Songs That Saved My Faith

I’m the ultimate late adopter for pretty much every kind of music there is. Don’t believe me?

In college I finally started getting into this little known band called U2.

So it shouldn’t shock anyone to learn that I was lukewarm if not ambivalent about Rich Mullins during the same season of my life. As a freshman in college, I couldn’t quite relate to everyone who was devastated by the news of his death. It was a terrible tragedy for sure. I just didn’t have all that much invested in the guy.

About a year later, the Ragamuffin band that used to tour with Rich visited my university. I attended the concert because there wasn’t much else going on at our college in the middle of the Indiana corn and soybean fields. I didn’t realize that concert would play such a pivotal role in saving my faith.

I’m not one to raise his hands during worship. You won’t find me dancing in the aisles. I’m probably more likely to roll my eyes during worship than to lift my eyes up to heaven.

But something about those songs took me out of myself. It was a pure, wonderful moment of seeing God with eyes wide open and arms outstretched. The opening riffs of My Deliverer had me out of my seat and singing along.

By the time they played “All the Way to Kingdom Come,” tears streamed down my eyes. I could hardly sing the words as I wept about the love and mercy of God.

Those songs have stuck with me. They have a power unlike any other music for me, always lifting me to this other place where I can see the love of Jesus and mercy of the Father with unmatched clarity.

I mean, how can I choose which lines to quote from All the Way to Kingdom Come?

“We didn’t know what love was ’til He came
And He gave love a face and He gave love a name
And He gave love away like the sky gives the rain and sun
We were looking for heroes, He came looking for the lost
We were searching for glory, and He showed us a cross
Now we know what love is ’cause He loves us”

That says it all for me. It’s like an instant invitation to worship.

While I’ve written a bit more on the intellectual and theological levels with my Christian Survival Guide book, worship songs and the emotions these sometimes lead to can be just as powerful for the health and stability of our faith.

We serve an emotional God who felt like a jilted lover, prayed passionately while on earth, and wept over the fate of Jerusalem. We should expect to meet God with both what we think and what we feel.

As a way of balancing out my approach in the Christian Survival Guide, I’ve started creating a Playlist on Spotify called Songs That Saved My Faith.

I’m inviting you to join me by adding the songs that have helped save your faith. Some of my friends have already dropped in their favorite songs.

Just click below to start adding your own songs to the playlist:

Songs That Saved My Faith (Spotify Playlist)
I pray that this playlist will help you connect with God on a deeper level, especially when you find that words fail you and mystery surrounds you.