Lately I’ve been reflecting about growing up in the 1980s. I feel very blessed to have been a kid during the time of Big Wheels, Atari, BMX, Star Wars, and mullets. Well, maybe not the mullets. It was the heyday of the new wave of British heavy metal, hair bands, and stadium rock anthems. It was a really great time to grow up. Until recently, I had largely forgotten how much Contemporary Christian Music, particularly Christian rock, blessed me as a teenager.

I was raised in the Episcopal Church and my family were active church-goers. I’m grateful my parents established that pattern and expectation early in my life. In hindsight, now as a father and minister, I realize that there was virtually no discipleship happening in the church we attended. No serious Bible study. No talk of Christian living. For instance, my days at youth group were marked by largely social gatherings led by older, once-upon-a-time hippies who had us watch movies like “The Breakfast Club” and taught us about the earth mother “Gaia”. That’s not exagerration. We did both of those things in Church youth group.

By God’s grace I was drawn to the Bible. I wanted to learn more about Jesus and how to live faithfully. I’m not saying I was an angel. I wasn’t. I was a typical teenager and had my rebellious streaks. But the seed of faith was planted. Like most pre-teens and teens, music was a central part of the culture. When I discovered Christian music, it seemed to merge two things I found very important in my life– my budding faith and my love of electric guitar.

The first Christian band I remember listening to was Petra. Their sound and style was reminiscent of some of the bands I was listening to at the time. I can distinctly remember buying their album “This Means War!” sometime in 1987. I also somehow managed to convince my mom, who was not a fan of hard rock, to take me to see Petra in our hometown of Jackson, MS! (I looked up the date: March 19, 1988). It was entertaining, yes. But looking back, I can see that it was also instructive for me. The themes of spiritual warfare, prayer, and the love and sufficiency of God, all came blasting through my stereo speakers and, despite the naysayers (then and now), I heard the Truth. The track “You Are My Rock” from “This Means War!” draws heavily from Psalms 18 and 31:

“You are My Rock” was a great anthem for a 15-year-old kid to have rattling around in his head. On the same album there was the call to prayer in “Get on Your Knees and Fight Like a Man”. There’s the story of Jesus’ victory in “He Came, He Saw, He Conquered” and the self-surrendering anthem, “I am Available”. I know it’s not Shakespeare. That wasn’t the goal. It was however, effective. Music like this became an anchor for me as a teenager because it drew me to contemplate the Gospel and its implications for my life. It helped knead the Christian faith into my daily routine. Imagine my excitement when Petra took the Apostle’s Creed and made it something I could sing at the top of my lungs! I had said the Creed in Church countless times but this breathed a new spirit of enthusiasm and conviction into my developing faith. It’s on the album “Beyond Belief” (1990) if you want to check it out.

Over time, I became a bit of a snob about Christian music. I became too “sophisticated” to listen to it. I pointed out its flaws. Contemporary Christian music has changed a lot since the 1980s and early 90’s. I think the Christian Music “industry” has, in many ways, compromised the ministerial potential of modern CCM. Musicianship seems to have improved, but lyrical and theological content can be spotty at times. Biblical fidelity seems to vary widely. There has been a lot of celebrity idolization –which is always a danger in the entertainment world– but also in the Church (ie. celebrity pastors). It is clear that some artists have lost their way and rejected the faith. But in all fairness, these things are happening in the Church at-large also. So the concern is not limited to the CCM scene alone. There are still good and faithful artists working to encourage their fellow Christians who are trying to live faithfully in a broken and harsh world.

Today I’m in my 50’s, serving as an Anglican clergyman with over 20 years in ministry. I’m married with two college-aged boys and a little girl. My wrinkles and my waistline have grown. My hairline is in full retreat. With age though, comes perspective. I’ve had time to reflect on how God used Contemporary Christian Music to bring living water to my thirsty soul. I see so many intersections of this music and my life. For instance, after drifting away from my faith in my early college years, it was at a free Christian concert in the Student Union of Auburn University where I rededicated my life to Christ. For me, that night in the fall of 1990 marks the beginning of the rest of my life in Christ. Who was it I heard? Just a little-known, but up-and-coming artist named Steven Curtis Chapman! How his music has fed me through the years! In 1995, I was stationed with the Army in San Antonio, Texas. I had worked up the nerve to ask my girlfriend to marry me. At the nicest restaurant I could afford, I proposed to Sheryl as Chapman’s “I Will be Here” played over the in-house stereo. I had convinced the restaurant owner to help me in this scheme. In her excitement (I guess) she forgot to answer me. This coming June we will have been married 28 years, so I think her “Yes” can be assumed. Thanks SCC!

All that being said, I remain very grateful for the way faithful Christians with a gift for music have fed me and continue to do so. I’m a huge fan of the classic hymns. I still listen to folks like Keith Green, Rich Mullins, Out of the Grey, Michael Card, Wes King, and Steven Curtis Chapman. I rock out with Skillet. When I’m nostalgic, I blast Petra and remember my first feeble steps of faith.

I don’t listen to Contemporary Christian Music as much as I once did. But I fully believe that I am where I am today, as a Christ-follower and minister, because when I was 15, the Lord used the soaring guitars of Bob Hartman and the powerful and distinctive voice of John Schlitt of Petra to minister to me.

I hope we will encourage artists and musicians to continue to make faithful and excellent Christian music that brings the timeless truths of the Gospel into the cultural moment. Songwriters, musicians, singers, and producers– please keep making good, solid, Biblical music. We need this incarnational focus, this faithful engagement with the culture, and this proclamation of the Gospel to the next generation. It’s also a blessing to us old guys who like to rock!