Honoring an Unusual Hero
The 25th Anniversary of the Death of Rich Mullins, Singer/Song Writer/Musician
Today is the 25th anniversary of the death of Rich Mullins, one of the most beloved singer/songwriters in the contemporary Christian music world of the 1980s and 1990s. Rich died in a car accident at age 41, a month before his birthday. Looking at his life as well as his music, the Christian world would do well to pay attention.
Rich made more than 11 albums and died, worth $5 million. However, he didn't even know it because he had determined to live on the average person's income. Along with his friends from the "Kid Brothers of St. Frank," he took vows of poverty and chastity and most of his income went to missions. After his death, a foundation was set up to continue his ministry goals.
Rich's message was different from the norm, both in his words and in his life style. Not only did he sing about the personal gospel, he often sang about caring for the poor and dispossessed. To him it was all a unified message of the good news of Jesus. On one album he starts out with "I will sing for the meek," for those who "pray with their very lives for peace" and the next song, "I can see Jesus hanging on the cross; He came looking for the lost." In one song he wrote "I believe there is a place where people live in perfect peace . . Where justice reigns and truth finally wins its long hard fought war against fear and doubt." One of my favorite songs was "The Just Shall Live" (by faith).
Rich loved America and wrote about that love, but he also had a strong protest song about the historic mistreatment of Native Americans:
". . . Driven from their homes by the greed of a nation whose treaties were as good as litter along the trail of their tears . . ." ("The Howling ")
There are many examples of Rich's efforts to see Jesus in the ordinary man and his desire to live a simple life style. In his last decade, Rich and a fellow Kid Brother moved to a Navajo reservation to teach kids music. They built a hogan and made that their home until his death, attending the local Catholic Church there because it was the church of the Native Americans living there. He also gained a new perspective from these new friends, what it was like for Navajos living in the land of white people who didn’t understand their culture.
Another example of trying to identify with the poor is when Rich was invited to sing at a big Nashville concert of successful Christian artists. He showed up and sang to the large crowd in a tee shirt, old jeans and barefoot! I have wondered if maybe he was partially trying to protest the lavish amount of money spent on fancy concerts, including the fancy dress of most of the participants.
Rich was very popular, but like many highly creative artists, he had his inner demons. The musical son of an Indiana farmer, he grew up constantly disappointing and frustrating his father. A nerd, living in a farm community, Rich later said he was at times the morose teenager, constantly writing poetry and songs. As an adult he experienced an ongoing sense of loneliness that he said he felt even during the most intimate times with his fiancé. After ten years of engagement his fiancé broke it off and Rich never married.
During this time, Rich struggled with carnal temptation, and on long road trips he often gave in to it. However, Rich was not happy with this hypocrisy. He began to share his issues and sins with Christian friends who gave him good advice, namely: don't travel alone. Rich took their advice and traveled with fellow musician/song writer, "Beaker." This friendship proved very effective and fruitful. They wrote songs together, and after studying the life of St. Francis of Assissi, they decided to form their own religious order, thus the Kid Brothers of St. Frank. Beaker eventually married and had two kids, but he kept in fellowship with the group as a married Kid Brother.
Besides having an accountability partner, Rich sought out mentoring relationships with wise father figures. Unfortunately, the first mentoring friend died of a heart attack soon after Rich had moved to be closer to him. This was a heavy emotional blow, during which he often sang of longing for Heaven. Eventually, he sought out the advice of Brennan Manning, author of "The Ragamuffin Gospel." Manning ministered to Rich in a very significant way, helping him experience more deeply the love and acceptance of God the Father.
There are at least two lessons the church can gain from Rich's life. First, the church should seek to present the whole gospel as Jesus taught and Rich tried to share, namely personal salvation and ministry for social needs. Second, the church needs to encourage more openness about the reality of sin. Instead of hiding one's sin while continuing in it, Christians need to know that when they are guilty of sex abuse or family violence, the church will not condemn but will love and counsel how to live free.
In the Bible, James writes that we need to confess our sins to one another. That message needs to be strongly stressed. Don't be a loner: share your issues and weaknesses with other Christians. It's also wise for Christians dealing with ongoing sin to seek accountibilty to peers and/or to older wise counselors. However, an
important note, of course abuse of any kind should not be coddled or swept under a rug. Victims must be protected. In my mind though, we would have much less abuse, if the church was seen as a spiritual hospital or a community of sinners, who can confess, get help and stop abuse.
A final example to share about Rich gives us a picture of deep humility. He was never comfortable with being the recipient of lots of praise. At the end of concerts he liked to get the audience to sing a song of praise or worship and toward the end while they were still singing, he and his band would walk off stage. He didn't want the focus to be on him at the end.
I readily admit that Rich Mullins is one of my heroes, just as Rich's heroes were St. Francis of Assissi and Brennan Manning. These were people he learned from, who helped him be a better Christian. That is my goal. Rich is not my idol. I enjoy his music and his witness, but he is just one of many heroes of the faith that I look up to and learn from. I hope the church can learn from Rich's life and be inspired to draw closer to God.