Why More Secular Artists Are Talking About Their Faith| National Catholic Register
Recently, Jelly Roll, a country-pop artist who, prior to his musical career, had been incarcerated for drug use, pointed at a double rainbow that appeared while he was singing his song Hard Fought Hallelujah. The video was shared by Brandon Lake, a Christian artist who co-wrote the song with Jelly Roll.
“You can’t tell me that ain’t God!” Jelly Roll told the crowd as tears began to stream down his face.
The moment went viral, and Christians, including Catholics, began to notice as religious references seem to be popping up in secular songs and at concerts, including Father Damian Ference, the vicar general for evangelization in the Diocese of Cleveland.
A self-professed concert enthusiast, Father Ference took notice of Jelly Roll’s profession of faith.
“There is some sort of relation between country music and Christian music. There’s like a co-naturality there; they are almost like cousins, but even Snoop Dogg on Easter was saying Jesus has risen from the dead, or something like this on Instagram, and this guy is really foulmouthed,” Father Ference told the Register. “Jesus’ name has power, and I think sometimes people just want to claim that power and say his name.”
Sarah Kroger, a Catholic worship artist based in Nashville, also has noticed more and more artists acknowledging God in both their songs and at concerts. She believes it stems from more people searching for a deeper meaning in their life.
“I think in a post-COVID world, many of us came to terms with mortality. As a society, I think a lot of us found ourselves wrestling with some of those existential big questions about the purpose and meaning of life,” Kroger said. “I think a lot of people are finding themselves entering into spirituality maybe for the first time or feeling themselves drawn to that for the first time.”
“Music makes for an altogether more welcoming kind of ecosystem, and people are just longing for deeper meaning in life and thus expressing that in song,” she continued.
This trend — acknowledged by even The Associated Press — is not a new phenomenon, though. Robert Giracello, a composer and professor of music at John Paul the Great Catholic University in Escondido, California, says that in the past century, there have been times when gospel-influenced music was deeply popular.
“There are these 10- to 15-year periods where there is kind of a pendulum swing towards more gospel-influenced material, because there is a sense of the appeal to the divine that’s in all of popular culture,” Giracello said. “Think back to the folk music of the ’60s; there was a ton of appeal to Christian themes,” he added, while acknowledging other bands “that turn more away from Christian values.”
Music has often been a medium used to evangelize and worship God, providing an accessible avenue to express the transcendentals — truth, beauty and goodness.
“There is something about the combination of words and music and entering into that speaks to a different level of the human heart,” said Kroger, who recently wrote Belovedness, a devotional inspired by her song of the same name. “Whether it’s secular music or Christian music, it doesn’t matter, if there is a song that speaks to the human experience or that communicates beauty, truth and goodness, it will help draw people to God.”
A good song requires relatability, and artists know this. Thus, many of the great songs speak about the good, the bad and the ugly of the human condition, giving listeners something to relate to.
“So much of what we find in popular music is the cry of the human heart, longing for perfect love, perfect companionship, perfect forgiveness, perfect friendship, eternity, something that lasts forever; and whether or not you believe in God, you still experience all that because you’re made in his image and likeness, whether you reject him or not,” Father Ference said.
Thus, God and religious ideas often play a central role in lyrics.
“Bono, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-r, said that the best music is music where someone’s running toward God or away from God. And if you’re not doing one of those things, your music is boring,” Father Ference observed.
Pop and rock music has its roots in jazz and gospel music, an era rich in Christian themes.
“The historical foundation of rock and pop music is based on the blues and gospel music and spirituality,” Giracello said. “Spiritual themes are in the DNA of these music genres.”
Traditionally, bands look to the Bible for inspiration. Many famous artists and bands have used biblical imagery or stories in their music to much success.
“Some artists are inspired by biblical stories, and they mask it well. They may not be intending to evangelize, but they are using some of the richest allegory and parable that they can find,” Giracello said, adding that musicians have long “understood that biblical narratives are the best way to excite people’s minds and to get them aware of bigger pictures.”
Secular music, thus, has the potential to introduce the transcendentals to a large population that Christian music often struggles to reach. Kroger believes that the more artists explicitly mention God and convey religious messages, then it will have a profound impact on culture.
“Anytime that you can expose people to the transcendentals, anytime that you can expose people to God, that is a good thing. It plants seeds that you have no idea what fruit that will bear,” Kroger said. “In the lives of everyone in society, it doesn’t matter what work they are in, whether they are Christian or not, if you encounter beauty, truth and goodness, you cannot leave that unchanged.”
Catholics just need to learn how to tap into the evangelical potential of secular music.
“If something matters to the culture, then it matters to the evangelist,” Father Ference said. “I think it behooves us to pay attention to what is going on in the culture, and that doesn’t mean that you’re endorsing it, and it doesn’t mean that you’re approving every aspect. A good evangelizer will ask the right questions to get people to think more deeply about reality.”
Using music for evangelization requires asking probing questions about lyrics and inviting listeners to consider the deeper meaning of songful words and what it reveals about the human experience.
“When the Lord says we need to be salt, light and leaven, those are things that are added to something that is already there,” Father Ference said. “You are called to raise the music up. You may have a conversation and feel like that song was cool. And then you say, you know, she says in this song, blah, blah, blah, and you ask a question, which raises one’s intellect and one’s reason to a point where they’re actually considering what these lyrics are really saying.”
Such song-focused chats can have a huge evangelical impact and open the door to an encounter with God.
“Asking questions could lead to a conversation with someone; it could lead to an open door to a deeper relationship with someone to talk about a song by asking, ‘Oh, what do you think about this artist talking about Jesus? How does that make you feel?’” Kroger said. “You never know when a conversation can lead to an invite to church or to a deeper encounter with the love of God through your life and the way that you live.”
For example, this summer, Father Ference is attempting to tap into the evangelical potential of secular music by hosting a weekly summer concert series at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Cleveland. The evening begins with vespers and then moves outside where there is live music, food and opportunities to build community.
Father Ference invites secular bands from across the region to play, according to his one rule.
“My standard is: You do not have to be Catholic. You do have to be a good musician, but you cannot be anti-Catholic,” Father Ference said. “I just want to find a way to engage young people and welcome them to the Church and make the Church approachable.”
By knowing pop culture and secular music and the themes within it, Father Ference believes that Catholics will become better evangelists.
“You must know your Bible, and you have to know your catechism. You have to know basic Church teaching, to be able to do some basic apologetics. But I think it’s very difficult to evangelize the culture if you don’t know the culture,” Father Ference said. “It’s helpful if you have some insight into the popular TV shows, the movies and the music, because you need a little bit of traction to have conversations with people who want nothing to do with the Catholic Church.”
He added, “Having a little insight into pop culture goes a long way.”
