A reckoning in Christian music

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NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, June 24th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast. Up next, WORLD Opinions contributor Bethel McGrew says a recent scandal in CCM reveals the dangers of Christian celebrity culture.

BETHEL MCGREW: Recent sexual assault allegations against CCM icon Michael Tait have rocked the Christian music scene. Major press outlets are rushing to cover what might be the worst scandal in the industry’s history. The former DC Talk star abruptly left the Newsboys in January, in what he now claims was an attempt to seek help for his homosexuality and substance addiction. His much-circulated confession refers to the breaking reports as “largely true” and admits that, “at times,” he “touched men in an unwanted sensual way.” However, if the specifics of the allegations are factual, then the carefully worded statement hardly scratches the surface.

According to multiple sources, Tait’s double life was a more or less open secret in the business for years. But given his status, it simply cost less to look the other way. On his Instagram page, worship leader Cory Asbury says “everyone knew,” even if they didn’t know all the “specific details.” In answer to a follow-up question about “how many ‘Christian’ bands/artists are living a double life,” Asbury answers, “A lot.” Of course, this prompts a further question, “What did you know, Cory? And why are you only telling us now?”

In a fiery reaction to the scandal, Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams says she hopes the whole CCM industry “crumbles.” And more, she hopes they abandon a traditional sexual ethic, as she claims Tait’s case highlights the need for “gay-affirming support”—as if celebrating his destructive identity would somehow have made it less likely for him to engage in destructive behavior.

The industry is no doubt deeply dysfunctional, but it hasn’t typically erred on the side of holding strong theological lines and harshly punishing sinners. On the contrary, it has created an atmosphere of celebrity worship and consumerism, where badly catechized artists are placed on a dangerously high pedestal, but their audiences are scolded for accordingly holding them to high standards.

This attitude is on display in the 2021 documentary The Jesus Music. It prominently features Tait alongside other CCM pioneers like Amy Grant. Grant’s divorce and remarriage was a widely publicized industry scandal in the 90s, leading some stations to pull her music when fans complained. The documentary portrays those fans as judgmental fundamentalists unable to give grace to their flawed heroes.

Of course, it’s appropriate for Christians to give grace and to be compassionate to repentant sinners. But high standards are also appropriate given the enormous influence of Christian celebrities—influence far greater than most pastors will ever have. “Gifted” people are not served well by an industry that exploits their gifts and enables their sin, while shielding them from the consequences of that sin. And a subculture where people are inclined to make excuses for each other’s “brokenness” provides cover—and cheap Christianese—for predators to exploit.

DC Talk’s hit “What if I Stumble?” opens with a spoken-word intro by defrocked celebrity priest Brennan Manning: “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world are Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny him with their lifestyle.”

Many fans of the song have sadly reflected that those words “hit different” now. Surely God can still speak even through terribly broken vessels. But God is also a just God, and whatever lies hidden in the dark will one day be exposed in His all-purifying light.

I’m Bethel McGrew.

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