Rap star Kanye West has spoken candidly about his renewed relationship with Jesus Christ and the profound impact his faith has had on his life and career.
West proclaimed his Christian beliefs to the world last year with the release of his hit album "Jesus is King." Jam-packed with Biblical references and gospel declarations, the artist was making a clear statement: he was now making music for God.
It hasn't always been so, however. With his previous records, Kanye became known for his vulgar language and bizarre behaviour. "When you’re not in service to God, you can end up being in service to everything else," he said.
"To live inside of sin, it’s going to cost you more than you can pay. You don’t want to continue to sin with no repentance. I understand that people feel that I’ve made some cultural sins. But the only real sins are the sins against God, and you don’t want to continue to sin against God.
"To have blind faith is the ultimate confidence," Kanye continued. "Sometimes it could have felt like it was arrogant. And I think that the arrogance could have come from the fact that I wasn’t working for God, but I was working for my ego, which is like working for the devil."
He said one simple conversation with a pastor changed everything for the multi-award-winning artist
He explained: "I rapped for the devil so long that I didn’t even know how to rap for God. Then one of my pastors told me, “My son just said that he would want a rap album about Jesus from Kanye West.” He didn’t say, “Kanye West, you should do this,” or “you need to do this.” He just told me something that a child said. And that one thing made the difference."
When asked about what it was that really transformed his spiritual life, Kayne referenced his "Sunday Service" gatherings in California -- a collection of musicians and friends who came together most weeks to worship the Lord through songs and a sermon.
"I surrounded myself with the healing—the highest-level healing possible: singing about Jesus with my friends and family surrounding me [at Sunday Service] every single week," he said. "This was a place, contrary to popular belief about Christianity, of no judgment.
"The greatest thing for me, as someone who’s given their life to Christ, is knowing that other people have that as an anchor and a form of healing."
For anyone who has listened to Jesus is King, the strong Christian revelation is undeniable and unashamed. "I’m expressing my personal relationship with Christ," Kanye declared. "That’s not going to stop...I’m going to keep on expressing what God has done for my life."
