The beginning of a regular series here at PostConsumer Reports wherein I reflect on something that I either totally missed or completely disliked the first time I heard, watched, and/or read it. In a sense, the party’s been going on for quite some time and I have arrived significantly late. If you will, it is the AfterParty or the PostParty Party.
Since high school I have been dealing with what might be called an acute case of Rich Mullins Baggage Syndrome along with a chronic bout of Keith Green Shortsightedness. Basically it has resulted in my tendency to think that any musician that wants to sing about the Christian faith needs to have either a charismatic or provocative personality and whose lyrics need to be deeply thought provoking. Their songs need to either be in your face with their message (like this) or blow your little teenage mind, thus changing your world forever (like this). This has resulted in my inability to appreciate artists of another ilk. My close-mindedness especially stems from Rich Mullins, whom I have been looking for a replacement for since his death in 1997, unfairly critiquing each new “Christian” album that comes out under the guise of the question, “Would Rich Mullins have done things this way?” Derek Webb, Andrew Peterson, Chris Rice, and Bebo Norman are some of the artists who I had hoped would become his replacement but have not quite made the cut (I have high standards!).
