Should Christian and Secular Music be Kept Separate? 'Christian Music' Title Hinders Us Impacting Culture, Say Lecrae, TobyMac - Top Christian Artists Weigh In

Many people consider Christian music and mainstream music two completely different worlds. Artists are often one or the other, but usually not both at the same time. Also, fans typically tend to disapprove when Christian and Gospel artists crossover to do secular music, but how do the actual artists themselves feel about the crossover?

TobyMac is labeled a pioneer in contemporary Christian music. He was one of the first musicians to introduce Christian rapping to the world on a large scale. In an interview with the Chicago tribune Mac, described what he thinks about the separation of genres.

"I think the walls are coming down between genres of music in general, and especially Christian music. It never made that much difference, anyway. There's hip-hop artists, there's rock artists, there's pop artists, all in that thing called Christian. It's better to me if you label music based on the style and it's out there with everybody else," he said.

He went on and spoke about his faith and how it communicates through his particular writing style. "I've written a lot of songs that aren't in your face with it. I think there's nuance to what we do, there's timing to what we do, there's wisdom to what we do. To me, yeah, I write songs, and every conversation I have, it might not be about God, but I hope that God is in it."

Grammy Award winning singer Rebecca St. James however, views secular and gospel music separately. She told Varietyattractions.com that she does not buy secular music or go to secular concerts. "I mean, not that the music in itself is bad," she explained, "but the lyrics. It's the message of the song that I just don't want to get in my head. I want to fill my mind with things that are going to help me. That's why I listen to Christian music."

Popular hip-hop artist Lecrae disagrees. At the Resurgence Conference a few years ago, he spoke about engaging America's culture from a Christian perspective. "We are still caught up in the reality that everything is broken up in two and if you go too far here you are going to get messed up," he said. "There is a sacred-secular divide that hinders us from impacting culture."

The married father stated in several other interviews that he does not want to be considered a "Christian rapper." "I am a Christian. I am a rapper. But Christian is my faith, not my genre."

Lead singer of successful rock band Skillet, John Cooper, told Crosswalk, "I think people are called to different things, Skillet is a band that we feel is called to sing to both worlds, mainstream people and Christian people to find a way to reach both of those audiences," adding, "But at the same time Skillet has been very clear that God has spoken to us about being the light to the darkness."

On the other hand, gospel singer, Erica Campbell known as one half of the prominent duo Mary Mary, was asked by Associated Press if she would ever make secular music now that she is a solo artist and her answer differed from that of some of her peers.

"I don't break out of gospel. I take gospel into unorthodox arenas, which Mary Mary is about," she said. Going on further to explain her position, "We've worked with Beyonce and Destiny's Child on the first record and it was a gospel song. At that time, most of our shows were with Lil' Kim and Snoop Dogg. We would be in places where Sisqo went on singing 'Thong Song,' and then I came onstage singing 'Shackles' after that, and the audience stood on their feet with their hands in the air... I'm not an R&B artist. I'm not an R&B singer.

Jon Foreman, lead singer of fan favorite alternative rock band Switchfoot, went into detail with ctkblog.com on the topic. "Christ didn't come and die for my songs, he came for me. Yes. My songs are a part of my life. But judging from scripture I can only conclude that our God is much more interested in how I treat the poor and the broken and the hungry than the personal pronouns I use when I sing."

"My life will be judged by my obedience, not my ability to confine my lyrics to this box or that. We all have a different calling; Switchfoot is trying to be obedient to who we are called to be," he continued.

Singer Amy Grant is credited for introducing Christian contemporary music to a mainstream audience. Grant remains the best-selling contemporary Christian music singer ever, but her Christian audience was not happy at all when she ventured into pop music in 1985 and continued well into the 90s, before returning to gospel music in 2002. In an interview with Oprah Radio host Dr. Robin Smith, Grant gave her opinion about music and separating the varieties.

"I think for some people music is a great backdrop. It brings people together and musical gifting has nothing to do with socio economic placement, it has nothing to do with race, it has nothing to do with religion," she said, "Making music brings people together."

Many artists who have had colossal success in the mainstream market, began their careers as gospel singers. Entertainers such as Elvis Presley, Katy Perry, and Whitney Houston is a short list of many. Christian music lovers rarely ever support the decision to mingle in mainstream because very little ever return to their roots and more importantly, their faith.

Watch the video below to see what Mega-church Bishop T.D. Jakes thinks is the reason for the departure from gospel into mainstream.