Our statement on michael tait
Do we have a statement on Michael Tait? Sort of. It’s really more of a reminder of a truth that I think we already know but can never hear enough.
For me, all of this with Michael Tait is bringing back some painful memories. You might think that since we focus our content on 90s Christian music and culture that my own 90s youth group experience was stellar. In many ways it was, but it was tainted by the fact that an important youth leader who I loved and trusted was keeping a secret. That secret came to light when I was in high school.
It was the first time I realized that people may not be who they claim to be, even Christian people I thought I could trust. I began to go back and revisit memories, conversations, and now saw them colored in a different light. We left the only church I’d ever known, and, honestly, my youth group era pretty much ended early. The hurt and paranoia of knowing that anybody could be harboring a deep, dark secret was something I carried into my marriage and that I had to work through in counseling. Now that both of my children are in the youth group, I am leaning on God to change my paranoia into godly wisdom. But sometimes, like now, those raw feelings can bubble up again. That’s why I feel compelled to write this, just in case anyone else is feeling like me.
To the survivors that bravely exposed the assault and grooming they endured, they have an incredible battle ahead of them. It feels almost disrespectful to even compare my experience with theirs. Please join us in praying for them, their relationships, and their support systems.
For Michael, join us in praying that God grants him true repentance and restorative justice. I pray that God does something here that only He can do, and the wake of His work also moves into the corrupt systems that enabled, or at the very least willingly ignored, this type of behavior.
But our main concern at Mixtape Theology is you, the fans of Michael. This is the group of people in which we might have a small voice to encourage. Perhaps you have a story of your own - a time when you were betrayed or abused and this is just bringing up all of those feelings for you again. I’m so sorry. Or maybe you are struggling to believe anything, because truth seems a little harder to find. Dr. Ashley and I hurt for you.
Please join me in reading Revelation 5. It might seem irrelevant to this circumstance, but there’s so much hope here.
Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”
And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
In this passage, we see behind the curtain of the events in heaven as they relate to the events on earth. It’s a climactic moment when God is about to dispense judgment and justice onto His creation that has corrupted itself through sin. It’s what we all have been longing for. But who can do it? Who can step in and make things right? Who can fix the broken? Who?
Even though heaven was filled with the saints, no one was found worthy. Every single human since the creation of Adam and Eve have failed. Every single soul. If you’ve ever felt sorrow for your own sin, imagine the deep collective sorrow of mourning over the sin of all who ever lived. But in that moment of grief, we see One who is worthy. Our Lion, our Lamb, Jesus. He willingly steps in where no one else can, and He does it because He loves us.
Jesus is faithful.
Jesus is love.
Jesus is just.
Jesus is good.
Jesus saves.
Jesus redeems.
Jesus forgives.
Jesus restores.
Jesus lives, and He is worthy of our trust, our allegiance, and our worship.
It may seem like a Sunday school response, but Jesus is the answer. He’s the answer for the survivor, the perpetrator, the betrayed, the disillusioned…He’s the answer for you.
Being a mixtape theologian, you know a song is going to spring to mind. I sang it with my youth group, and what my youth leader did doesn’t negate the truth found in the lyrics:
“Jesus is the Answer” by Andrae and Sandra Crouch
Jesus is the answer for the world today
Above Him there's no other, Jesus is the way
If you have some questions
In the corners of your mind
And traces of discouragement
And peace you can not find
Reflections of the old past
They seem to face you every day
There's one thing I know for sure
That Jesus is the way
Jesus is the answer for the world today
Above Him there's no other, Jesus is the way
Jesus is the answer for the world today
Above Him there's no other, Jesus is the way
Watch CeCe sing it here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3646973815568782
Please put your hope in the only One who is worthy. He is with you in your hurt and discomfort. He’s with you in your questions and disillusionment. Even when it feels like you can’t trust anybody anymore, you can trust Jesus. He is worthy. He’ll never let you down.
-Rachel
P.S. We really appreciated the wisdom in Josh Balogh’s response as he wrestles with if he should continue to listen to dc Talk and Newsboys: https://joshbalogh.wordpress.com/2025/06/08/broken-vessels-can-the-art-be-separated-from-the-artist/
