Working in Christian radio I often hear people make comments about Christian artists like, “Why did they sing a secular song?” or “they must have sold out to secularism because they were signed by Sony records”. These kinds of statements have always baffled me.
If someone entered a career as a vacuum salesman, would someone comment that he was “selling out” God’s plan for his life because he was not selling Christian vacuums? (work with me) What he sells does define him to a point (more on that later) but it does not effect his belief system. Those vacuums do not change his beliefs in any way. He will live his life the way he wants to regardless of whether he is a good salesman or a bad salesman.
Now when it comes to Christians singing secular music the same things applies. If someone is truly a Christian then the music they sing will fit with their worldview. They would not sing something that would compromise their beliefs.
I know quite a few artists that looked into working in the Christian music versus secular and after weighing the pros and cons decided to be a secular artist with uplifting lyrics. Why you ask? Because this allows them to sing quality moral music at venues that would never have a “Christian” artist. After their concert they then have the opportunity to speak with people about Christ that would never be in a situation to hear about Him otherwise.
I believe that we should be bringing up quality Christains who sing music instead of people who sing “Christian music”. That mentality is the fight that churches have fought for many years. It is the mindset that people come to church and then go live their lives during the week. This “dualism” is hurting Christianity faster than anything else.
The secular world sees people who live a life completely different from beliefs that they say they agree with. This shows non-Christians a hypocritical lifestyle that turns them off to Christianity. This applies to music for some reason as well. Music might be looked at differently than other mediums because it seems to be more closely connected to the human soul than many other things in life.
So, be a Christian who happens to sing, not a Christian singer.
