Andrae Crouch Died Yesterday…
Lost amidst the
insanity of the world in which we live, was the homegoing of this dear Saint.
Andrae Crouch’s music was intertwined in my young life as a believer. I became
a Christian at age 9. I had already developed a deep love for music of all
kinds and music had to be very good in order for me to listen to it. In the
early years of my Faith, since I was just a kid, I listened to whatever they
listened to at my church, or whatever my mother or grandmother listened to.
Mainly, The Bill Gaither Trio and an ensemble group from the church I attended
that had a lot of talent but never sang beyond the four walls of our sanctuary.
When I hit my
teenage years I rediscovered –as most teenagers do- music as my own language.
Of course, we were what was known as “Fundamental Baptist” which means (among
many other things) that you can’t do anything the way “The World” did it. We
didn’t go to movies, we didn’t dance, the only acceptable alcohol was rubbing
alcohol, and our music had better not sound like their music.
Movies were hard
enough to give up. Disney was “Real Disney” then and they weren’t making
softcore kiddie porn like they are now. I had fallen in love with talk radio at
an early age so I didn’t care about not listening to Top 40. But my records…man
I had to have my records. We had vinyl then. Vinyl or 8 tracks. Cassettes came
around in the mid to late 70’s and we had those too, but mostly the medium of
choice was vinyl. I only owned Christian music, due to the strict adherence to
the strict rules of my church. But it was a great time to be a young person who
loved music and wanted to hear it sung about Jesus.
We had The
Imperials, Larry Norman, Dallas Holm, and a few lesser lights. I loved those
performers. I saw the Imperials a handful of times when they came to town. But
for me, in my teenage years, there were two artists who didn’t just write and
perform…they sang mini sermons that changed your entire outlook in 3 minutes.
Keith Green and Andrae Crouch.
We lost Keith
Green in 1982 in a plane crash. We lost Andrae Crouch yesterday.
Andrae was brilliant. He wrote with passion for souls. He
wrote with the altar in mind. He wrote to the lost. He wrote 3 minute sermons
that literally could encapsulate the entire gospel up to and including an
invitation to accept it, and then he set them to the most beautiful music on
earth. Andrae had the ear of his generation and mine, and he did everything he
could to make sure we listened when he sang about Jesus. He said it simply, but
beautifully. Listen to the passion and irresistible music of this classic: Jesus is the Answer
This was as plain
and plaintive a presentation of your need for Jesus and His unquestioned
ability to satisfy that need as anyone has ever written, ever. You can’t miss Who or what he is talking about here. My
despise for modern CCM is well known on this blog and listening to this song
again as I write, it’s no wonder. We have some talented folks out there today
who simply refuse to be this direct, this blunt, this passionate about the
GOSPEL and not about creating an atmosphere. People went to an Andrae Crouch
concert and they heard the Gospel, and they got SAVED. They didn’t have a
“relationship” or an “encounter.” They met Jesus face to face, head the longing
of their hearts, set to music, and met their SAVIOR.
These days you
are hard pressed to hear Jesus’ name even mentioned in a concert from one of
these “praise and worship” bands.
He wrote to the
Church and called her to repentance. Like this one Take Me Back .
As believers we have all been here. Yet these days a song
written about repenting and returning would be rejected.
Andrae bridged
cultural divides at a time when they loomed large. In the pasty white world of
Fundamental Baptist culture, he was a black man who gave them absolutely
nothing to point their finger at and say “Ah- HA!” I worked at a “Gino’s”
restaurant in High School and one of my co –workers was a black girl, the same
age as me, named Anita Shazier. She was a huge Andrae fan and had a wonderful
voice. After closing at night, she would get on the microphone at the cashiers
counter and sing his songs over the intercom. She found out I was a Christian
and a big fan of Crouch and we became good friends.
I would lie awake long into the night many,
many times in my teen years, listening to his records over and over, and
letting his words become part of my personal theology, and the guardrails on
the road I was walking. Andrae Crouch fueled my passion for the lost with songs
like this one: Tell
Them
My heart’s desire was ministry back then, and listening to
Andrae Crouch singing songs like this…you simply could not wander from that
goal. Andrae impacted me. He impacted me the way a comet impacts a planet when
they collide. He smashed into my soul and left a huge mark.
Several years
ago, when his dad died, he laid down his public music ministry and took over
the pastorate along with his sister Sandra. He hadn’t offered much new music in
a long while but by then, his songs had become such beloved staples that they
found their way into the hymnals of even that stoic Fundamental Baptist Church
I grew up in. So we never really lost Andrae.
I hope his death
rekindles interest in his work. I hope the current generation of “Christian
artists” listen to him and realize how very wrong they have it. We don’t need
to make the message more “relevant.” The message is always relevant. Sing the
truth! Sing about JESUS the SAVIOR, not Jesus your surfing buddy. Call saints
back to repentance. Write your songs as if the message you are about to sing is
the only thing standing between the listener and hell. You aren’t in this to be
popular. This is ministry. Most times that isn’t popular. But if you’re
talented, and you do it God’s way…you’ll be famous where it matters most.
God’s speed
Andrae. There is great comfort in knowing that we will meet again…Soon and Very
Soon. It won’t be Long. It
Won't Be Long
