Fans of the CBS late-night talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, know he loves to have celebrities answer 15 questions and #5 reads: “Have you ever asked someone for their autograph?” An interesting question for people who are already famous.

I’m no celebrity, but so far, in my life, I have only asked a famous person for their autograph one time. Although I have an eclectic musical taste, covering the gamut from pop to rock to contemporary Christian to jazz to church hymns to classical to various instrumental themed musical scores–country is not a genre I listen to. It’s just not me.

But when I saw country icon, singer Barbara Mandrell, at a conference one afternoon, back in the 80s, I made my way to where she was standing in a big auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama. The conference was called Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts led by the controversial and legalistic Bill Gothard, although back then he hadn’t been given those labels. You can watch his life and beliefs on Amazon Prime and how he influenced the famous Duggar family. The documentary is called “Shiny Happy People”.

The only reason I attended the conference is because I was working with teenagers at an Alabama church and a parent persistently asked me to drive the youth from Gadsden to Birmingham to hear Gothard teach.

I was immature in my mid-20s then and knew nothing of Gothard’s teaching. I have kicked myself more than once for not checking out his beliefs. And to this day, I deeply regret exposing the impressionable teenagers to that type of teaching, because for the most part, Gothard’s beliefs are “his” convictions, not found in the scriptures. One teenager who attended, now lives far from the faith. I still wonder if the lethal injection of legalism, that Gothard administered through his teaching, poisoned his faith.

During one session, Gothard moved from teaching on marriage (although he wasn’t married) to the topic of music and beat the genre of country music (as well as other genres) to a pulp, browbeating “all” country music because of its lyrical content. When it was time to take a break, stand up and stretch, my eyes caught Barbara. I felt for her, also wondering why she put herself through his verbal assault that wasn’t spoken in love.

I walked up to her and asked for her autograph. Her distraught face fought to say yes. She signed the inside cover of the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts manual. If Gothard knew Mandrell’s “John Henry” was in his paraphernalia, I can just hear him declare, “What an abomination!”

To put labels on folks just because of their musical taste is very shallow. To also put spiritual judgments on them is the real abomination. Of all the problems in the world, this isn’t one of them. That is one of the many ways Christians shoot themselves in the foot and they are left dumbfounded wondering why their witness cannot stand or make an impact.

Our creative God “created” music, yes all types. And he gifted non-Christians and believers alike with incredible talent. The former group takes the credit for themselves, while the later knows where their gifts come from.

And I have to say, secular music does not nurture me like hymns, songs of worship or contemporary christian music does. Pop music, for example, may be fun to listen to while I’m driving with the window down and the radio blaring, but like bubblegum, it loses it flavor after a while. My soul thirsts for something deeper, something more satisfying.

The apostle Paul stressed the importance of music in his book Ephesians. “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (5:19, NIV)

And there is a deep reason Paul wrote those words. Quadriplegic, painter, speaker and author Joni Eareckson-Tada researched that verse. When the madman Nero threatened Ephesians with torture, Paul encouraged them with those words. (pg. 123, The Practice of the Presence of Jesus)

God also gave us music to express the yearning, the struggle, and the joy of our inner lives. Music is influential because it is powerful. Joni knows its spiritual impact. “When you sing praise to God, you are standing in opposition to all of hell. You are proclaiming that God is with you in your darkness, comforting you through sadness, and working out his perfect will in your pain. Your most authentic songs of worship usually happen in the nighttime of your soul.” (pg. 123, The Practice of the Presence of Jesus)

When I can’t sleep through the entire night, I’ll get out of bed and put on my navy J. Crew slippers, head to our kitchen, make coffee, and then walk downstairs to the secret place. And lest I think I’m all alone as I sit in our quiet house between 4 and 5:30 a.m. reading scripture and praying, I’ll hear a robin singing in the dark right outside our den window. It makes me smile. To sing in the dark of our circumstances is a way for us to breathe and worship the living God.

When was the last time you caught yourself singing praises to God from the depths of your heart when no one was around? Try it and give your faith a boost.

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