Why should the devil
have all the good music?

"I want the people to know that He saved my soul, but I still like to listen to the radio. They say rock ’n’ roll is wrong, they’ll give me one more chance. I feel so good I want to get up and dance. I know what’s right, I know what’s wrong, I don’t confuse it. All I’m really trying to say is, ‘Why should the devil have all the good music?’"
"Why Should the Devil (Have All the Good Music)" Larry Norman

Several hundred youth crowd to the front of the stage after Carman gives the invitation to accept Jesus Christ into their lives – some come with friends, while others come alone.

"Excuse me," a man shouts in the midst of it all. "This salvation experience you are claiming tonight is false. The music that prompted you to start thinking about it had a downbeat. In fact, I even saw some of you dancing to it, so it must be sin.

"God would not use rock ’n’ roll to spread the Gospel, only the works of classical hymn writers," he says, shaking his fist in admonition. "So, regardless of your attempt at commitment tonight, if you die on the way home you will be absent from the body, but not with the Lord."

That in effect is the statement received by any youth – or adult for that matter – who read a Knoxville newspaper’s report on a ministry targeting Christian rock as compromising with sin.

Jeff Godwin, whose video "What’s Wrong with Christian Rock?" apparently spawned the story, was quoted as saying, "With Christian rock and the other gimmicks of the church, we’re saying the spirit isn’t sufficient to change lives. So we make it easy for people, tell them they don’t have to give up anything to be Christian. Just raise your hand in the heat of the moment and you’ll be OK."

Uh, excuse me, but I believe hundreds of thousands – ney, I would estimate millions – have heard the Gospel through the preachings of the Rev. Billy Graham and accepted Christ "in the heat of the moment." (In fact, consider that at a June rally DC Talk and Michael W. Smith joined Graham and jammed before the more than capacity crowd of 82,000 in Minneapolis.)

As for telling people "they don’t have to give up anything," it’s obvious Godwin has never heard – or chose to ignore – the convicting lyrics penned by Steve Camp, Keith Green or even DC Talk – lyrics that challenge us to walk our talk and die daily for Christ. Many of these artists carry as strong a burden as Dietrich Bonhoeffer when it comes to urging Christians – whether born of new wine or old – to carry the cross of Christ.

Perhaps Godwin and his followers should consider lyrics such as these from Camp’s "Living Dangerously in the Hands of God":

"How easily Jesus is forgotten,
Amid the comfort of my life
How the flame’s become a flicker
And faith a brilliant disguise
Sunday’s become a holiday
Prayer an empty exercise
And the cost of real devotion
Seems so foreign to my life
Oh, to gladly risk it all
Oh, to be faithful to his call
Abandoned to grace but anchored in His love
Living dangerously in the hands of God."

If Godwin and his followers would overcome their anti-rock bias, they might discover that rather than merely singing about the "sweet bye and bye," many of today’s contemporary Christian artists are calling for a return to holiness, spiritual accountability and living a life of servanthood.

If Godwin and others would cease their pharasitical approach to Christianity they would discover that evangelism is a key part of contemporary Christian music, with the goal of pulling people to our savior, not driving them away; showing the joy of walking with our Lord and sharing in his grace, rather than living a life of rigidity and legalism.

My pen may seem to be seething with righteous indignation and I pray my Lord’s forgiveness if my heart is filled with judgment at this point. However, one can not help but consider the many young Christians who must by now be questioning their salvation thanks to those pushing Godwin’s videos.

Having taken my own family to a number of contemporary Christian concerts, the experience of the Holy Spirit’s presence at a number of them convinces me that this is His work, not Satan’s.

With that in mind, consider Mark 3:23-29 and ask yourself,f "How can Satan drive out Satan?"