Keith Green: A Christian Singer Who Changed My Life

This article was first published in French at TPSG. 

Many of us may think of music as an enjoyable accessory to our daily lives, like a good movie or an engrossing novel. For those of us who enjoy Christian music, certain artists may compose, sing, and play an instrument in a way that speaks to our hearts in profound ways. But the influence in my life of one Christian singer goes well beyond personal edification. I believe, without exaggeration, that he helped change the course of my life. His name is Keith Green, and if you have never heard of him, it’s high time you discover his life and legacy.

First Exposure: Wednesday Night Youth Group

I came to faith in Christ at age 14 while attending a youth group near my home. Our Wednesday night meetings consisted of playing basketball, singing praise songs, and taking part in a Bible study taught by our 24-year-old youth pastor Doug. He often included quotes from some of his favourite books, including Keith Green's biography, “No Compromise.” Pastor Doug shared Green’s passion for Christ and his zeal for missions, and over time transmitted it to us. Together, these two brothers challenged me to consider the Lord’s calling on my life. Some of Keith Green’s most well-known quotes may explain why:

This generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of souls on the earth!

If you don't have a definite call to stay here, you are called to go.

Jesus commands us to go. It should be the exception if we stay.

Don't you see all the people sinking down? Don't you care? Are you gonna let them drown?

God’s Heart for the Nations

Keith Green’s theology was imperfect. In fact, if he were alive today, we might not be comfortable in some of the venues where he performed. We would even label certain of his associates as prosperity gospel preachers, and with good reason. So, this is by no means a hagiography (meaning, a biography that treats its subject with undue reverence). But despite his flaws, this hippie-turned-disciple-of-Jesus had one magnificent obsession: To know Christ and to make him known. 

A 20th Century Revival Preacher through Song

Keith Green was already a successful singer and songwriter when he became a follower of Jesus. Playing in clubs throughout Southern California, he soon began to compose lyrics that brought to life the Scriptures that had come to mean so much to him. From his rendition of the Parables of the Good Samaritan and of the Prodigal Son to his retelling of Israel’s wilderness wanderings in “So, You Want to Go Back to Egypt,” his powerful storytelling transported his hearers into the world of the Bible. But his music didn’t merely entertain. The manner in which he articulated the costly call of discipleship and the terrible fate of those who rejected this invitation compelled many to action. His concerts were more than shows; they were evangelistic crusades, in which he dedicated a significant portion of his time to sharing the Gospel. 

Brother Keith came to understand early on in his ministry that the evangelical Church in America needed a wake-up call. He challenged those who claimed to follow Christ to examine themselves and see if they were in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). In an age in which cultural Christianity prevailed, he had little patience for those bathing in a tepid tub of blasé Christian comfort. His declarations spanned from amusing to offensive. 

Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger!... Do you want to know what a Christian is? Someone who's bananas for Jesus!

The world is sleeping in the dark that the Church just can’t fight, because it’s asleep in the light. How can you be so dead, when you’ve been so well-fed? Jesus rose from the dead, and you can’t even get out of bed!

To obey is better than sacrifice, I want more than Sundays and Wednesday nights. So, if you can’t come to me every day, then don’t bother coming at all. 

Money Should Never Be a Barrier

While many would balk at such boldness and directness, few could question his sincerity and love. From his earliest days as a Christian, he and his wife Melody picked up hitchhikers and homeless people and brought them into their home. On one occasion, one such young woman was scheduled to have an abortion the following week, and the shelter she found with the Greens caused her to choose life instead. When Keith and Melody outgrew their home, they bought or rented another, then another, until their makeshift ministry filled half the block. They would eventually purchase a ranch in Texas which would allow them to expand their discipleship home into what came to bear the name “Last Days Ministries.” 

Early in his walk of faith, Keith funded these projects from the proceeds of his concerts. This changed, however, when he decided that as a minister of the Gospel, he could no more charge for a concert than a pastor could charge admission to a worship service. He simply requested voluntary donations for both his concert tickets and his records and cassettes. And what’s amazing is that God not only allowed the Greens to cover their expenses this way, but he also raised up generous financial partners who enabled them to take this message of God’s love all over the world. 

Gone Too Soon, Yet Still Bearing Fruit

If you wonder why you haven’t heard of such a man of conviction, it may be because he died tragically in 1982 in a small plane crash at the age of 28. When I first learned of his life at age 14, that number didn’t strike me the way it does 35 years later. He was only 28 when he died! Yet with time, I came to understand that Keith Green had managed to cram many decades of fruitful service for the Master into less than three. Completing it only days before his homegoing, he issued a clarion call that would echo into eternity. His short booklet “Why YOU Should Go to the Mission Field” challenged God’s children to walk in obedience to Christ to carry his cross to the very ends of the earth. 

It’s no wonder, therefore, that at the age of 16, while on a summer mission trip in France, I consecrated my life to cross-cultural ministry on the Old Port of Marseille. Thanks to the contagious passion of Keith Green for the lost, the last, and the least, thousands of other believers since have answered that call to be his ambassadors to the ends of the earth. If you sense the Lord nudging your heart towards missions, add Keith’ Green’s biography “No Compromise” to your reading list today. And if you don’t have any interest in reaching the nations, I dare you to read his book and remain unchanged.