I haven’t purposedly listened to any contemporary Christian music since my 1980’s Michael W Smith era. I don’t have anything against it really; it just isn’t my thing. A few weeks ago though, Tegan was looking for another song for her Commercial Music category for this season’s competitions (she competes in singing competitions starting at the district level in November. Last year, she made it all the way to Nationals!) She came to me with a really pretty song she’d heard on TikTok: Rescue, by Lauren Daigle. Her voice teacher loved the idea. She still needed a ballad, the song is a great match for her voice, and contemporary Christian songs tend to be really competitive. Plus, it’s just a really comforting and lovely song. Listening to it feels like a big hug.
Because I didn’t know a lot about Lauren Daigle (I was aware of her popular song, You Say, but my knowledge ended there), and because I’m, well… me… I obsessively watched, listened, and read everything I could get my hands on for a few days. And it turns out that there’s a lot of controversy around Lauren Daigle.
Apparently, conservative Christians didn’t like that she appeared on Ellen Degeneres, and they didn’t like it when she refused to call homosexuality out as a sin. They were similarly bothered when she was asked if she considered herself a “Christian artist” and she answered that she preferred to just be known as an artist. The most damning though was this spring, when she performed a concert in New Orleans. There was an open bar, so people were drinking while they watched, and among the thousands of fans in attendance were gay people, transgender people, and even (!) people in drag. Christians are really, really mad about the alchohol and the LGBTQ+ folks.
I’ve expressed my frustration about people’s desire to police Christianity before…. the incessant need for judgment on what you consider to be a sin, or who’s doing Christianity “wrong”, or whose life or beliefs or performances make them a “fake” Christian. The overall practice is extremely disheartening, especially when entire populations are getting harmed because of your judgement. (I last wrote about that here.) It’s not my job – or yours – to declare that Lauren Daigle’s fans are somehow less than because they decided to raise a can of beer instead of a Pepsi, or because they are gay, or transgender, or like to dress in drag. It’s not my job – or yours – to unilaterally decide that someone else’s belief, or mode of worship, is any less valid or heartfelt or real than yours. We have no idea where someone else’s heart lies.
What bothers me the most though is a common thread I kept seeing in TikTok after TikTok complaining about the New Orleans concert. Over and over people were saying some version of “God was nowhere near that concert.”
What?
Why on earth would anyone want to worship a God that they genuinely believes only shows up at certain times and certain places? A God that is only present if they are doing everything “right” and checking off all the boxes? A God that they can only call upon when they are good enough, or holy enough, or pious enough?
Everything I’ve been taught and learned and come to believe is very much the opposite. God is everywhere, but He’s especially there when we’re struggling. When it’s dark. When we’re scared. When we’ve screwed up. When we’re broken. When we have nothing left. When we’re trying really really hard but we just can’t quite get it right. God meets us exactly where we’re at, at the exact moment that we’re there. God is not just there for the perfect people (spoiler alert: there are no perfect people). God is there for literally anyone who calls His name.
And God was ABSOLUTELY there for the Lauren Daigle concert. I don’t care what they were drinking, or who was in attendance, or how they were choosing to worship. That concert venue was filled with imperfect people who, like the rest of us imperfect people, just wanted to enjoy a night of fellowship with other believers, listen to some good music, and with any luck be entertained and inspired. God was there, with each and every person who wanted Him there.
Regardless of their beverage of choice.
