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MercyMe’s Bart Millard on Why He Sings Christian Music: ‘The Gospel Changed My Life’

Screenshot from MercyMe’s YouTube

MercyMe’s Bart Millard on Why He Sings Christian Music: ‘The Gospel Changed My Life’

By Movieguide® Staff

MercyMe and the band’s lead singer Bart Millard are currently touring their latest album, Always Only Jesus, and reflected on how God led them to where they are today.

Millard said that he and the rest of MercyMe love music, and often use inspirations from artists outside of the Christian music genre.

While there are plenty of options for music out there, Millard added that singing about the hope of Jesus is necessary in today’s culture.

“I think we just need someone to keep singing about Jesus, whether it’s contemporary Christian or worship or whatever,” Millard told Christian Headlines in a recent interview. “You might be able to make the case of, well, ‘We may not need the [CCM] genre.’ But what we do need is to just keep talking about Jesus – providing hope to people.”

“Eddie DeGarmo years ago, he said what’s funny about the Christian music genre is [that] every other genre is defined by the style of music – country, jazz, whatever,” Millard said. “But Christian music has all of those in it. It’s the lyrics that define the genre. There is country [Christian music] … hip hop, we have it all. But it’s the lyrics that sets us apart, which is really interesting.”

While MercyMe’s sound may have changed Over the course of their 21 years in the industry, Millard said that the truth found in their lyrics remains their central focus.

“I can’t imagine just singing in a bar or just singing about pop stuff that, to me, wouldn’t have as much meaning,” he said. “The gospel changed my life years ago. Somebody asked, ‘Why did you sign up for Christian music?’ I was like, I don’t think we signed up for it. It’s just kind of who we are.”

Movieguide® previously reported on the group’s latest album:

Christian band MercyMe recently released a new album, Always Only Jesus, and shared what they want listeners to take away from the music.

“This record is the songs that are hopefully pointing directly at Jesus and saying, this is the one thing that matters,” MercyMe guitarist Michael John Scheuchzer explained. “We can disagree about everything else in the world, but as believers, if we can come together and point to Him and agree on Him, then we can really see some change in the world.”

Frontman Bart Millard shared that Always Only Jesus has one real theme: Jesus must come first.

“After the pandemic…it feels like the body of Christ went through a very divisive time,” Millard explained. “Just a crazy time and fear manifesting itself in different ways.”

He continued, “We had friends we go to church with that drew some pretty hard lines in the sand and became very passionate about different things, and now that things are kind of getting back to normal, some are pretending it never happened. Some are trying to walk things back. Some are trying to explain where their stance is.”

“I don’t know how much healing is in that versus we need to find the common denominator —that’s Jesus,” Millard concluded. “That’s the only thing that’s going to unify the Body of Christ. This one’s more about … it really is about Jesus!”

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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.