What Faith Communities Can Learn From Semler’s New EP “Night Aches”

Reported By: Sierra Reisman

Illustrated By: Addie Patterson

“That’s the question, Jesus Christ, who are you?” 

– Sound bite from a Billy Graham sermon in the intro to “Faith”

Christianity is supposed to be a faith rooted in community, but what happens when the community picks and chooses who it accepts? Grace Semler Baldridge, who goes by Semler, has been exploring this question through music since they became the first openly queer artist to top the Christian music charts in 2021. On Sept. 15, Semler released “Night Aches.” Their new EP contains songs like “Faith” and “Be Like Jesus,” which specifically explore the pain and beauty of being a queer Christian in spaces that try to lock queer people out of religion. The raw honesty of their lyrics presents a challenge to faith-based institutions and Christians everywhere: are they truly willing to love like Jesus?  

In the song “Faith,” Semler opens up about the pain of being rejected by the church while still clinging to God. The first verse begins: 

“When my religion turned against me

They said my hopes and dreams were faulty

I showed the holes inside my hands

And they claimed they couldn't see” 

Throughout this song, Semler describes turning to God for comfort when facing intolerance in Christian spaces. The haunting beauty of this song is its hymn-like musical style, which features sound bites of Billy Graham asking, “Who is Jesus?” in the background, and its lyrics express both love for God and pain at the ignorance and hypocrisy of the church. The song concludes with a bridge that proclaims that no one should need to change who they are to belong in Christian spaces. 

Also in their song “Be Like Jesus,” Semler grapples with childhood religious trauma and the cognitive dissonance of desiring to emulate Jesus while wanting to be nothing like the examples of Christianity they grew up with. The song opens: 

“You were twelve years old when your soul was born

Told a real big lie or discovered porn

And the God of love became the God of scorn

The leaders told you to ‘pray some more’"

In this song, Semler calls out the Christian church for the way it often harms those who grow up in it: children who learn to fear death and hell and queer children who lose their community when they come out. In the chorus, Semler explains simply, “I wanna be like Jesus, I don't wanna be like them.” In the bridge, they go on to sing: 

“I wanna be like Jesus

But not the way they'd like

I wanna square up to authority

And turn some water into wine” 

Semler paints a powerful picture of a Christian faith that truly follows Jesus and centers around love, community, and compassion rather than dogma. 

Semler’s music gives new visibility to the queer Christian–the person who religious institutions would often prefer not to acknowledge. Christian communities, like GFU, should take a lesson from Semler’s work about the reality that queer Christians exist and will continue to exist whether or not mainstream religion accepts them. 

Simply existing in religious spaces as a queer person can be an act of rebellion, but Semler’s lyrics also express faith that God loves his queer children and that they can have a place in faith communities. The most important way Christians can respond to Semler’s story is to truly listen and understand that the beginning of change is empathy.