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If you’ve read my reviews of Alli Rogers’ albums, “Always Eden” and the newer “The Day of Small Things,” you know how much I respect her thoughtful, perceptive music.
It was "Always Eden,""The Day of Small Things", and her posted report on her Compassion trip to Ecuador, that made me ask first about her sense of calling. "I've had a new perspective lately on the word 'calling' since reading and researching the word used in Ephesians 4," Alli shares. "The verse says to live a life worthy of the calling you've received. I used to be so overwhelmed by that verse, because I always felt I wasn't living up to it. But I found the word in Greek actually means 'invitation,' like the word you'd use to invite someone to a party. That really freed me, because I realized that I've been invited to be a child of God. So my calling as a person is to just be His child, to love as best as I can, being the best person I can be." "For me that also translates as an invitation to play music, because it's the thing that comes out of me stronger than anything else. When I try not to play music, I'm unfulfilled." Alli relates this motivation to Compassion International, the Christian child advocacy ministry, and continues, "Compassion is one of those things I love doing as a child of God because as an organization it is truly loving people as Jesus asked us to do. It's a perfect combination of what I'm passionate about, using music as a tool to love others." Although Alli didn't perform on her most recent trip, she has performed on Compassion trips in the past. This trip included other artists who speak about Compassion's mission at their shows. "With Compassion, what you see is what you get. They're honoring God and they as a community are giving to the poor, physically, financially, and spiritually. Jesus is being brought into their lives." Her voice grows excited as she says, "I can't tell you how many families we talked with who became Christians through their kids. The Compassion people were the only ones loving their children that way, and it brought them to Christ." When I remark that kids are often incredibly open to ministry, Alli's reply is swift. "I felt like I was more blessed by these kids than anything we were doing for them." It's a topic that leads easily into a discussion of the challenges of balancing music ministry and career directions. "It's hard," Alli admits. "I always tell my husband, who as my manager really knows the business end of it all, it would be easier for me if I were playing for free all the time. You start out by loving to play music as a hobby, and you realize that you're passionate about it because God's put it in you. But now you're supposed to make a living at it, and it sometimes gets fuzzy where the lines are." It is this type of sincerity that makes her music so accessible, so honestly engaging. In spite of the challenges, I know Alli Rogers will stay on the right side of those fuzzy lines. She is clearly enjoying the party, fulfilling well her invitation.
The copyright of the article Interview With Alli Rogers in Christian Music is owned by Kevan Breitinger. Permission to republish Interview With Alli Rogers in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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