Christian rock/rapper Toby Mac’s “Alive and Transported” was not to be denied this year, at the Dove Awards this Spring or at the Grammys last night, when he took home the award for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album. Toby’s comeback album hit a nerve with young Christians with its message of inclusion and diversity wrapped in a bright pop package. What Toby is saying is what many evangelicals are thinking about these days: how to drop the us-versus-them posture and broaden the tent.

The answer may lie with some of tobyMac’s competition for the Grammy: bands like Superchick with its European overtones and emo funk or hard-rocking After Edmund.
These next-generation gospel rockers don’t hold anything back, and listening to them it’s hard to convince oneself they’d judge of anyone of whatever creed who might encounter their sound. Tell the mainstream kids they are Christian, and you’ll get a shrug and a request to turn it up. As a result, pop music is becoming one place in the media culture where “Christian” is no longer a dirty word.