Our Response to "Preacher's Kid" Hitting #1 on the Christian Charts

I read a news article a few days ago that broke my heart, and have spent the time since then praying as to my thoughts on it and what my response to it should be. This is it.

As of a few days ago, at #1 of the Christian music genre of iTunes was an album by an openly queer woman who is outspoken in the LGBTQ+ community. This isn't what troubled me. I was troubled for three other reasons

1. The lyrics she sang.

The first thing I did was listen to the album. I had to understand why it hit #1. There were lines that she sang like "Church wasn't a way of life, it was a weekly reunion," and "they told me I was going to find Jesus at the youth group lock-in, but instead I found my sexuality."

Somewhere along the lines this young lady stopped being taught truth and was instead being taught "a way of life we talk about but don't practice." As many teenagers do, she saw through the hypocrisy.

2. The responses I saw.

I saw this news shared through multiple sources on my FB timeline. Almost every response I saw, whether it was from church members or pastors, was an attack on this young lady. I feel that is the wrong response.

We must respond with looking for how we can do better moving forward. At some point, the church failed her. The Christians put in her life failed her. When you listen to her words it's not that she knew the Truth and turned from it, she makes it clear that the Truth was never fully explained to her. We failed.

3. The reason it hit #1.

Judging by the responses I saw, I think the greatest point in all of it was missed. There's a reason the album hit #1. The lyrics she sang resonated with hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of people who find themselves in the same boat - Hearing of God growing up, but never fully understanding who God is and how He relates to them on a personal level. Many are confused, broken, and searching, but the problem is when they reach out, they get hit with a wall of character attacks. This should not be the case.

Hearing this album and seeing it hit #1 should be a challenge to us. A challenge to do better, and to be better.

We need to respond better. To listen when others voice their hurt, frustration, and confusion. How else can we start a conversation?

We need to study better. To answer the questions from those who don't have a relationship with God and don't know how. We must be "prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect," (1 Peter 3:15).

We need to love better. At the end of the day, this young lady is crying out to God, "if you're there, just show me." She is an eternal soul. Jesus died for her to give her eternal life. While we sit here on FB tearing down her arguments and words, she is rapidly racing towards an eternal destination. We must love as Jesus loved.

I normally don't respond to cultural happenings, but I felt the need on this one. It should break our hearts to hear the things she sang about, and it should challenge us to do better.