In the second episode of his new podcast, Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae dives into his deconstruction and what that process means for him. The Nov. 14 episode, titled “I Deconstructed—This Is What Happened,” addresses the musician’s past struggles and the journey he’s been taking to overcome them. Lecrae’s conclusion is that “Jesus is worth it”—even though some infrastructure surrounding institutional Christianity “should be burned to the ground.”
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Lecrae, 44, is a Grammy and Dove Award-winning artist and author. Earlier this month, he launched the “Deep End With Lecrae” podcast, promising to “tell it all” and share his newfound freedom with others.
Lecrae: Some Spiritual Practices Are Co-Opted and Triggering
The artist’s deconstruction in 2016 was healthy, he said, because he kept Christ as the cornerstone while tearing down traditionalism. In a soundbite posted to social media, Lecrae described how church-related terms such as prayer, fellowship, disciples, and Bible “can be triggering.” But these “ancient spiritual practices…are beneficial,” he said, even though they “may have been co-opted by people and structures that you have a distaste for.”
Lecrae used a cooking analogy, talking about his mother-in-law’s delicious collard greens. They’re good, he said, because she follows the original recipe handed down for generations. If she tried to get creative by adding raisins, that would ruin the taste. For Lecrae, deconstruction involved “getting rid of excess ingredients,” he said, and the process isn’t negative “as long as you’re not getting rid of Jesus.”
Lecrae sounded off about the theatrical nature of modern-day American worship and the often forced, awkward efforts of building community. What happens in many U.S. churches on Sundays is “Broadway-esque,” he said, and most fellowship groups force people to connect in inauthentic ways.
From Trauma and Chaos to Healing and Restoration
After a rough upbringing, Lecrae became a Christian in college. But his churched peers drifted toward conservative evangelicalism just as America’s social and cultural issues needed to be addressed, he said. When Lecrae posted on social media about the killing of young Black men by police, he was “rejected by the people I looked up to.”
The trauma and grief from events of the past few years led to substance abuse, Lecrae admitted. “Satan had a field day with me,” he said on the podcast, describing a pill-pushing doctor who supplied the musician with opiates “just to deal with regular life.”
