Best Gospel songs
As a subject, Christianity is everywhere in pop music today. Whether in Kendrick Lamar’s new album, Eminem’s rapping about Jesus, Gang of Youth’s expletive-heavy faith reflections, or the growing number of LGBT+ folk singers who grew up in the church and now critique it through music (e.g., Julien Baker, Semler’s Preacher’s Kid, or Ethel Cain’s Preacher’s Daughter), the world’s largest religion is an unsurprisingly frequent inspiration in musical art. But the music that engages or references Christianity isn’t “Christian music,” just as movies that include Christian themes (though welcome!) aren’t “Christian movies.” And while it’s unhelpful to draw fixed borders around a definition of what Christian music is or can be, some categorical boundaries are helpful. Those boundaries have a lot to do with worshipful intent: Is the music coming from an earnest desire to glorify Christ and an authentic, unapologetic love for God’s Word? Even if it’s not in the “worship genre” (whatever that is)