Anne Wilson Urges Christians: Be Bold for Jesus, 'Go Against the Crowd'
Singer Anne Wilson credits her boldness for Christ to her mother, a woman who wasn't afraid to speak out about right and wrong – and who raised her children to do the same.
It has served Wilson well throughout her career, whether on stage, where she speaks openly about her faith, or on her albums that blend a toe-tapping country sound with a gospel-centered message rarely heard on mainstream radio.
"She's five feet tall," Wilson said of her mom, Lynn Wilson, laughing, "so me and my sister were all very short, and she walks in and she's sassy – and she just speaks what she believes.
"I watched my mom be bold in what she believes in, so she's truly like the inspiration behind why I am that way."
That boldness inspired her 2024 song "Rebel," which portrays Christ as the ultimate rebel and declares, "When the crowd goes one way, I go the other; when the battle rages, I won't back down." It also became the inspiration for her new book, released in June and titled appropriately: "Rebel: Following Jesus When the World Walks the Other Way."
Wilson hopes to inspire Christians to embrace that same kind of courage. Her primary inspiration, she said, was Jesus Himself.
"Jesus was a rebel," she told Crosswalk Headlines. "Jesus would go against the crowd, He would go against the grain, He would make His own way and do His own thing, and He truly was a rebel in that time, and so that inspired me."
The overarching theme of the new book and the album, she said, is simple: What does it mean to stand firm in your faith and to be bold for Jesus?
Jesus "didn't come to just bring peace." Christ "would walk in places and fix what was broken and speak the truth, no matter if people liked it or not," Wilson said.
"And so, as a Christian, that's what we are called to be, and I think that's what's going to make lasting change – is people that truly walk with Jesus and stand for the things that He believed in."
That doesn't mean Christians should be combative or argumentative, she said. But it does mean they should be willing to speak the truth with love, even when it's unpopular.
Walking like Jesus "means living like Jesus did and following Jesus – not just going to church on Sunday and checking it off your list, but truly following Jesus," Wilson said.
"[That means] obeying Him, walking in the ways in which He walked, having a relationship with Him, being the hands and feet of Jesus, loving people well, loving your neighbor as yourself – all the things that we're told to do in the Bible, like truly living that out," she said. "But the other part of that is being bold and not backing down. I think in today's culture we are so afraid to speak what we believe and to stand firm for truth – not the world's version of truth, but God's version of truth."
Listen to the full interview with Wilson on Crosswalk Talk, available here.
Photo Credit: © Capitol Christian Music Group
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.
Originally published July 14, 2026.
