A report on Prime Time Live on ABC examined the lives of two of the hottest stars in Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) — Sandi Patti and Amy Grant. With the explosive growth of CCM, flooding talent and mounds of money into the pockets of those in the scene, larger questions concerning the lifestyle of those artists and musicians benefiting from CCM's ris­ing tide are being asked. To wit, Ms. Patti.

Ten years ago, the number of major Christian artists could be numbered on two hands. At that time, and still, Sandi Patti ranks at the top of those in CCM. But as she has travelled the world praising the Lord, she has found time to ruin her marriage, destroy her family, fall into an adulterous affair, divorce her husband, marry her lover and live happily ever after.

Let me state categorically that I am not some holiness preacher who wags my finger at anyone who stumbles into sin. We are all contaminated with our sinful humanity. But anyone who paints himself or herself as a minister of Christ should readily be expected to live as one whose life has been transformed by the Gospel. In Ms. Patti's case, it is evident that the Gospel really had­n't transformed her life at all.

Scripture is rife with references in both the Old and New Testaments that an unrepentant, practicing adulterer will not inherit the Kingdom. When she was point blank asked on Prime Time Live whether people in her position should practice what she preached, she blithely said: "No one does, and I certainly don't." No finer indictment of today's Christian culture could have been spoken.

In sincerity I ask: is that all that we can aspire to admitted failure? Does not God Himself provide the power to live according to His standards? Must we only rely on our own strength and provision to abide in this veil of tears? There is a very distinct line between Christ welcoming sinners, including adulterers, with forgiveness and open arms and condemning those who continue in their gross sins and still profess His name. Christ is a Redeemer for those who need redemption. He cleanses those of us who are stained with sin. That is His job. However, He abhors those who profess His name, especially those who minister in His name, and continue to live in their sin.

But now I turn to Ms. Grant. Of those Christian artists who have made the transition to popular play, no one has been as successful as she has. I must confess that I am pleased to see Christian artists make it in the main­stream. I am encouraged by it. However, (I am told by some of my readers that they can always expect my qualification) a problem remains with those crossover artists who want to have their image reflected both ways — a Christian angel crusading for the Lord in the realm of the pagan music industry and the new secular sensation climbing the charts.

I view crossover artists as no different than a plumber, a mechanic, a stockbroker and a nurse, who also are Christians. These people are blessed with a vocation — a noble calling. But when these crossover artists want to simultaneously maintain their Christian image by being interviewed by CCM magazine (the industry rag) about how they are laboring for the Lord in the secular scene, I want to toss my cookies. Another crossover sensation of a few years ago, Michael W. Smith, had a song, "Place In This World", which received a lot of airtime on Christian radio when it came out. The song odes the role that God has in establishing for us a true purpose in life. When the song hit the secular airwaves more than a year later, the video had transformed the song from being about the Lord, and now the object of the singer's affection was a sultry, raven-haired beauty standing in a summer dress in the desert. This double-mindedness makes me ill. I wish that these people would make up their minds about how they are going to package themselves. And yet the Christian community lets them continue to play their bait-and-switch game with their image.

Evangelicalism is its own worst enemy. It tolerates and promotes incorrigible behavior, and refuses to discipline its rebellious members. Like a Pavlovian dog, the evangelical community pants and drools whenever someone in the secular domain throws them a bone. As is evidenced by the Prime Time Live report, the rest of the world is watching the Church, and our collective witness is waning. If our lives and our churches do not conform to Gospel, our credibility with the world is nil.