Comments on: Ben Harper’s Faith

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:02:00 +0000

Awesome responses Amy & Jenny. I have asked myself these same questions, and I think you are both thereabouts. When God is glorified my soul delights, I am encouraged and I am thankful for the truth that Ben puts through in his songs, even if he may not be completely gospel centered. As much as I am against a “watered down Gospel”, I feel that the questions he asks and the passion he has for truth is refreshing in popular music today, hopefully his insights and the way he points people to God through his music can be in some way seeds that can be used to bring people to Christ. Maybe God is more able to use his music to lead people to the truth of the Gospel than the condemning, disqualifying, guilt inducing, self-righteous, legalistic “gospel” that is so prevalent in the world today. When I listen to many of his God centered songs I feel closer to Him(God) than I do hearing any legalistic preaching/teaching that I have received over my short few years as a Christian. God can use the weak and foolish things of this world to confound the wise.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:51:46 +0000

When my ears listen to Harper’s singing about what resounds to me of God and the Good News, well that’s simply all I need.

Of course I would love for all people to come to know God before their death, including Harper – but I know that the only ways I can act on my hope is:
– prayer (the most powerful thing you can do)
– share my personal encounters with God with those that would listen
– as a sinner like everyone else, share the freedom that giving your life to Christ gives.

Whether or not Harper is a Christian isn’t as important as how he may be reaching the non-believers by singing so sweetly of the enigma and unending love of the Lord.

By: the public faith of Ben Harper « willadair.com: my personal blog

the public faith of Ben Harper « willadair.com: my personal blog — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:20:51 +0000

[...] or mind altering drugs. Sacred sex can be mixed in as well. God help us when we don’t know the difference between biblical Christianity and that. Ben doesn’t call himself a Christian for a good reason. He isn’t one! His view of God [...]

By: amy v

amy v — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 16:41:50 +0000

I have been trying desperately to discover whether or not Ben Harper is a “Christian”. To the point where it’s getting rediculous. I want to believe he is . . . I want to listen to his music. I want to know he’s singing about my God. My brother made a good point, “It’s not worth getting upset about. His music resounds in you, it points to Him. It stirs your soul.” The rest is up to god. He will be the judge of all of our hearts. We will all probably be very surprised at who we share our eternal home with. After all, He is a God of mercy, and he desperately loves us all and wants us to come home to him. I guess that if listening to Ben’s music makes me long for my Creator in the same way that the sunlight on my face, or the twinkle in my daughter’s eye does, then it must be spirit filled. some things just naturally lead us to Him ~ without having a “label”.

By: jdodson

jdodson — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 12:23:07 +0000

Yes, there is much to learn from Harper in that respect, though Jesus is a pretty good example too. In fact, this raises the whole question of why do anything? If truth and faith are relative, then so is morality, and i f morality is relative then who is to say that doing something to reverse poverty is any better than spending millions on your home?

By: Frank

Frank — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 05:33:32 +0000

is it right to say that because Ben Harper is “cool” the magazine is trying to be cool by posting him in the magazine. Who is to say that his faith is any less than ours? Maybe his convictions for poverty, nature, and injustice should be a wake up call to us. What are we doing to speak out about these things?

By: Trey

Trey — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 22:22:57 +0000

well that’s good to hear.

By: jdodson

jdodson — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 21:44:28 +0000

The book is outstanding, top shelf missiology, as are all Walls books.

From reading the interview, i do think you were a little hard on Relevant on this one. The interview just puts Harper’s statements out there without endorsing them. To me, it was abundantly clear that Harper is spiritual but not Christ-centered. That said, historically, Relevant has been soft on theology but things seem to be changing a bit as they run articles by John Piper and others fairly often.

By: Trey

Trey — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 20:51:15 +0000

I fretted after writing that yesterday because I thought I was being a little too reactionary.

Maybe more than a little.

All that to say, I’d love to see arguments on both sides of the “cool” debate. Is there a place for incredible graphic design in the Kingdom? I hope so. Is here a place for people with wonderful taste in music? Art? Again, I SURE hope so.

Should we make those things the backbone of our appeal to a dying world?

If we do, we’re in trouble. Because, at a very fundamental level, we’ll have missed the gospel message entirely.

I’ll check out that book.

By: Wes

Wes — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:31:34 +0000

I agree, Trey. I think it’s worth serious consideration whether the concept of “coolness” is compatible with the gospel at all.

Hey, you should check out a book by Andrew Walls called “The Missionary Movement in Christian History”. It has had a huge impact on my thinking on several fronts. Your comments above about 21st century American Christian culture being an anomaly reminded me of it–especially of Walls’ first chapter.