James Taylor could play to thousands nightly while David Wilcox performs for a few hundred—on a very good day. Why do some people achieved stardom and others, as talented or better, remain in relative obscurity admired by a dedicated few? The dynamics of popularity and importance are difficult to easily explain—a theme powerfully explored in the Oscar winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man where a seemingly failed musician finds he had a role in bringing down South African apartheid—but we see those complexities in more than just music.
The scriptures face their own version of the Top 40. Pulpits in the Evangelical world tend to feature less Peter, much more Paul and very little Mary. Perhaps it is at least time to reexamine the set list for our biggest chart topping writer, and consider whether some of his overlooked work doesn’t deserve a more prominent place. After all, Elvis Presley’s first B side was “Don’t be Cruel.” It took a while, but it eventually got as much air play as the “Hound Dog” that first introduced us to the voice of the King.
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