For Those Tears I Died

During a (conservative) church service recently an open hymn-sing asked for requests from the congregation from two approved hymnbooks: The Psalter (the old CRC hymnbook) and Hymns for The Family of God. A voice behind me requested For Those Tears I Died. I had a vague memory that it was a song from the Hippie "Jesus Movement" of the early 1970's. Hymns for The Family of God attributes the song to Marsha Stevens (now Stevens-Pino) and her band, "Children of the Day." A quick Google search revealed the facts that Ms. Stevens-Pino was divorced, two children, a now professing lesbian and founder of BALM (Born Again Lesbian Music).

I'm a bit out-of-touch with the whole CCM scene and broad evangelicalism, so all of this appears to be a well-known controversy already. This is what happens when one is part of tradition that does not actively embrace worship bands and Contemporary Christian music. I personally don't have a problem with either, but I do not listen to Christian Contemporary Music.

As I sit and think about all of this, I'm not sure if I have it all worked out. There's nothing blatantly heretical about the song, but that its author is a proactive lesbian gives me pause to stop and consider the relationship between truth and lifestyle. The question is: does truth, even if uttered by a pro-active lesbian trump the actions of the writer? I have my own take on this, but I'm simply going to leave the question hanging at this point.