British gospel's most widely read columnist suggests it's about time the gospel scene began to address the gap between what performers sing and how they live.

Marcia Dixon

Gospel artists make the most beautiful musical sounds one is ever likely to hear. When you think of the quality of music produced by black gospel artists one has to thank God for their lives.

What does become difficult to stomach though is the many stories that leak out concerning the spiritual integrity of the people who produce such inspirational and life changing music. Take the case of gospel legend Mahalia Jackson. During the 1950s and 60s, Mahalia did more than any artist to make gospel music an accepted and accessible art form. In her heyday she had a record deal with the leading CBS label, as well as her own TV show. She was an international celebrity figure who sang the gospel in first class venues throughout the world and long supported her friend Martin Luther King in his fight for black civil rights.

This woman gave and gives hope to the millions of people who listened to her albums. They in turn believed that she lived according to the convictions expressed in those songs. In fact one of Mahalia's many hits was called "I Live The Life I Sing About In My Songs".

This image of a holy, upright woman committed to living by Christian principles was shattered with the recently published biography 'Got To Tell It' by Jules Schwerin. In it we read of Mahalia's rise to the top and how this humble woman changed into someone who was suspicious, greedy, taken to be vindictive and treated her long time pianist abominably. The sad thing is that similar stories abound in the gospel music world, both past and present. I remember talking to one guy who stated he had an affair with a married gospel artist. This was known to many people but did not dissuade them from hiring her. Another artist revealed his abhorrence for traditional gospel music stemmed from the fact that many of those involved in it were openly homosexual. Promiscuity, drug taking, ego problems and such like are some of the problems common in the gospel world.

We should not be surprised by such things. The apostle John says, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

But surprise should arise when habitual sin is accepted as an integral part of a Christian's behaviour and tolerated by the Church.

Because they are often on the road, many gospel artists become laws unto themselves, subject to neither God nor man, believing that their extraordinary talent excuses them from living holy lives like everyday church goers.

Our gospel artists need to be part of a church and need, as with everyone else, ongoing pastoral care. I'd like a day to come when all gospel artists, whether they spend two weeks on the road or 52, have access to a church elder/leader who can counsel them. It's good to be surrounded by loving family and fans, but sometimes it's only those filled with the Spirit of God who will speak the truth artists caught in sin need to hear. We, the listening public, must stop putting gospel artists on pedestals. They are people, just like us, to whom God has given a unique talent. Thanks should be given to God, rather than the artists, for their precious gifts, and encouragement rather than praise to the artists who exercise their talent. Gospel artists also need our prayers. The temptations facing on-the-road musicians are very great. Not only do they have to contend with the capacity to sin within themselves, but the very nature of the music industry means that there is the possibility that they can turn their eyes off God, and be seduced by the lure of fame, money and sex that is continually on offer to those artists that reach the top in showbiz.

We want our gospel artists to produce good music. But we must also want them to live lives of holiness and tolerate nothing less.