The debate over “sacred” and “secular” music is not nearly as new as Christian hip-hop sometimes makes it sound.
While attending the Legacy Conference in Chicago, I sat down with Rapzilla’s Steve Patton to talk about the supposed divide between the two.
Steve did his best to interrogate me.
I did my best to deserve it.
The Sacred and Secular Divide Is a False Dichotomy
Within Christian hip-hop, conversations about whether artists should make “Christian music” or simply make music as Christians can sometimes sound like a uniquely modern crisis.
It isn’t.
Christians have wrestled for centuries with how faith relates to art, vocation and ordinary life. The terminology changes, but the temptation to divide creation into supposedly sacred and secular compartments keeps returning.
I reject that distinction when we talk about hip-hop.
There is not sacred hip-hop over here and secular hip-hop over there. There is hip-hop. The more useful questions concern what an artist makes, what the work communicates and whether it is true, beautiful or good.
That does not mean every song is equally worthwhile. It means the category itself does not become holy because somebody puts “Christian” in front of it.
Arguments Can Create the Divide They Claim to Explain
Part of the irony is that arguments over the sacred and secular divide can create a division of their own.
Artists begin choosing camps. Listeners assign motives. People who might otherwise have productive conversations start defending labels instead.
The result can become less about evaluating art and more about determining who belongs to the right tribe.
Steve and I dig into that tension in the conversation below, including why Christians should be careful about creating artificial categories around culture and creativity.