Just returned from seeing Derek Webb in concert in Greensboro at Cathedral of His Glory. It was a free show, so the price was right. And Derek is one of my favorite artists, so I’ve been looking forward to the show for a while.

A local singer/songwriter opened by leading us in worship for 30 minutes or so. Jamie Carroll was his name, I think. He was pretty good.

Then the pastor (actually one of the associate pastors) got up to speak. He wasn’t bashful about admitting that they have a prosperity theology (”God wants us to be prosperous financially, spiritually, and in our health”). He went into great detail giving examples about God making him prosperous. One such example involved them getting to fly first class on their way to Guatemala (I think) to deliver medical supplies for hurricane relief. I kind of wondered what kind of God would make him prosperous by having him fly first class after a hurricane just killed dozens of people, but that must have just been me.

Or not. Derek took the stage shortly after that (it was obvious the crowd was eager for the pastor to be quiet). He was in his signature jeans and white t-shirt and, as always, had a freshly shaven head (a man after my own dome). Derek’s first words were “All due respect, I disagree with much of what was just said.” That earned raucous applause from the crowd, most of whom obviously were like us and not regulars at Cathedral of His Glory.

The set list was:
Nobody Loves Me
I See Things Upside Down (new)
Faith My Eyes
I Repent (from The House Show CD)
This World
T-Shirts (new)
The Church
Wedding Dress
Lover

It was a good set but frustratingly short. The preliminaries (the worship guy, who was very good, and the pastor, who was very bad) took an hour, which only left an hour for Derek. I would have much rather the pastor not say anything and let Derek have an hour and a half so he could have done other songs from his album (Crooked Deep Down, Beloved, etc.), from Caedmon’s albums, or from other sources.

Derek’s words between songs were as good as the songs themselves, and he powerfully called the church to be the church, to stop insulating itself in the American Christian subculture, to embrace the true gospel instead of the false gospel of sin management/behavior modification, and to recognize the true power of Christ’s forgiveness.

The biggest compliment I can give (and I don’t give this lightly) is that it seems Derek is capably taking up the mantle of people like Keith Green and Rich Mullins in calling the church back to Christ and out to the culture.

If you get a chance to see Derek on tour, do it.