REVOLUTIONARIES

Last month one of Christian music’s trailblazers, Larry Norman, lost his long battle with heart disease and went on to be with the Lord at the age of 60. His life and ministry are worth examining, because there is much to learn from Larry Norman.

Larry Norman is known as being the father of contemporary Christian music. A true revolutionary in every sense of the word, Norman gave a voice to the young Christians of the late 1960’s and 70’s using modern music to convey the message of Christ. His methods were frowned upon by the religious traditionalists of his day, and he was attacked on every side. Yet he forged ahead, and two of his albums of the 70’s – Only Visiting This Planet, and In Another Land – would become classics of Christian rock music, considered by many to be two of the best Christian albums of all time.

While Larry Norman pioneered the trend toward using modern music as a medium for Christian expression and evangelism, he was later extremely critical of the direction Christian music eventually turned. He had no intention of creating an industry of Madison-Avenue glitz complete with its own awards ceremonies and self-promotion. He threw ice water of Biblical reality on the entire industry with his criticisms regarding the merchandising of the gospel. So cutting were his remarks toward the whole Christian music industry that he was essentially black-balled from the American Christian music scene, and the very industry he helped create no longer supported him.

But Larry Norman was not a stranger to controversy or criticism. In fact, it seemed to follow him. He was vocal about many different social and political issues, and status quo Christianity was certainly not safe from his stinging rebukes. In short, Larry Norman was not afraid to call it like he saw it. He did not shrink back from the backlash of calling the Body of Christ to a higher standard, and it did indeed often get him into trouble. But that’s the way Larry Norman lived his life. Even up to one of his last concerts in Indianapolis in 2005, he called for action to accompany our faith and for a Christian experience beyond the “plastic fantastic” of Sunday morning “Churchianity.”

Larry Norman was not too unlike many patriarchs of the faith in scripture.

The prophet Elijah comes to mind, a manly man of the wilderness who breathed his hot breath of wrath upon the corruption of his day. And most of his Old Testament contemporaries – fellow prophets who declared the Word of the Lord to a crooked generation – were killed for their proclamations.

And there was John the Baptist, who called for repentance and who raised the banner of righteousness, calling all who heard him to a higher standard. His criticism toward the sin of his day got him beheaded.

And, of course, there was Jesus Himself, the most revolutionary and controversial figure in history, who was absolutely merciless toward the hypocrisy of the religious elite of His day. Did Jesus’ call to repentance and righteousness get him into trouble? You know the answer. It got him arrested, flogged, and ultimately crucified.

After Jesus there was Stephen, who did not shrink back from proclaiming the gospel and exposing the sin of his generation. Stephen was murdered by stoning in the middle of his first and only sermon. Again, it was the religious elite who saw to Stephen's execution.

Paul, a revolutionary of epic proportions, was decapitated. Peter was crucified upside down. And all but one of the apostles lost their lives in a variety of ways, including stoning, beatings with clubs, being sawn in two, speared to death, skinned alive, and even boiled in oil. Most of the time these sentences were carried out by the religious people of the day.

It will be no different with you and me. Jesus said that He did not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matt. 10:34). He said that devotion to Him would turn people against His followers and often divide even family members (Matt. 10:35-36). And the Apostle Paul wrote that all who truly wish to live Godly could expect to be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12).

I have experienced that myself. While persecution in this country is child’s play compared to what goes in other nations, I have nevertheless experienced being taken to task for my Biblical worldview. I was called a “Pharisee” by the pastor of a “seeker friendly” church when I asked him why he never talked about holiness and repentance. I have been shot down by people who think I’m crazy for believing in Jesus as the only way to reconciliation with God. I have been publicly accosted for my stand against sexually deviant behavior. Even church-going folk challenge me on my standards of righteousness, implying that I’m legalistic for declaring that there even is a standard. I have had relationships with family members completely implode because of my efforts to bring a Biblical perspective on difficult family matters. I was even once vilified because of my Biblical standards of parenting, and that was on an occasion when I never even engaged the accuser in conversation on parenting.


The point is this: If you stand for something, someone is going to try and knock you down. Just count on it. And that is especially true when what you are standing for is Christ and His standards. I am astonished at the number of church people who don’t want to hear about Biblical standards of conduct, but that’s no different than what went on in Biblical times. It was the religious folk who killed the prophets because they raised a standard. It was the religious who murdered Jesus, who slaughtered the early Christians, and who even executed other more modern revolutionaries like William Tyndale, whose crime was translating the scriptures into English so that the common folk in England could read the Bible for themselves. And other agents of social change, such as Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr - also murdered for their stands - had to face terrible opposition by religious folk who violently protected their right to own slaves and to harbor bigotry. Indeed, it seems that the hottest persecution of righteous causes has been perpetrated by those within the Church whom Satan has inspired.

Mark this: If you desire to live godly, you will stand out from the crowd, and some people will hate you for it, especially if you have the courage to speak out once in a while. But that’s how we know we are making a difference. People who never catch any flak for their faith would do well to consider that maybe it’s because they have assimilated so well into pop culture that no one can tell the difference. The world has no reason to oppose us if we are just like them. I’m certainly not promoting going out of your way to be offensive. All we do must be done in love and gentleness. But if they persecuted the gentle Shepherd, they will certainly persecute the sheep (see John 15:20).

Sadly, that persecution will often come from within the church, just like it always has. The history of the prophets, the early Church, and the life and ministry of the late great Larry Norman reminds us of that fact.


Larry, thanks for what you taught us, the example you set, and the uncompromised standard you stood for even when it meant persecution.

Rest in peace, Larry. You're home now.