It’s time to check the church! Christian singer Natalie Grant revealed that she and her husband Bernie lost thousands of followers after recently speaking out against racism and the death of George Floyd.
The notion didn’t scare them off. Instead, they fought back the criticism with an Instagram Live conversation about racial issues with some of their Black friends.
“Maybe you’re like me and you’ve said, ‘I’m not a racist.’ I mean, I’m not a racist. And if you are a white Christian in America, I’m going to guess you’ve probably actually said that,” Natalie said. “What I am learning in humility is that just because I’ve never acted, or said, or bought into a racist rhetoric, that my silence doesn’t make me not a racist, that my silence actually adds to the problem of racism.”
Some of the hateful messages to the Grants read:
You should just shut up…
Stick to what you’re best at, just keep writing and singing your songs…
You’re not helping, you’re just another out of touch liberal celebrity crating more division…
It’s sad to see. Natalie Grant said “cultural Christianity hijacks the gospel. Kingdom Christianity fulfills the gospel.”
“I’m not a composer, I’m not a producer, I’m not a musician, I’m not an entrepreneur, I’m not a liberal, I’m not a conservative. I’m not an American Christian, I am a Christian American, in that order,” Bernie said. “[A]s a human being created in the image of God and called to be an agent of God’s kingdom here on earth, I am outraged at injustice and racism.”