Music and the Gospel

On my way to work this morning, I turned the radio on and I heard the voice of Sammie Okposo, one of Nigeria's 'gospel' artistes, singing a song where he stated his belief in Nigeria. I must have tuned in somewhere in the middle of the song, but the message still came strong: Nigeria can be much better than it is and that would take the commitment of all.

Mr Okposo's profession on air excited me particularly because I had been nursing some concerns about the role of christians in the area of nation-building; how restricted the doctrines of Christ are to the four walls of church; how that the salt of christianity is nothing more than a cloak that hangs on the doors of church as a ritualistic garment of spiritual rites. It is unclear which one led to the other (the restriction or the ritual), but the result is that the term 'christian' does not make much meaning anymore. It is more fashionable than responsible to be one. Politics does not recognise the brand and society lacks respect for it. The mass media's solution to the somewhat inherent problem of the christian is to further restrict him/her by the creation of such groups as 'gospel music'.

The era of certain musicians being marked 'gospel artistes' because they are Christians is fast coming to an end. Even though some kinds of music are peculiar to church (hence the tag "church music"), it is hardly the music promoted by the musicians dubbed 'gospel artistes'. You are likely to find a 'gospel artiste' in almost as many genres that exist in music, so why must you tag them 'gospel artistes' and box them into a corner? Christianity is not a religion; it is a way of life. In that same way a Christian musician is first and foremost a christian, and he comes into the music scene to air his views, communicate his ideas and speak through the peculiar creativity that is his art. What that message is, should not determine what genre his music would be classified as. Afterall, if I choose to run for political office today, would a different office be created for me in the name of "gospel presidency"?!

The era we are gradually entering into is one where artistes who have a strong belief in issues such as upholding the value system in the country and the zero-tolerance of the new Nigerian spirit for corruption would raise their voices, unencumbered by categorisations or labels, and be forces to reckon with in the task of nation-building. The message of the gospel is to change lives and not be segregated!