At 27 years old, with the 2015 GMA Dove Award for New Artist of the Year and Song of the Year for "How Can It Be," along with the 2016 Dove Award for Artist of the Year and a 2016 Grammy nomination, Lauren Daigle is currently one of the most popular modern Christian music artists.  According to Forbes, earlier this year, Miss Daigle made history "by becoming the first Christian artist to top all five of Billboard's core Christian charts simultaneously."

After her appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Miss Daigle received some criticism from Christians who thought she had no business performing on a TV show hosted by a lesbian.  In response to the criticism, as noted on The Christian Post:

"I think the second we start drawing lines around which people are able to be approached and which aren't, we've already completely missed the heart of God," Daigle told WAY-FM Radio.

"I don't have all the answers in life and I'm definitely not gonna act like I do, but the one thing that I know for sure is I can't choose who I'm supposed to be kind to and who I'm supposed to show love to and who I'm not, because that's the mission right?" she continued.  "Be who Christ was to everyone."

Miss Daigle makes a fair point about "approaching" others and being Christ "to everyone," but her construction of familiar straw men here – "I can't choose who I'm supposed to be kind to and who I'm supposed to show love to..." – should have been troubling to the discerning.  She soon proved some of her critics justified.

Several weeks after appearing on DeGeneres's show, and no doubt after some contemplation of the criticism of her appearance, Miss Daigle appeared on The Domenick Nati Show on iHeartRadio.  Mr. Nati asked her, as a Christian, her stance on whether homosexuality is a sin.  Miss Daigle's response was indeed "troubling."  The Christian Post reports her reply to Mr. Nati:

I can't honestly answer on that, in the sense of I have too many people that I love and they are homosexuals[.] ...

I can't say one way or the other, I'm not God.  When people ask questions like that, I just say, 'Read the Bible and find out for yourself.  And when you find out let me know because I'm learning too[.]'

So again we see a Christian celebrity unwilling to stand for the truth on matters in the sexual realm.  Sadly, with athletes, actors, musicians, and the like, it has become far too common for Christian entertainers to go the way of the world when it comes to sex.  Sometimes such compromise is a sad attempt to gain or hold on to fame and fortune.  Sometimes it is the result of fear.  In our hyper-sensitive pc-culture, many Christians today are afraid that the truth may offend.

What many such Christians have failed to grasp is that the truth is often – if not always – offensive.  As John MacArthur recently put it, Christianity that doesn't offend isn't Christianity.  In a recent interview with Ben Shapiro, Pastor MacArthur said one of his goals as a pastor is to "offend everyone:"

MacArthur added, "I offend people all the time because that's necessary.  If you try to develop a kind of Christianity that's inoffensive, that's not Christianity, it's not the Gospel."  Such offense is often necessary, because those who most need to hear the truth are the least likely to want to listen.

Jesus Himself was also often "offensive," so much so that many who were following Him prior to his crucifixion turned away.  Simply quote Jesus sometimes, and you'll find out just how offensive He still is.  Jesus warned us that because of Him, we would be hated.  The "City of God" will always be despised by the "City of Man."

As a man who has found the cure for a terrible disease, followers of Christ should enthusiastically tell the truth with courage, conviction, and love.  Along with ministering to the sick, poor, hungry, and broken; along with building churches, schools, hospitals, and orphanages, Christians also must confidently and strongly stand up to the lies of atheism, humanism, socialism, communism, Islam, the LGBT agenda, and the like.

In a world more devoted to its "isms" than to the God who made us, shining the light on such lies is precisely why some Christians are frequently found so "offensive."  In other words, authentic Christianity will rarely win a popularity contest with those devoted to the things of this world.  It seems that many Christian celebrities are more concerned with popularity than with the truth.

Speaking of popularity, as measured by Billboard, with 20 weeks at number one, the most popular Christian song of 2018 is Lauren Daigle's "You Say."  The lyrics of the song are filled with the phrase "You Say" – a reference to God speaking.  Miss Daigle told Billboard, "I knew this would be a song of my identity.  'You say I am loved.'  That's the truth."  How does she know that's "the truth"?  How does she know anything of what God has said?  Presumably, she knows these things because they are written in God's Word.  Yet somehow the truth on matters in the sexual realm elude her.

Music is a powerful instrument for spreading the truth, and modern Christian musicians not only need to be good stewards of God's Word when they write and sing, but also need at least to be willing to stand up for the truths that their music often avoids.  Our world is swimming in sexual sin, and the pain and suffering as a result are widespread and horrific.  Yet few Christians with a large audience want to address these grave matters.

Where are the Christian songs extolling sexual morality and marriage as defined by God?  If not songs, then why not use concerts as a platform to otherwise spread the truth on marriage and sex?  We must meet the enemy where he is at work.  Because of the myriad of lies presented by the enemy – who is now able to deceive concerning even who is a male and who is a female – the world is desperate for the truth on such things.

Christians who find themselves on The Ellen DeGeneres Show or The View should ask themselves: why do unbelievers want to share their platform with me?  Is it for "such a time as this"?  Or could it be because they believe that such Christians won't present them with uncomfortable truths?  Last year, after hearing her tell the truth about homosexuality, Ellen DeGeneres canceled a scheduled appearance by gospel singer Kim Burrell.

Sometimes the most loving thing we can do for someone is tell him what he doesn't want to hear.  He might be offended, he might be made uncomfortable, and we might become less popular.  However, it's far better to be made uncomfortable by the truth in this world than in the next.

Trevor Grant Thomas: At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.
www.trevorgrantthomas.com
Trevor is the author of the brand new book The Miracle and Magnificence of America.
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com