Larry Norman--a tortured soul?

Larry Norman was one of the pioneers of Christian rock music--in a time when the words "Christian" and "rock music" were seldom used together in a positive sense. He was certainly important in the Christian music industry. He was also a tortured soul--leaving behind him a wake of broken relationships, hard feelings, and legal entanglements. However, he also left in his wake many new followers of Jesus. Friends, family, ex-friends, critics, and fans discussed all of this ad nauseam after his death on Feb. 24, 2008. One thing that I do know: His music had a profound influence on the lives and the faith of many young Christians in the 1970's. How do I know this to be true? Because I am one of them.  

The first Larry Norman album I ever heard was "In Another Land." I loved the faith of "Rock that Doesn't Roll, the power of "Righteous Rocker," the passion of "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus?," the intimacy of "I Am A Servant," the ephemeralness of "One Way," the fun of "Shot Down," and the poignancy of "Song for a Small Circle of Friends." Who can forget the line, "Love to you, Sir Stonehill, armed with your ax full-gallop on your amp. You're so crazy and you know it, but I love you as we both crawl toward the lamp." Last weekend, I listened to several of these songs as I traveled during spring break. They brought back floods of passion of those days--days of enthusiasm, growth, and excitement. I was a fairly new believer who was learning that the boxes of my upbringing and tradition were human boxes, not divine ones. I was learning that God could move in new and exciting ways. Larry Norman (and Randy Stonehill, Resurrection Band, Petra, DeGarmo and Key, and others) helped me to see a new world of worship, discipleship, and faith. In many ways, these musicians helped to disciple me as a new believer. 

Only later would I come to enjoy Norman's other work, particularly "Only Visiting This Planet," although it had been released several years earlier, a truly powerful album that I almost wore out on my turntable. And later we would sing "I Wish We'd All Been Ready," a poignant song during those apocalyptic days of war--both cold and hot! As a rock guitar player, I also loved the live, bootleg album, "Roll Away the Stone." The version of "Song for a Small Circle of Friends" on that album is amazing. 

Still much later, I would learn of Norman's life struggles, of his failure to live up to contracts with bands, and of his unfaithfulness to friends. Because of my love for Randy Stonehill's music, their struggles particularly saddened me, although they did reconcile in the last decade or so of Norman's life. Why these musings and ramblings? Well, glad you asked. The Bible is full of people who God used. We glorify those people, often ignoring their mistakes (aka sins), forgetting just how human and flawed they were. Abraham passed his wife off as his sister to Pharaoh. Jacob lied and deceived his way to the top of the food chain. Peter denied that he knew Jesus. Yet, these people are heroes of our faith. God uses troubled souls like Jacob, fearful men like Abraham, and cowards like Peter. And, he used Larry Norman, in my life and many others. Aren't you glad God uses the imperfect, rebellious, hypocritical, and flawed people like this? It gives you and me hope!