During a recent interview, Grammy-Award winning Christian rapper Lecrae, who also co-founded and is the president of Reach Records, shared that he was deconstructing his faith before it was a known term within the evangelical world.
Lecrae sat down with The Christian Post and said that although he deconstructed his faith, he “went through reconstruction and that’s what a lot of people don’t talk about.”
“Deconstruction is not a bad thing if it leads to reconstruction,” Lecrae said. “Sometimes you have to demolish a building that is mold-infested and then build something else on that foundation. We’re not getting rid of the foundation—the foundation is Christ—but we’re building on that foundation and tearing down some things that were unnecessary.”
The successful artist said that a during a recent trip to Israel, he stood in an area that used to be King David’s quarters and is now only rubble. That moment Lecrae realized it was no longer the magnificent edifice was an “impactful thing”—but the popular rapper added that it was the Old Testament king’s legacy that remains that’s important. So what Lecrae has built, like Reach Records, is amazing now—but he said, “The legacy that’s being created within [Reach Records] is what excites” him the most.
In December, Lecrae released an album with fellow Reach Records recording artist 1K Phew titled “No Church In A While,” which was conceptualized during the pandemic when most churches closed their doors for a period of time in order to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Lecrae said people who have been hurt by the church should have their feelings validated. He went on to say that having healthy conversations with those people is important to communicate that they can still build a relationship with God and thrive within the church. He said people in the church need to be honest with each other if someone feels disconnected. “Is it the pandemic, is it church hurt? Whatever [the hurts] are…let’s address them,” Lecrae said.
The album discusses people’s struggles in missing out on church and “struggling with the concept of of church and where God was.” He said thinking through those issues helped him develop the song’s lyrics and he hopes it will help struggling people find some healing through the music.
“I’m confident that my brokenness leads people to health and healing,” Lecrae said. “So let me be broken and transparent. I’m confident that my healing is beneficial for other people as well, so I’ll allow people to see all that.”
