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Christianity™: A story about Nashville and faith-based privilege

By August 18, 2015Blog, Featured

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EDITOR’S NOTE: While this post is specifically about Nashville, it’s likely not just about Nashville.

For more than 20 years, I’ve been emotionally connected to Nashville, the city that I call home.

I love Nashville because I love music–the Bluebird cafe, Ryman Auditorium, and the lights and sights of Broadway. I love Nashville because of its strange (and sometimes unbalanced) mix of southern hospitality and progressive politics. I love how green this town is.  Not green as in “energy saving”—I wish we were more environmentally minded—but green as in its trees.

At any given time between the months of April and September, I can walk out on my deck and become overwhelmed by the variety of shades of green on display across the horizon.

I could go on and on as to why I love this city.

However, my reasons for loving this town today are not the same as those that brought me here.

In 1993, when I first moved to Music City, I came here because this was where the Christian music industry was, and I had dreams of becoming the Michael Jackson of Christian music. As a college student at Belmont University, I immersed myself into the culture of Nashville’s CCM world. At the time, I loved everything about the Christian music industry—well, except one thing: It was run by rich old white men, an exclusive group of “gatekeepers” (as many called them) who ruled “the Kingdom of God” in Music City.

But this wasn’t just a problem in the Christian music world; I soon realized that old white male gatekeepers were in charge of almost everything Christian that happened in Nashville. They ran church organizations, publishing houses, nonprofit organizations, media conglomerates, radio and television stations, and booking agencies. They were the CEOs, the mega-selling authors, the Christian influencers, and the pastors of the largest churches. During a conversation about an internship I was pursuing, a music business professor said, “Jesus can do anything he wants, just as long as he has the gatekeepers approval.”

And you know what’s sad? It hasn’t changed all that much. Sure, it’s evolved some, but not nearly as much as you might think. Nashville’s brand of Christianity® is still, for the most part, run by a homogeneous group of people, a people known for making careers and also breaking them.

A few of Nashville’s gatekeepers from the 90s have died. But in most cases, these privileged few, prior to dying, took younger white men under their wings and trained them to take their places at the gate. The only major difference between today and when I first moved to Nashville is that the gate is kept/guarded by a larger and slightly younger group of mostly Caucasians who (but for a few) possess penises.

Even today, many of Nashville’s most influential Christians are pouring their time and energy into molding future white male gatekeepers. Are their actions toward avoiding diversity intentional? Well, that depends perhaps. Certainly their desire to mentor tomorrow’s leaders is intentional–most of them publicize their love for mentoring. But whether or not they intentionally choose younger versions of people who look exactly like themselves to lead tomorrow’s Jesus, Inc. is hard to say. I have my suspicions. But I could be wrong. Frankly, I hope I’m wrong.

However, here’s what is certain: None of the gatekeepers and those being trained up to be tomorrow’s gatekeepers seemingly see the lack of diversity as a problem. Which of course is a problem. And 2) the majority of the gatekeepers aren’t intentionally choosing women or people of color to mentor. And that too, is a problem. And them not seeing it as a problem is perhaps the bigger problem.

Because that’s the only way to break this troubling cycle of white Christian male influencers replacing white Christian male influencers as this town’s gatekeepers of Jesus™. Heck, it might also be the best possible way to rid this town of its addiction to needing (and creating) Christian gatekeepers. But if there’s going to be gatekeepers (or influencers who inspire faith-based creativity, leadership skills, and the like), why not make it a diverse group of people that best reflects the diversity of God’s kingdom? And not just a token person or two. But true diversity.

So, just in case any of Music City’s well-established Christian influencers or those being groomed by these influencers to be tomorrow’s influencers read this post, here’s some food for thought:

Use your privilege to inspire change. You’ve been granted a status that allows you to influence either a current or future influencer, so use it to inspire that person to intentionally seek to change the status quo.

If you’re among a group of people who are all white and all male, use your privilege and ask why. To not ask that simple question is to be a part of the problem.

You probably didn’t ask to be put in this position of influence. I get that. Or heck, maybe you did ask and somebody said yes. But either way, if you’re only using your Christian privilege to puff up your own platform and are avoiding all attempts to inspire change, to inspire diversity, to bring others who don’t look like you into the light, you’re just helping Nashville’s good-ole-boy country club to become bigger, whiter, maler… and that’s little more than a caricature of the body of Christ.

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Matthew Paul Turner

Author Matthew Paul Turner

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Join the discussion 25 Comments

  • Good post. I’ve noticed that I am far more able to recognize the injustices of systems or communities that reject me, than I am of the one’s that accept me. I think this is the real challenge, to sincerely examine and deal with the strengths and weaknesses as an outside or insider.

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  • rickmcopy says:

    Or just go around the gatekeepers, for heaven’s sake. Youtube, iTunes, digital cameras and digital publishing have allowed lots of musicians, filmmakers and writers to reach audiences without having to earn the blessing of The Suits in Charge.

  • Kristen wilkinson says:

    Would love your support and encouragement as I plant a multiethnic witnessing community at Belmont… As a woman in ministry!

  • *gospel hanky wave in your general direction* YES AND AMEN!!

  • Chad Markley says:

    Really well done Matt. It is always refreshing when a writer exposes a problem and does it with real poise and tact. You are the shiz dude

  • mike ryan says:

    I think you are bitter about some rejection by the gatekeepers. I really have no idea what culture you are describing in Nashville… But not once in your blog have you explained why being “white” and ” male” is wrong. You really think they sit in some secret meetings and say “we need to find more white guys to take our place when we get old, and make sure our replacements are not black or female”. C’mon you are smarter than that. Stop whining and go out and create your own future….you don’t need those gatekeepers…I think those gates are an illusion in your head. Stop blaming white males for everything….

    • Patrice says:

      What’s with Christians and the word bitter?

      galled, sullen, piqued, resentful, cynical, sulky, cranky, petulant, spiteful, peevish, censorious, caustic, churlish, belligerent, sarcastic, spiteful, caustic

      Expand your vocabulary. It makes you smarter.

  • Jim says:

    Paul, what are you doing about it, other than pointing out what you believe others aren’t. Are you bitter you did not become the next Christian M. Jackson? Lol

  • Kyle Reed says:

    I know all too well what you are talking about

  • Tesla_Coil says:

    Rather than see the surface, the form, I wonder, can we see the essence? Could it be that the issue at hand isn’t the strength of uniformity of outward appearance that fortifies a malevolent reality but rather a deeply unconscious state, that reproduces after its own, super-available, source material in the bible pack’n south? I wonder, is the problem a lack of diversity? or is the issue one of phantoms being our rivals? ‘W.A.S.P. Jesus’ is only as real as we personally desire him to be. To fight him is to only make him bigger in our own conscious awareness. Aren’t there bigger fish to fry? May we foster and create worlds for our souls to roam free in, inspiring our deepest divine self to rise… all the other stuff fades into irrelevancy at the emergence of original beauty… my 2¢…

  • Chip Lamb says:

    It’s just part of the hypocrisy from the Church in a Box mentality – non denominational entities finally found someone/something to unify around. It’s all froth and no substance, so the “gatekeepers” of “Jesus, Inc.” have, as usual, missed the whole point.

  • Why are European-Americans not allowed to mentor their own friends and relatives? Why must we, and only we, be constantly guilted for being successful?

  • Jud says:

    Yet below, on your Children’s Book cover we find a young, white, future gatekeeper? Maybe that’s because he just so happens to be a part of the largest market demographic? Maybe… maybe… your whole schtick is selling disgust and disgruntlement to all of the smaller market shares while peddling white and male guilt to the largest market share? GENIUS !!! Good thing Jesus loves You as much as the Old White Gate keepers, the young angry whatever and everyone in between! On to the next windmill…

    • Matthew Paul Turner says:

      And on the back cover, there’s an African-American girl… Do your homework so you can avoid making uninformed assumptions.

      • Jud says:

        On the BACK cover? Well then… I am now informed and you are now appropriately assumed, just as your “gatekeepers” are !! To the back non white, non- males !!

        • Matthew Paul Turner says:

          I’ve known about you, Jud, for years. So many people have warned me about how angry and manipulative you are… and over the years, through a handful of interactions, you never cease to live up to the reputation that people have about you.

          I’m not wasting any more time on responding to your comments.

        • Matthew Paul Turner says:

          And btw. Your comments will no longer show up unless you use a different IP address… and even then, they’ll be quickly trashed.

  • Bruce Alan Wilson says:

    Belmont is hardly Nashville’s flagship university. What’s going on over at Vanderbilt? And if you are looking at non-white, doesn’t Fisk have a well-established music program?

  • rickpthomas says:

    Keep speaking truth Matt…the blowback is only proof that you are calling it for what it is. Seems that Caiaphus responded similarly when Jesus called him out…

  • Jasper Dale says:

    after reading several articles on this blog, it is obvious that the main problem with the author is that he does not like what God has to say about a lot of stuff……..and yet he wants to maintain some sort of religion so he has invented his own brand of “Christianity”.

    God’s word does not change. “progressive” Christianity is not Christianity at all, but just another false religion. sadly, the young people being influenced by people like Matthew do not understand they are being duped.