In the late 1980’s I was serving at Highland Park Baptist Church in Abilene, Texas. Our youth/associate pastor was Randy Jenkins. My independent fundamental Baptist background was fairly legalistic and helped my desire to maintain a performance based relationship with Jesus. If I did well in completing the expectations of church leaders and the independent Baptist decrees then it stood to reason that I would be pleasing to Jesus. One of those expectations was that modern music was evil because it often resembled the music I listened to and enjoyed before I was saved. Randy however had a ten year younger music preference and all of his years living under the roof of his legalistic Independent Baptist preacher father. He was familiar with all the arguments and saw through the hypocrisy of our self righteous position. So when that dynamic charismatic showman named Carmen came to town to hold a Christian concert sponsored by the contemporary radio station, Randy, in cahoots with my wife, was able to persuade me to go see what it was all about.
Now I worked with the local conservative Christian radio station and Randy did some part time DJ work on the contemporary Christian station. As we approached the building I was nervous and uncertain why I had even come. Surely I knew I would hear much I would be uncomfortable with, and would have to see believers acting crazy out of control. I was also concerned that someone who knew me might see me and disapprove. There was an electrifying spirit about the place and an awful lot of joy going around. Still I felt very uneasy. And I kind of stood out in my three piece suit. Randy left my side for a moment to speak with a distinguished looking man just a few years older than myself. Soon he came back with him in tow. He introduced me to Jack Hill, the owner and general manager of his radio station. Jack spoke briefly about his admiration for Randy’s work at the station. Then turning just a bit, he called to his wife Nancy. The poem SMHG in the Short poems page accurately describes what happened next.
I was indeed a faithful, studious, evangelistic minister of the gospel of Christ. Yet when Jack introduced me to his wife he called me a servant. And while I felt this was true, I had never had anyone say it out loud in such a spiritual way. It made a strange impact on me for a moment. But he followed that up with a phrase that lit up my soul and God-bumped me from head to foot. He said not that I was just a servant but that I was a “servant of the Most High God”. It was as if his words anointed and prophesied and set aside my view of ministry. Here was a man who in casual conversation had opened the windows of heaven so the blessings of God might flow out upon me. By simply stating the truth the Spirit of God gave him, I was opened to the reality that God might have other children who knew him and communed with Him on more than an academic basis. It could be personal and filled with Holy fire and presence. As a Servant of the Most High God, I was able to receive the message of the music and be freed from some of the legalisms which bound me. It didn’t occur instantly or overnight but the chains of legalism fell away as each day I recalled those kind words from the generous man who was himself a Servant of the Most High God. So read the poem and if you never have before, see yourself as God does.