And The Award Goes To: Are Christian Award Shows Needed?

CCM artist TobyMac won 4 Dove awards
including Artist of the Year in 2013

It's often frowned upon when believers look for the admiration of man. You'll often hear "I'm not here for man's approval but for God" or something to the gist of that. So let's talk about award shows. We got the Grammy's, the Oscars, the Emmy's, the Daytime Emmy's, Kids Choice Awards, Teen Choice Awards, MTV Awards, BET Awards, and the list keeps going. These particular award shows however seldom feature Christian/Gospel content. Maybe a nomination here or there if the person/song/media is known enough but people of the faith are often never highlighted. This is where Christian Award shows come in. The Stellar Awards, The Dove Awards, The Kingdom Choice Awards, The K-LOVE Fan Awards and more. Now, in all honesty, there's nothing wrong with being recognized by your peers. When you work a job and they enjoy the work you do, you may be given a bonus, a plaque or some other kind of incentive. You may even get some applause or a pat on the back. Whether you want to hang the plaque or display the award is up to you but receiving it isn't wrong neither is being proud of the work you've done. However, in terms of music, especially faith-centric music, this should be approached a lot more gently. I personally have no problem with a Christian artist receiving an award for their work. After all, most artists at these award shows are not idle in their local church singing every Sunday. These are signed artists that—despite being Christian/Gospel artists—tour internationally, sells hundreds of thousands of albums and are usually winged under some major label or distribution group. So because of this, their gonna rub shoulders with some top-tier people in the industry and have their names mentioned come award season.

Hip Hop artist Andy Mineo won the 2014 Dove Award for
Rap/Hip-Hop album of the year for his EP "Never Land"

For me, I actually have 2 problems with Christian Award Shows (for now we'll just call them CAS's). My first issue is the award itself can plant a seed of pride in an artist. Sure, when we're receiving any kind of award we should receive it in humility and thankfulness. After all, the gifts of music belong to God. We're just entrusted with the gifts to lift his name and make him known. However, a person can easily receive the award like "Wow...I'm THE artist of the year! I beat everyone else!" and this can manifest a spirit of pride in even the most spiritual person. I've heard a story of a certain faith-based artist (I won't mention the name) who has sold thousands of records and because of this, the person began to DEMAND things like first class flights, 5-star hotel accommodations, bowls of fresh fruit and more. God forbid this artist began to win awards (I don't know if they have or haven't) but they have completely disregarded that it was the gift God gave them that launched them into "full-time ministry" and now behave no better than a well-off secular artist. It's not wrong to have 1st class or whatever but we must remember no matter how far the Father may take us, we're still servants and we're meant to serve. That should be carried with humility. 

Gospel singer JJ Hairston & Youth Praise won several Stellar
Awards this year (2018)

My 2nd issue is the process of the award show. What I mean is the categories of the award itself. "Best" Male Singer,  "Best" Group or Duo, "Best" Album, etc. When you say "best" it means the rest are lackluster. That may not be the intention of the show but remember we're dealing with human emotion and feelings. Like I said previously, even the most spiritual may get a little disappointed when their name isn't called to the stage. Thoughts that aren't so good may pop up too like "He/She is the best? Why? The song/album wasn't really that good. Oh well, better just smile and clap." I've heard different artists from different genres whether jokingly or not say "I hope I win" or some variation of that. I think award shows are a blessing and a curse. An award can certainly encourage a person and show the artist the message God put in them is being heard on a grander scale but it also can infect the person with pride, jealousy or a drive to be better only because they want to win an award in the future. Not necessarily because they want to win souls. What do you think?

Should Christian artists get recognized for their work via Award ceremonies?

Is it wrong to acknowledge the artist's work or ministry? Why or why not?

Do you believe the validation of a calling is needed for a believer? 

- William

Follow William Horseman on Social Media

Facebook.Com/BewareTheHorseman

Instagram.Com/BewareTheHorseman

Twitter.Com/BTH_215