How Do We Deal With Michael Tait?: KevinH

“What if I stumble, what if I fall?What if I lose my step and make fools of us all?”

These are poignant lyrics from DC Talk’s hit song, “What If I Stumble”, from its epic Jesus Freak album released in 1995. These are words that were sung over and over by Michael Tait and his bandmates until their break-up in 2001, but have continued to reverberate with fans in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) market and culture ever since.

Last week, in a bombshell report released by the Roys Report, Michael Tait was exposed for being in a state of stumbling and falling for at least twenty years.  Tait, who had headed up his own band for several years after the DC Talk break-up before eventually joining the longtime CCM stalwart band, the Newsboys, in 2009 as its lead singer, was exposed for a longtime pattern, dating back to at least 2004, of grooming and sexually molesting young men, in addition to abusing drugs and alcohol.

Just recently, Tait released a statement admitting that the allegations against him were largely true and apologizing for his behavior and the harm he has caused to others.  Now, such a confession likely would have never come forward, at least not in any public fashion, had Tait not been first exposed.  Yet, at the very least and unlike what we have seen with so many other high profile Christians when they have been exposed, Tait took responsibility for his actions, did not blame others, and his words appeared contrite.

So where do we go from here?  Tait was never a pastor or a top leader of a ministry, so there is nothing from which he needs to be formally removed in that regards.  Yet despite having no formal pastoral or leadership position, Tait did carry much cache due to his celebrity status, wielding much prestige and influence over others and was looked to as a spiritual leader.  Nonetheless, Tait had already left the Newsboys months ago when his sexuality was first exposed and he said in his apology statement that he will continue to seek repentance and healing “away from the stage and the spotlight”.

It was also reported that Tait’s sexuality and number of difficulties had long been an open secret in the CCM industry.  While few probably knew the full extent of Tait’s troubles or the details of his sexual molestations, seemingly it was well known by many that there were some real problems with Tait.  Yet nothing was ever done by anybody about it, at least in any fashion that made a difference.  Tait was able to continue on unencumbered, maintaining his position and status and posing as a spiritual leader to many who admired him and his music.

Who all knew what, and who could have or should have done something about Tait, we’ll probably never know with much certainty and so it will probably be difficult to pinpoint needed accountability on many, if any at all in this situation.  But the whole sordid mess points to the rot that lies within just another segment of the Evangelical Industrial Complex.  Certainly not all things nor nearly everyone is rotten within the Complex, but the stench is often quite pungent, at least to those who still have their sense of smell.  The celebrity worship, the lust for power, fame, fortune, and big numbers, the shallowness, the willful ignorance of evil in its midst, and the entangling of dirty partisan politics with the faith greatly afflicts the conservative American Christian culture and causes much rot.

We know that we, ourselves, do not hold the power or resources to change the culture, yet we can at least still avoid participating in the corrupt aspects of it, and even at times faithfully call out the rot.

“Will the love continue, when my walk becomes a crawl?”

Maybe we can start with Michael Tait.  From the best we can tell, at least at this moment, the man has repented and has removed himself from a place of prominence and spiritual leadership.  He ought to continue to be held accountable for his behavior and he yet may need to suffer more consequences for his sinful, possibly even criminal actions.  Yet we can still continue to love the man, even as his walk has become a very crippled crawl at this time.  He ought to be loved not in a way that a fan fawns over a celebrity, but in a way that walks him down the path of restored fellowship among the faithful.

Probably not any one of us will have the opportunity to do this personally with Michael Tait.  But we can strive to faithfully follow after the ways of Jesus as we interact with, even live within this American Christian culture.  May we reject the excesses of celebrity, power, and politics, nor may we look the other way when corruption enters our midst.  May we hold people to account for their wrongdoing, especially when it happens with people at higher levels of power and influence that have a wider effect on others, but may we also love them with the love of Christ, even when they have stumbled and have made a fool of not only themselves, but of all of us.