Rich Mullins, Disciple of Christ

(Bible study by John Myers)

“Our God is an awesome God, He reigns from heaven above”
“With wisdom, power, and love, Our God is an awesome God”

In 1986, Rich Mullins was an unknown contemporary Christian music artist who had released two albums, neither of which sold well. His only claim to fame was a song he wrote that Amy Grant recorded in 1982 and made a hit, “Sing Your Praise To The Lord.”

Then he wrote “Awesome God” and performed it on his third album, “Winds of Heaven … Stuff of Earth.” “Awesome God” quickly became a hit and is a modern-day praise chorus still sung in churches around the world. Suddenly Rich was famous.

He went on to write 10 number-one songs during his career and made millions.

But he gave all his millions away. When he died in a wreck in 1997, all his worldly possessions were gathered together for his estate and they fit into a small storage shed, according to his biographer, James Bryan Smith in "An Arrow Pointing To Heaven."

Raised a Quaker, Mullins made a vow of poverty like his hero, St. Francis of Assisi. As odd as that sounds to us today, perhaps it’s not so hard to do when you’re young and don’t have any money anyway. But Mullins made his vow after he was rich and famous.

Wickipedia.com says, “Mullins was seen as an enigma to the Christian music industry. Often barefoot, unshaven and badly in need of a haircut, he did not look like the average American gospel music writer. Although he achieved a good amount of success on Christian radio, he never received a Gospel Music Association Award until after he died.

“Unlike most artists in Contemporary Christian music, Mullins did not consider his music as his primary ministry, but rather as a means to pay his bills. Instead, his ministry was the way he treated his neighbors, family and enemies.

“Mullins was never really aware of how well his records sold, because the profits from his tours and the sale of each album went to his church, which divided it up, paid Mullins a small salary, and gave the rest to charity. Mullins was also a major supporter of Compassion International and Compassion USA.” (Ministries for children, Compassion.com)

And he gave not only of his money, but also of himself. He spent the last two years of his life living on a Navajo Indian reservation in New Mexico, teaching music to children.

He was killed in a wreck while driving to a benefit concert in Kansas in 1997. He survived the wreck, but was thrown from his Jeep and was killed when hit by a truck.

After his death, Reed Arvin, long-time friend and producer of seven recordings for Mullins said, "Rich Mullins was the best writer in contemporary Christian music, and he is utterly irreplaceable. He wasn't really happy, if happy means contented. But he turned his discontent into art, separating himself from the careerists that thought it would be neat to make money out of Jesus. The first thing I am going to do when I see him in heaven is beg his forgiveness for being so inept at bringing his songs to light."

Mullins said the most satisfying song he ever wrote was “Elijah,” which refers to one of only two people in the Bible who did not die: 2 Kings 2:13 says, “Suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire … and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”

Elijah pleaded with God that he was worn out from his battles and just wanted to go home. And God honored that request by sending His fiery chariot to bring Elijah home.

Perhaps Rich Mullins did the same due to the “discontent” he felt about this world. He was called home by the Lord just a month before his 42nd birthday. His “fiery chariot” was his Jeep and his “whirlwind” was a big-rig truck.

Listen to the lyrics of his song “Elijah,” and you can hear his weariness of soul.

The Jordan is waiting for me to cross through
My heart is aging I can tell
So Lord, I'm begging
For one last favor from You
Here's my heart take it where You will
There's people been friendly
But they'd never be your friends
Sometimes this has bent me to the ground
Now that this is all ending
I want to hear some music once again
'Cause it's the finest thing I have ever found
But the Jordan is waiting
Though I ain't never seen the other side
They say you can't take in
The things you have here
So on the road to salvation
I stick out my thumb and He gives me a ride
And His music is already falling on my ears

Chorus:
But when I leave I want to go out like Elijah
With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire
And when I look back on the stars
Well, It'll be like a candlelight in Central Park
And it won't break my heart to say goodbye

Here’s some quotes from Rich Mullins on Wickipedia.com:

"Never forget what Jesus did for you. Never take lightly what it cost Him. And never assume that if it cost Him His very life, that it won't also cost you yours."

"So go out and live real good and I promise you'll get beat up real bad. But, in a little while after you're dead, you'll be rotted away anyway. It's not gonna matter if you have a few scars. It will matter if you didn't live."

"It's so funny being a Christian musician. It always scares me when people think so highly of Christian music, Contemporary Christian music especially. Because I kinda go, I know a lot of us, and we don't know jack about anything. Not that I don't want you to buy our records and come to our concerts. I sure do. But you should come for entertainment. If you really want spiritual nourishment, you should go to church...you should read the Scriptures."

"Yes, it's embarrassing to be born again, but imagine how embarrassing it must have been to be born the first time. At least this time you get to wear clothes!" "We are not saved because we're good. We're good because we're saved. Never forget what Jesus did for you."

"If you've ever known the love of God, you know it's nothing but reckless and it's nothing but raging. Sometimes it hurts to be loved, and if it doesn't hurt it's probably not love, may be infatuation. I think a lot of American people are infatuated with God, but we don't really love Him, and they don't really let Him love them. Being loved by God is one of the most painful things in the world, it's also the only thing that can bring us salvation and it's like everything else that is really wonderful, there's a little bit of pain in it, little bit of hurt."

"It's just that for so many people that I know, Christianity's this matter of ... it has everything to do with morals. Christianity is a religion about morals. And they will even talk about Jesus. And they will say kids need to know about Jesus so they won't smoke, drink, or dance, or go with girls that do, and all that kind of thing. And I kinda go, 'That's not why people need to know about Jesus. The only reason—the only possible excuse for talking about Jesus is because we need a Savior.'"

Submit Bible questions by email to writeme@johnwmyers.com

(John Myers has been a Christian lay speaker, Sunday School adult teacher and newspaper Bible study columnist for more than 25 years.)