{"id":53138,"date":"2026-10-29T09:39:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T13:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=53138"},"modified":"2026-10-29T09:39:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T13:39:30","slug":"chance-the-rapper-opens-up-about-his-struggle-to-fully-surrender-to-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/chance-the-rapper-opens-up-about-his-struggle-to-fully-surrender-to-god.html","title":{"rendered":"Chance the Rapper Opens Up About His Struggle to Fully Surrender to God"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_53141\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-53141\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/10\/Chance-Rapper_credit-L-Paul-Mann-Shutterstock.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-53141\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/10\/Chance-Rapper_credit-L-Paul-Mann-Shutterstock.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-53141\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">L Paul Mann \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Chance the Rapper is opening up about his Christian faith, admitting that even after growing up in the Church, surrendering his life completely to God remains a work in progress.<\/p>\n<p>During an appearance on Christian rapper Lecrae&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2-r9XoVJGOs&amp;t=494s\">podcast<\/a>, <em>The Deep End With Lecrae<\/em>, the Grammy-winning artist spoke candidly about his spiritual journey, the struggles that brought him closer to God, and why he believes Christians have a responsibility to put their faith into action.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I say wrestle cuz it&#8217;s not yet a full surrender, but it is me trying to be closer to God,&#8221; Chance admitted.<\/p>\n<p>The Chicago-born rapper, whose real name is Chancelor Bennett, explained that faith has always been part of his upbringing. His great-grandmother founded the church he attended as a child, while his grandmother&#8217;s older sister established its vacation Bible school.<\/p>\n<p>Despite those deep religious roots, Chance said his relationship with God didn&#8217;t become truly personal until he was around 20 years old.<\/p>\n<p>He recalled a difficult period while living in Los Angeles, away from his family and surrounded by newfound money and independence. Although his music career was taking off, he found himself struggling personally.<\/p>\n<p>It was gospel music, something he had grown up hearing in church, that helped him begin reconnecting with his faith.<\/p>\n<p>Chance started listening to familiar gospel songs in the mornings, a practice that helped lift him out of a difficult season. Eventually, he returned to Chicago, reconnected with his family, and became involved in church again.<\/p>\n<p>But his spiritual journey hasn&#8217;t been without challenges.<\/p>\n<p>During the conversation, Chance acknowledged the tension between asking God for blessings and learning to trust Him through life&#8217;s difficulties. He suggested that obstacles can sometimes become opportunities to depend more fully on God rather than relying on personal success.<\/p>\n<p>His reflections echo James 1:2\u20134, which reminds Christians that trials can strengthen faith, develop perseverance, and lead to spiritual maturity.<\/p>\n<p>The conversation also turned to the Church&#8217;s responsibility to address injustice and care for people facing oppression.<\/p>\n<p>While acknowledging the importance of personal holiness, Chance encouraged Christians to recognize that following Jesus also means taking action to help others.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s collective work. I think it&#8217;s collective education,&#8221; he told Lecrae.<\/p>\n<p>His comments reflect the biblical message found in James 2:17, which teaches that faith without action is dead.<\/p>\n<p>For Chance, the journey of faith isn&#8217;t about claiming to have everything figured out. It&#8217;s about continuing to seek God, even when surrender doesn&#8217;t come easily.<\/p>\n<p>And his willingness to admit that struggle offers a relatable reminder for Christians at every stage of their spiritual journey: Growing closer to God is an ongoing process, one that requires humility, perseverance, and a willingness to keep following Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chance the Rapper is opening up about his Christian faith, admitting that even after growing up in the Church, surrendering his life completely to God remains a work in progress. During an appearance on Christian rapper Lecrae&#8217;s podcast, The Deep End With Lecrae, the Grammy-winning artist spoke candidly about his spiritual journey, the struggles that&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":53141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chance the Rapper Opens Up About His Struggle to Fully Surrender to God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Chance the Rapper opens up about his Christian faith, personal struggles, and how gospel music helped him reconnect with God.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/chance-the-rapper-opens-up-about-his-struggle-to-fully-surrender-to-god.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chance the Rapper Opens Up About His Struggle to Fully Surrender to God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chance the Rapper opens up about his Christian faith, personal struggles, and how gospel music helped him reconnect with God.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/chance-the-rapper-opens-up-about-his-struggle-to-fully-surrender-to-god.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Idol Chatter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-29T13:39:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/10\/Chance-Rapper_credit-L-Paul-Mann-Shutterstock.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beliefnet Contributors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chance the Rapper Opens Up About His Struggle to Fully Surrender to God","description":"Chance the Rapper opens up about his Christian faith, personal struggles, and how gospel music helped him reconnect with God.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/chance-the-rapper-opens-up-about-his-struggle-to-fully-surrender-to-god.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chance the Rapper Opens Up About His Struggle to Fully Surrender to God","og_description":"Chance the Rapper opens up about his Christian faith, personal struggles, and how gospel music helped him reconnect with God.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/chance-the-rapper-opens-up-about-his-struggle-to-fully-surrender-to-god.html","og_site_name":"Idol Chatter","article_published_time":"2026-10-29T13:39:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/10\/Chance-Rapper_credit-L-Paul-Mann-Shutterstock.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Beliefnet Contributors","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/chance-the-rapper-opens-up-about-his-struggle-to-fully-surrender-to-god.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/chance-the-rapper-opens-up-about-his-struggle-to-fully-surrender-to-god.html","name":"Chance the Rapper Opens Up About His Struggle to Fully Surrender to God","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/chance-the-rapper-opens-up-about-his-struggle-to-fully-surrender-to-god.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/chance-the-rapper-opens-up-about-his-struggle-to-fully-surrender-to-god.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/10\/Chance-Rapper_credit-L-Paul-Mann-Shutterstock.jpg","datePublished":"2026-10-29T13:39:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-29T13:39:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/#\/schema\/person\/450625ec20bf3e8a84060b9321455f3d"},"description":"Chance the Rapper opens up about his Christian faith, personal struggles, and how gospel music helped him reconnect with God.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/chance-the-rapper-opens-up-about-his-struggle-to-fully-surrender-to-god.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/chance-the-rapper-opens-up-about-his-struggle-to-fully-surrender-to-god.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/chance-the-rapper-opens-up-about-his-struggle-to-fully-surrender-to-god.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/10\/Chance-Rapper_credit-L-Paul-Mann-Shutterstock.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/10\/Chance-Rapper_credit-L-Paul-Mann-Shutterstock.jpg","width":1200,"height":900,"caption":"L Paul Mann \/ Shutterstock.com"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/10\/chance-the-rapper-opens-up-about-his-struggle-to-fully-surrender-to-god.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chance the Rapper Opens Up About His Struggle to Fully Surrender to God"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/","name":"Idol Chatter","description":"Beliefnet Entertainment blog, TV blog, Movie blog, Religion in entertainment blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/#\/schema\/person\/450625ec20bf3e8a84060b9321455f3d","name":"Brandy Grenier","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/e53\/e53f6ea4c6b15081d4df68e2d7d7750ex96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/e53\/e53f6ea4c6b15081d4df68e2d7d7750ex96.jpg","caption":"Brandy Grenier"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/author\/bgrenier"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/516"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53138"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53144,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53138\/revisions\/53144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}