A couple weeks ago, my husband and I attended the Maverick City Music tour. For those unfamiliar, Maverick City Music is a contemporary worship music collective, which is a more formal way of saying they’re a group of amazingly talented songwriters, singers, and creators who make contemporary christian and gospel music.

I wasn’t sure what to expect since 1) I haven’t been to a concert in quite a while and 2) I’ve never been to a contemporary christian music (CCM) concert. Now don’t get me wrong; I love my fair share of Hillsong, Jesus Culture, and Elevation Worship songs, but to be honest, I’m not super immersed in the CCM genre.

However, I was more than pleasantly surprised the moment Maverick City took the stage. From the booming bass and drums to the cry of the keyboard and the undeniably anointed voice of Naomi Raine (look her up if you haven’t), I couldn’t help but feel inspired.

And in awe.

And most important, moved to worship.

Nothing compares to live music; I think we can all agree on that. But what further blew my mind at this concert was the collective worship. Hundreds upon hundreds of people—different ethnicities, races, genders, and backgrounds—lifting their voices in unison to worship God.

We clapped and swayed . . . lifted our hands and opened our hearts as we sent up praises to God through each and every lyric sung. Being in that atmosphere reminded me of why praise and worship is so important. It truly positions our hearts and minds to focus on the goodness and worthiness of God.

And this is one of the reasons I appreciate the work that Maverick City Music is doing. No matter which song you listen to, this group always makes sure that their content encourages you to worship the only one who truly deserves it. 

Another reason I appreciate Maverick City Music is because of the group’s unapologetic representation of Christ followers. Many people outside the church—and by church I mean the community of professing Christians—like to place labels on Christians. We only do this, or we don’t do that. In fact, this happens a lot within the church as well: being a Christian means we look, speak, think, and act a certain way. We can be boxed into a black-and-white image instead of the colorful representation God created us to be.

Maverick City Music is changing the game with CCM. The group is racially diverse yet creates songs that most would associate with predominantly white Christian artists. 

To keep it 100, the members of Maverick City look like any regular person you may see at your local coffee shop or millennial gathering—and I am here for it. At the concert, I noticed that many of the artists wore hoodies, bandanas, beanies, graphic t-shirts, and baseball jerseys. If you look at their Instagram, you will see the group’s urban, retro vibes from their merchandise to their album covers. Similar to Jackie Hill Perry, Preston Perry, and other Christian creatives, these artists are demonstrating that being a Christian doesn’t mean you have a certain look, style, or interest. It means that you love, follow, and represent Jesus Christ, period.

I think Maverick City’s diverse makeup is one of the things that makes this group stand out so much. Their website says:

Maybe now more than ever not just the Church but the world needs a plurality of strong diverse voices carrying messages that can help reshape the world. 

As a Christian creative working to unite and represent peculiar Christian women, I completely resonate with this. There were hundreds of people from all walks of life at that Maverick City concert because Maverick City’s diverse group of voices have carried the message of Jesus Christ to so many in our world. And I am sure we can all agree that this world needs even more voices to keep spreading the Gospel in diverse ways.

I pray that along with collectives like Maverick City Music, all of us Christ followers will be encouraged to use the diverse gifts God has given us and lift our voices to share about the man behind the Good News and why He deserves our worship.