This Christian Life

At the Crossroads

I’m reading a book, At the Crossroads, by one of my favorite Christians (and Christian artists), Charlie Peacock. I regard him as a genious in music, and very wise in person.

An interesting quote from his book made me think, as it ties into some of the “research” I’ve been doing about postmodernism.

Wes King makes the musical connection: “If we don’t hate what God hates, and love what he loves, and hope for what he hopes for, then we’re going to have bad theology, bad music, shallow music, and we’re probably going to look more to what the world is doing.”

Unfortunately there’s no “probably” about it. It is what we do. From music to marketing, CCM takes its cues from the world. This is due in part to the fact that CCM has many leaders who simply will not lead, either out of fear or for lack of a sufficient theology for their calling. “What often happens,” Os Guinness says, “is that Christians wake up to some incident or issue and suddenly realize they need to analyze what’s going on. Then having no tools of their own, they lean across and borrow the tools nearest them.” On this point Scott MacLeod’s prophecy appears to be correct: “The people who have been in power have, knowingly or unknowingly, let the ways of the world enter into Christian music.” I do not know if this is because powerful evil spirits plague and control much of the Christian music industry, as MacLeod claims God has revealed to him they do. What I do know is that Christian leaders who attempt to lead without having committed to the ongoing development of a sufficient theology are certainly cooperating with the overall missioni of Satan’s evil spirits. And the disciples they make along the way are no better equipped than they are.

If Satan cannot have a Christian’s soul, and he can’t, then he will at least try to see to it that the Christian lives an ineffective and unproductive life.

—pages 71-72

I think his assumptions not only pertain to music, but also to everything we as Christians face in today’s world if we are trying to reach it. There is a fine balance between “borrowing” from our nearest neighbor, and “using” the tools (or media) to form a message. Frankly, most days I get confused over such issues. Is it okay to borrow?

Have you ever struggled with this?