There’s been lots of bad news lately about the Grammys. (And the Denver Broncos, too, but that’s another subject entirely.) So with such a dark entertainment cloud pressing so low to the horizon behind us, I wanted to make sure you’d heard some of the good news swirling around that particular awards show.
Some of this we published in our weekly Culture Clips yesterday, but there’s a bit more that deserves attention. Because when two Christian musicians take a quiet and decorous stand for what they believe in by either skirting the Awards completely or leaving them midstream, it’s worth another look.
Let’s start with Mandisa. She decided this year to stay away altogether, never mind that she ended up winning Best Contemporary Christian Album (for Overcomer) and Best Contemporary Christian Music Song (for that album’s title track). The next day on her blog she took the time to talk about her reasons for not attending:
I can’t tell you how little I enjoy people scrutinizing what I am wearing and how I look. I’ve been on the receiving end of such mean comments coming from the other side of the anonymity the world-wide web provides. I can usually handle it, but recent events have left me feeling insecure about such things these days.
But she hasn’t yet gotten to the meat of her real reason:
Both times I have gone to the Grammys I have witnessed performances I wish I could erase from my memory, and yes, I fast forwarded through several performances this year; but my reason is not because of them, it’s because of me. I have been struggling with being in the world, not of it lately. I have fallen prey to the alluring pull of flesh, pride, and selfish desires quite a bit recently. … I knew that submerging myself into an environment that celebrates those things was risky for me at this time. I am taking steps to renew my mind to become the Heavenly Father-centered, completely satisfied with Jesus, and Holy Spirit-led woman I felt I was a few months ago, but I’m feeling a bit like an infant learning to walk again on shaky legs. Perhaps being alone with Him as my name was announced was protecting myself from where my flesh would have tried to drag me had I been up on that stage. It gave me time to focus. With what I do for a living, and the doors that have opened for me to sing about Jesus on mainstream platforms, I take the phrase from John 15:19, ‘be in the world, not of it’ seriously.
Like Jimmy Kimmel said when he found out that The Bachelor contestants Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici put off sleeping together until they were actually married, “Wow.” Yes, Wow! I am so personally convicted by Mandisa’s take on this. Would I and could I purposefully stay away from a grand public accolade specifically to focus my attention on God? To improve my closeness with Him? Or would I merely rationalize that I could take care of that sort of spiritual improvement after the event just as easily as during?
And now we move on to fellow Christian singer Natalie Grant, who got up in the middle of the show and walked out. As you’ll see from her statement afterwards, she wasn’t trying to protest any particular act onstage, but she certainly stood up (literally) for her beliefs and for her Lord.
We left the Grammy’s early. I’ve many thoughts about the show tonight, most of which are probably better left inside my head. But I’ll say this: I’ve never been more honored to sing about Jesus and for Jesus. And I’ve never been more sure of the path I’ve chosen.
After coming under fire from some quarters for supposedly making a scene about the gay weddings that took place during the festivities, she then clarified her comments by adding:
I never said I left during any particular performance. I only said I left early. I never pointed out any one particular performance; I only said I had many thoughts about the entire show, which were best left inside my head and that is where they will stay. So those who say I condemned one performance but then condoned others clearly did not read the post. I’ve judged no one. I hate no one. And I believe that every person has been created in the image of God. What I did say is this: I am honored to be a part of the Christian music community. I’ve had many people throughout my career ask why I never tried to go in to mainstream music, and last night was a beautiful reminder that I love singing about Jesus and for Jesus.
Again, Wow.
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