I went and saw Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant in concert the other night.  Amy Grant was the "warm-up" act, which kind of surprised me.  Everyone stayed seated for the entire time she performed, which seemed kind of unusual to me.  I thought that maybe it was just a very conservative glued to their seats kind of crowd.  I didn't want to get up unless at least a few people around me did, and that never happened.

Eventually Michael W. Smith came out and played piano for some of the songs they wrote together.  The crowd liked that pretty good.  Then it was time for his concert, and every started clapping and rose to their feet, and I realized everyone was there to see him.  After a worship song or two, I overheard a man behind me say, "now that's a Christian song".

Amy Grant sang a lot of her early songs that were very biblical.  There were songs about not compromising your faith and values, and songs about how the simple godly life a Christian leads can be more important in God's eyes than "Hallelujahs".  And later more songs about God's word guiding our steps, and songs about looking forward to heaven in light of the evil in the world.  I honestly think the comment about finally hearing a Christian song was a snapshot into the minds of a lot of people glued to their seats that night, and it reminded me of how judgmental Christians can be.  I know of another person who refused to go to the concert because of not liking Amy Grant (anymore).  And yet, Michael W. Smith admitted to using Cocaine before signing his first record deal, and he seems to be acceptable to all the Amy Grant haters.  Her ex-husband remarried and divorced, and has been arrested for DUI in recent years, but I guess he's just off of everyone's radar.

I guess I have just started feeling bad for her.  She is very cognizant of her mistakes, pointing out that she and Michael W. Smith had between them been married 3 times.  She talks a lot about not knowing where life was going to take her, and similar comments about her life, and her past.  She seems to me to be someone that not only has had to deal with the reality that is true of all of us - that she is a sinner, but she also seems to be someone that has had a lot of pointing fingers remind her of it for many years, without really knowing any of the detailed circumstances of her life.

That doesn't keep people from their hatred, though.  I told my wife that night that since there's a "Friends of Amy" fan club, I bet there's an "Enemies of Amy" site also.  Well, maybe not by that name, but I did find sites claiming she was flashing the "Satanic Salute".  Others that said she "worships Satan".  Others that said that because of her divorce she can never represent the Christian community in any way.  It just goes on and on.

I'm guessing the people in the audience didn't know of her Satanic ties, otherwise they probably would have been more critical of Michael W. Smith for cavorting with her.  Whatever level of dissatisfaction they had with her, evidently silence was the perfect way to express it.  For me, the silence was deafening, a little stifling, and very strange.  For Amy Grant, it was probably just another day.