Sunday, October 3, 2010

Holy Minstrels

There are some musicians who are blessed with an ability to take the good news message of God right out into the streets, coffee shops, music festivals and even symphony halls of our society.  This is a special gift.  I suspect it happens because these individuals genuinely sing songs and tell stories arising from their souls without preconceived agendas, prejudices or any attempt to manipulate people.

Rather they are doing what all great songwriters and storytellers do.  They are speaking authentically about what they have personally experienced and now believe to be true and strive to live by.  And then they leave us to decide how this fits into our own worldviews.  It's honest.  It shows respect to us as listeners.

I have two illustrations:
This is blues singer Eric Bibb performing from the heart at a Jazz and Blues festival:



And here is a taste of Steve Bell performing with various symphony orchestras in Canada and the US:



Postscript:
The term "witnessing" is often used by evangelical Christians and it usually gets twisted around to involve someone getting in another's face with a big bible, or heralding what others should believe or behave like.  It often leads to Christians trying to put on a show of righteousness, which feels like a show, and leads to Christians being labelled as "phony."  This I believe is all off track and misses the true essense of witnessing as seen in folks like Eric and Steve.

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