turn them away as you smile and say
God bless you, be at peace and all heaven just weeps
‘Cause Jesus came to you door you’ve left Him out on the street
Open up, open up and give yourself away
You see the need, you hear the cries so how can you delay?
God’s calling and you’re the one but like Jonah you run
He’s told you to speak but you keep holding it in
Can’t you see it’s such a sin?
The world is sleeping in the dark that the church just can’t fight
‘Cause it’s asleep in the light
How can you be so dead, when you’ve been so well fed
Jesus rose from the grave and you, you can’t even get out of bed
Jesus rose from the dead, come on, get out of your bed
How can you be so numb not to care if they come?
You close your eyes and pretend the job’s done
You close your eyes and pretend the job’s done
Don’t close your eyes, don’t pretend the job’s done
Come away, come away, come away with Me my love
Come away from this mess, come away with Me, my love
Come away, come away, come away with Me my love
Come away from this mess, come away with Me, my love
Come away, come away, come away with Me my love
Come away from this mess, come away with Me, my love
Two things — though I’m sure I could stretch that to 22:
- His initial questions are right on. He got to the heart of the matter from the very beginning. People are “drowning”. Young people are looking for answers, families are falling apart, and our society is imploding. In fact, if anything in the Bible can be trusted, people without Christ are going to hell. The church of Jesus Christ is supposed to be the answer. The solution. The church is supposed to be doing eternally significant search and rescue work and instead we’re trying to stay awake through lectures that sound like hundreds of other lectures we’ve heard before. And, to make it even worse, we somehow (through our emphasis on the Sunday morning experience) communicate to people that this is what it means to follow Jesus! Church attendance?! This is a driving motivation behind what we’re doing: Compassion for those desperately need the church to be what Christ intended it to be. So, I encourage you to assess. Ask yourself those questions: Do you care that people are drowning?
- His repetitious ending is a radical invitation. “Come away from this mess”. I’ve never used those words in describing the modern church (that I can remember), and I’m sure there are kinder ways to say it. I’m also sure most church people and pastors are well-intentioned people. But, it’s a mess my brothers and sisters. I know many of you agree with me. It’s a mess because it is creating consumers instead of disciples. Professors instead of pastors. Concerts instead of worship. Crowds instead of families. This is a driving motivation behind the changes we’ve made: Love for the Body of Christ. So, I encourage you to assess. What is the fruit of all our church activity? Do you really think that if you could bring in the Apostles and early church leaders as consultants, they would be excited about how we “do” church? What would it mean exactly to “come away”?
PS: See “Something’s Wrong” also.
