"I Want Baby Skin On My Heart."

It's not often that I listen to Christian radio these days, but on the way to church yesterday I heard something that I really struck me. The DJ brought up the life and legacy of Keith Green, of whom I am quite fond of. He played the song "O Lord, You're Beautiful" in which Green explains why he wrote the song. Staying up all night in transcribing the lyrics, Green shares how far from the Lord he had traveled, how hard his heart had become. He wrote a letter to God, and in Green fashion, he said, "Lord, I don't know where to send this, so I am going to stick it in my Bible." Then, he shared his plea, which was simply, "Lord, I want baby skin on my heart. It's getting cold, callous, and hard - not because of anything I am doing, but from what I am not doing . . ." He later shared that the natural process is for skin to get wrinkly and hard and callous, of which Green was very conscious and concerned. If we do nothing about our heart, then surely this is what we should expect. I am grateful to God because of men like Keith Green, so honest and authentic and bold. I think contemporary Christian music today would serve them well to take his life and music to heart. As I look for any Green-like examples today, and the only person I can think of is Derek Webb. He had something similar to say, with equal honesty and sincereness. His similar prayer was, "Lord I want a broken heart." Here's the lyrics: i want a broken heart i’ve got faith in the bank and money in my heart i’ve got a calloused place where your ring used to be, my love i’ve traded naked and unashamed for a better place to hide for a righteous mask, a suit of fig leaves and lies i thought the cattle on a thousand hills was not enough to pay my bills and i fell in love with those who proved me wrong and now i want a broken heart now there’s a great pad lock on the place where i was free and i’m feeling bad from swallowing that key now i work real hard but i mostly call in sick of a broken back from the ground fighting back at me i cannot look you in the eye so i check the knots on my disguise ‘cause i fell in love with fashion in the dark and now i want a broken heart i’ve got alibis for every crime a substitute to do my time ‘cause Your heart breaks enough on both our parts so now i want a broken heart now i want a broken heart now i want a broken heart