stradasphere

Guitars and God

Riddle me this Batman: Can a Christian man listen to secular rock and roll and still worship God at the same time? Many a good church-goer would most definitely say no. Stay away from that devil music. But I beg to differ. God wants my heart...it's all through the bible. If my heart leaps at the Pete Townshend's first guitar crash of Won't Get Fooled Again and I thank God I am alive at that moment then what? I did not put my fiery passion for guitar driven rock in my heart...so Who did? While I am not a big Bryan Adams fan but I heard "I got my first real six-string/Yeah at the five and dime/Played it till my fingers bled/it was the summer of '69, and I started crying.

I remember the summer of '81 when "me and some boys from school got a band and we tried real hard" in my dad's garage. We had egg crates all over the walls, little stash places everywhere, a drum kit, amps, guitars, all the things of heaven. The garage door even opened up to air out the smoke when it was time for my dad or stepmother to come home. That song at 6:00 in the morning as I was driving to work IN A TIE took me back to some of the most magical times of my life. And it brought me closer to God. I thanked him that I had those times. It reminded me that there is still a longhaired guitar player in my heart and he mustn't be shoved down into a dark recess of my memory bank because I am a Christian now. As a matter of fact, I thought Jesus was cool when I was a kid because He had long hair!

I also got closer to God because I was reminded of what I was saved from. If my "dream" had come true, I would have been up there with Hendrix, but not because of my guitar playing. I would be dead from drugs and booze. Thank you Jesus! Sure, I wish I had a gold record hanging in my house but at least I have a house, and a wife, kids, the whole shebang. But as long as I stay away from reveling in the "glory days" of partying like a rock star and relish what music does to my soul then YES, I can listen to The Who, The Beatles, even Guns 'N Roses and feel closer to God.

Then there is Christian music. Now the message is the thing there but, for the most part, the music wanes. The bands that can hold even a small candle to the rockers of old still don't come close. Yes, there are some very good Christian bands, Third Day, Sonic Flood, Casting Crowns, and some excellent musicians and songwriters, Steven Curtis Chapman, Chris Thomlin, Lincoln Brewster, but still. While the words outweigh the music bringing the good news to the world, it is the music that often lets me down. Now I am not knocking Christian rock, I am just saying, FOR ME, listening to certain secular music goes deeper into my soul and moves me. And that is where God is.

posted by Unknown @ 11:49 AM