Was Billy Preston a Christian

Answer 1

Billy had his share of challenges throughout his life; probably more than enough to earn him the "definitely not a Christian" label from a lot of church-going folks, but it is plainly evident to anyone who really looks into the matter that Billy was indeed a Believer in Christ and so much of his inspiration in music came from his strong faith in God. He said so himself on numerous occasions.

YES, Billy was a Believer with a very strong faith in Jesus...

If "Christian" means "Christ-like" then maybe not - though I know plenty of self-proclaimed Christians who aren't very "Christ-like" either so what does the label really mean these days? If real Christianity (the kind The Bible talks about) is a matter of God's grace saving undeserving sinners and the sinner confessing awareness of their own need for God, belief in the Gospel, and acceptance of God's grace regardless of their sin, then YES, Billy was a Christian! He certainly didn't fit in the traditional Christian shiny church member mold, but he absolutely did express faith in Christ and was not ashamed of it.

Billy started out as a church boy. He was raised on Gospel music. But he also became a drug addict, racked up so much debt that he deliberately burned his house down to try and get the insurance money, and finally did time in prison for fraud. He also struggled with homosexuality.

But Billy always fell back on his faith in God. As he put it himself:

"Prison was a great lesson, an awakening. I needed to reflect, to get rid of some of the dead weight around me... You take the bitter with the sweet, and I have to say it was my faith that kept me going. I had nothing else to fall back on."

At another time Billy said, "I do believe that God has his hands on me and that he has work for me to do."

Billy loved Gospel Music and loved to sing about God's grace and love and how he wished we would all change our hearts by looking at the example and teaching of Jesus. In 2001 he recorded a full Gospel album entitled "Music From My Heart". He was fully aware of his faults, but he still trusted in God.