The women of Destiny's Child are among a number of secular musicians who strive to make religious convictions part of their personas. They say that they are Christians, but I am having trouble getting their message to make sense to me.

Bootylicious. Bootylicious Christians. Christians who happen to be bootylicious.

The gift of bootylicious. The anointing of bootylicious.

Nope. No matter how you work it, these two words don't sound right together.

So what do we make of Destiny's Child, the popular R&B trio who proclaim their Christianity in nearly every interview, but whose latest single is suggestively titled "Bootylicious" and who show high thigh outfits in every media picture and video they produce?

A sample of their lyrics says, "I don't think you're ready for this jelly, Cause my body's too bootylicious for ya, babe. We won’t get into what "jelly" is, but I imagine it’s something that shakes.

While they claim to honor God, their lyrics and public lifestyles don't always harmonize with traditional religious beliefs of right and wrong. Watch any music awards show. The artists honor their families, friends and fans. Then they hold up their little statuettes and thank God for chart- topping records about bad boys, booty and bling-bling (slang for sparkling gold jewelry).

In the September 2000 issue of Ebony magazine, Beyonce Knowles of Destiny’s Child credits the presence of God in helping them to "overcome our struggles". Essence magazine noted that before they come on stage they "give thanks to the Almighty".

Knowles said in the May 24 issue of Rolling Stone "God is in control of everything."

Even Booty?

I don’t think so. And I don’t think Christianity can cover up sexually suggestive dancing and lyrics that do not agree with God’s Word. No matter how "licious" you say your "booty" is or how much you sport your bling-bling, the Word of God is a standard that you live at home and work.

A lot of Christian youth are into Destiny’s Child and other artist like them. They want to "groove", but keep it clean. They like artist who encourage them to respect themselves and to make right choices. Unfortunately, when the lifestyle doesn’t agree with the words, the message becomes hypocritical. These artists say that you can love God and still be yourself. Unfortunately, that’s a deception. To be a Christian, you have to deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Christ.

I don’t mean to frustrate anybody, but this way of Christianity is a straight walk. And it doesn’t leave room to fill our imagination with bootylicious bling-bling. And its high time we stopped promoting artist send these mixed messages.