Thoughts From a Childhood Fan & Pastor
It was 1999, and years after my initial commitment to Christ, I was taken to a Christian bookstore up the road from our house where I was introduced to the world of Contemporary Christian music. I was reluctant to even try to listen to Christian music, but it was suggested that I give this band, dc talk, a try. I bought their album, Supernatural, and I was hooked. I can honestly say looking back now, that God used dc talk’s Supernatural album to do something supernatural in me. The three voices of dc talk blended with melodic symmetry in a powerful way and with the deep lyrics throughout the songs of that album, it helped take my relationship with God to a new stratosphere. I listened to songs from the album every single morning on the way to my high school for two years. I thought about God a lot more and was inspired to be more passionate about my faith from my childhood “Jesus Freak” heroes: TobyMac, Michael Tait and Kevin Max. But the legacy of dc talk for me and for many others has suffered irreparable harm with the series of bombshell revelations and allegations concerning Michael Tait that have come to the surface this past summer.
If you’ve been off the grid with CCM buzz for the last several months or in denial, allow me to help bring you up to speed. In January of this year, Michael Tait, frontman and lead singer for the Newsboys, abruptly announced his departure from the band in a social media post that didn’t mention any specific reason for this decision. What was clear was that the Newsboys were caught off guard by the decision and there were rumors circulating online that this was about more than taking time off or starting a new musical chapter. Still, the Newsboys scrambled to move forward, re-recording music that had previously been done with Tait’s vocals and questions swirling Michael Tait’s abrupt exit seemed to fade into the background for months until news broke from the Roy’s Report that Faith Live Canada, a Christian promoter, was canceling the Newsboys upcoming summer tour due to the sinking ticket sales and the lack of transparency concerning Michael’s exit.
Then, just a few days later, allegations involving a series of incidents involving Michael Tait sexually assaulting men began being published, again starting with the Roy’s Report, over the course of several weeks which really felt like a gut punch to read. Each allegation has taken me further through some of the stages of grief, going from disbelief to depression to anger. Tait confessed in a social media post in the initial wave of allegations to having “touched men in an unwanted sensual way” and rightly called it sin, and I remember being taken by how he seemed to own what he did unlike so many other Christian leaders that get caught in scandal. But my admiration was too soon, as Tait did not go far enough in his confession. Subsequent allegations published have shown, not just a pattern of immoral behavior, but criminal behavior, with detailed allegations involving drugging victims, molesting them, and drugging a woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted while Tait watched. It was sickening to me. I went from being shocked to sad to angry at the alleged actions of someone whose voice and message had inspired me for decades.
The latest allegations against Tait date back to the dc talk years, and with that, something that meant so much and had a special place in my heart has been tarnished. If Michael Tait is guilty of the several allegations of criminal conduct that have been alleged, he should go to prison, and some hard questions need to be asked. Why has TobyMac and so many other leading Christian artists chosen to stay silent? Their silence is deafening. This scandal is not just about Michael Tait, but about a culture surrounding this industry that allows this kind of behavior to continue for decades, even as many inside the industry have seemed to acknowledge was, at least to some degree, well known. It should be concerning to every Christian who loves Christian music when a scandal of this magnitude from one of the main pillars of one of the most successful pioneering CCM bands of all time plays out like the Harvey Weinstein story. The world is certainly watching and the ripple effects of failing to face the reckoning that this moment demands will hurt the name and cause of Christ.
If there is one thing that the Bible makes clear, it’s that God is passionate about His name, that He is passionate about bringing justice where there has been injustice, that He is angry when anyone harms His children, and that what is done in darkness will be brought to light. The CCM world needs to be reminded that there is an audience of One and that all of us will be held accountable one day to the One. Is our priority being on song charts, getting fame and earning fortune or is it bringing glory to our Creator through our gifts? There needs to be a reckoning that demands that this story, this scandal and this moment is not ignored, covered up or buried until time passes but rather that there are real conversations throughout the industry on how to ensure that victims are always heard rather than ignored, that transparency is encouraged from management to band members, and that above all, integrity is cherished for there is no greater song that the world will notice more than the way we live. As Scripture says, “You are a letter from Christ” (2 Corinthians 3:3).
Yet sadly, the Newsboys have chosen to respond to this reckoning that calls for sincere reflection by suing the Christian promoter that stood for all those things, Faith Live Canada, because that sure helps Christian witness, eh? That speaks volumes of exactly what is wrong with the CCM world. A Christian band going after a Christian promoter for doing the right and honest thing. The world is watching, and when someone like Netflix inevitably one day does a documentary on this mess, how will the story end? Now is the time of choosing for the CCM industry. Some have called for the CCM world to burn to the ground, but I do not believe that’s what God wants or is doing through all this. It sure does need good refining though, and we all have a part to play in that process. Christian music fans should speak up and demand accountability and transparency from everyone and every artist who was remotely involved in this scandal and every Christian music artist should do so with some sincere reflection on what matters most and who it’s all supposed to be for.
For now, I was in my church office and had a framed photo with the autographs of all three members of dc talk. I recently took it down. The other day, I heard a dc talk song on the radio, and I just could not listen to it anymore, knowing what I know now. It is ironic, because decades ago, I did the same thing with some secular artists I used to listen to.
“The greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” -Brennan Manning, featured on dc talk’s “Jesus Freak” album
Pastor Stephen Mitchell is the Senior Pastor of Trinity Bible Church in Maryland. He also is the host of a regular podcast, Real Christian Talk with Pastor Steve, available on all podcast platforms.
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