God, Country, and ‘American Prodigal’

Loving God and country might seem countercultural these days, but a new record by Christian musician David Crowder — who goes by the stage name Crowder — celebrates just that.

Crowder grew up in Texas but now lives in Atlanta, Georgia. He told LifeZette the sound and style of the record comes from living in Atlanta — it had a profound affect on his music.

“I want to be better, I want to be transformed, I want to be whole, and I want my country to be that way.”

“American Prodigal” — out Friday, Sept. 23 — is a celebration of patriotism, Christianity, and being grateful for the gifts you’ve been given.

“The story is about inheritance and as Americans we’ve been given a lot,” said Crowder. “Loving your neighbor as yourself is probably the biggest issue.”

Crowder grew up listening to Christian music and his humility is evident to anyone who speaks with him.

“I’m just trying to make church music,” he explained. “It sometimes doesn’t sound like church music, but it’s just modern hymns.”

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When it comes to patriotism and faith — especially at such a contentious time in our nation’s history — Crowder has a message of gratitude and a deep desire to be better.

“This is a beautiful land, and yet we’ve got a lot of things that we’ve done horribly wrong, and so have I as a human,” he said. “I want to be better, I want to be transformed, I want to be whole, and I want my country to be that way.”

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“It turns out that the nation is us. It’s sort of the same way you have the church. A church is a building full of people and a nation is us,” said Crowder.

That sense of community and the message that all of us have a responsibility to play an active role in this country and to help heal it is what “American Prodigal” is all about.

“Oh my gosh, can you believe our feet are on this soil? And oh my gosh, can you believe how we’ve treated one another at times? Can we not be better?” he said.

It all starts on an individual level — the neighbor-helping-neighbor level. That compassion will spread.

Crowder’s music has the ability to touch hearts, and it even saved one woman’s marriage.

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“I got this email forwarded to me from this lady,” he said. “She’s married and she’s talking about when she’s driving her car at lunch at work, and she’s going to meet this man she’s having an affair with. Then [his song] ‘Come As You Are’ starts playing on the radio.”

The song is about how God loves all of us right where we are — and that no matter what we’ve done in our lives, He will still love us and take us as we are.

“She pulls over to the side of the road,” said Crowder, “and she just starts weeping. She calls her husband and says, ‘Can I come meet you at work? We need to talk,’ and so she turns around and drives to her husband. She tells him what’s been going on. And she says, ‘That was like six months ago and we are still in love and we’re happy, and that song pulled me over and turned me around.'”

Crowder concluded, “That’s crazy to think that a bit of melody and a few words could interject in someone’s life in such a meaningful way. It’s amazing.”