Deitrick Haddon Exclusive: Gospel Star Talks Failed Marriage, 'R.E.D' Album, and Turning Down Record Deals to Minister (Part 1)
I feel like people shouldn't do one without the other. There are a lot of people that are gifted but they don't care about what God wants to do with that gift. They neglect their calling. I say gifts and callings go together, even though they come without repentance, they flow together. The calling brings you God's favor. It's what God wants to do with the gift that He's given you. That's how I operate, so you may see me singing and entertaining, making movies and writing songs, operating in my gifts, producing TV shows, but you will see the message of Jesus Christ, my call, the preaching, the message of truth, love, giving, in everything I do. You're gonna find it in the song, you'll find it in a TV show, you'll find it a movie, you'll find it in anything I put my hands to do because I'm dedicated to spreading the Gospel in whatever I do.
CP: Now, you were born in 1973, grew up preaching, and you're a preacher's kid, so you've seen a lot on that front. And you're also among a generation of younger Christians who seem to be growing increasingly tired of the institution of the church. What are your thoughts on that?
Haddon: I think in the past, the church has failed on that front in many ways. That's why a lot of people have left church in droves, a lot of young people [are] not really paying attention to church in this generation. There's too many distractions out there and the church is not becoming progressive enough. In the past, they were so busy with rules and regulations and all this stuff and trying to make these people perfect when they weren't. They set these standards, and young people just said they can't do it. They're doing the best they can. But now, there are churches that are being birthed where the pastors, like myself, come from church. They know the rules and regulation, but they have a different way of presenting it to the young people, they're using wisdom on how they do it.
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Unfortunately, there are still a lot of churches that are still back on a prehistoric, ancient way, because they feel like if they do anything progressive, it's against God's laws and they're going to hell. But if the church does not find a way to get in the culture, to be progressive, to counter-attack against what is being presented to our young people everyday, we're going to see our own young people, the preacher's own kids walking away from God. We're going to see people that know God leave, because of our lack of understanding, our lack of progressiveness, our lack of innovativeness. We have to get in the culture, and that's one of the reasons why God moved me to Los Angeles.
I realized, I got to get in the culture, I got to get in here, I got to position myself. Somebody has to be there to produce something that will counter what's going on as things get worse. That's why I'm doing it. That's why I was so compelled, and I just let go of that position. I had a good salary, the church was growing. We were at 3,000 members, we went from 400 to 3,000 members in two years. But that was not it, for me in that season. I'm right on the pulse of where God wants me to be right now, so hopefully we can get some souls saved. I'm praying that we can go fishing in the deep.
Read part two of CP's interview with Deitrick Haddon, in which the gospel music industry veteran explains why he believes the conversation on the controversial "Preachers of L.A." docu-series needs to change and what Christians need to do instead of "throwing stones" at the faith-based program.
