The world has become so political, that I can almost predict where a person stands on multiple issues by just knowing what party they voted for in the last election. And politics is becoming more divisive.

And without a doubt, politics has infected Christianity, and I am as guilty of that as any. Having previously worked in the political realm for several decades, it’s an issue I have struggled with, as politics is a big part of the articles I write, rightly or wrongly.

So, I was intrigued when a popular British rapper and social activist, Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, who goes by the stage name M.I.A., recently announced that she became a Christian, according to Relevant Magazine.

Equally, fascinating was how Maya became a Christian.

In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Podcasts, Maya said she became a Christian after Jesus appeared to her in a vision in 2017:

Since then, my head has been in a totally different place. Being a Tamil and being a Hindu, I was very comfortable that I’d arrived finding myself. Which is, I think, going to be weird for America to process. But I had a vision and I saw the vision of Jesus Christ. It’s very, creatively, it’s a very crazy thing because it turned my world upside down. Because everything I thought and believed was no longer the case. And I think that was maybe a sign that something major was going to happen in the world and that people were needing to be introduced to this concept. But I always found the concept of Christianity quite basic compared to… wow, this is gonna be shocking if people go, “Maya calls Christianity ‘basic.’”

Joel prophesied that God was going to pour out His Holy Spirit on ‘all flesh’ in the days leading up to the second coming of Christ, and because of that people were going to receive visions and dreams (Joel 2:28).

And when Joel said ‘all flesh’, this includes non-believers, and we are witnessing hundreds of examples of this taking place over the last few years.

And when Lowe asked if Maya now considered herself a born-again Christian, she answered in the affirmative:

 I am. I’m not going to lie. Then when I had this vision, it turned my world upside down. I kind of couldn’t let go of the Tamil side. I think that’s why 50% of the record is sort of like that. Because I’m still me. That’s still my language. And those are still my tools to be able to create beats like that or a sound like that. But I think the message was just to get to a peaceful place. Watch the space. The history is, even if it costs me my career, I won’t lie. I will tell the truth, and I will tell you what’s on my mind and my heart. If I’m coming back now saying Jesus is real, there’s a point. Basically all of my fans might turn against me.

In today’s culture, it is almost political suicide to refer to yourself as a born-again Christian, but Maya was brave enough to do it. She even admitted that such a public announcement may turn fans against the popular rapper.

I loved it because the Holy Spirit is breaking through political barriers, that we as Christians have sometimes set up.

A bit of Maya’s life story

Maya was born to Sri Lankan parents in 1975 and was raised as a Hindu. Shortly after her birth in Britain, Maya’s parents moved to Sri Lanka but returned as refugees when Maya was 11 as a result of the civil war because of the political activities of her father.

According to Wikipedia, Maya has been nominated for an Academy Award, Grammy Award, Brit Award, Mercury Prize, and Alternative Turner Prize. To date is the only artist to receive nominations for all five awards.

In 2009, both Esquire and Time Magazine listed her as among the 75 most influential people in the 21st Century.

But Maya is also a political activist and this clearly comes through in her songs as she talks about immigration, refugees, and the oppression of the Palestinians and black people. Her songs were so controversial, that for several years the US government even restricted her tours in the US.

And she even endorsed the Labour Party in Britain’s 2017 and 2019 general elections.

This leads to the larger theological question does a person become a Christian based on what party they vote for or faith in Christ?

READ: M.I.A. Says She Had a Vision of Jesus and Is Now a Born Again Christian