Cheering on the faithful

FOR many years, Steve Green tried to prove to God and the world that he was really good and that he was the best Christian artist around.

“The real motivation in my life was I want to glorify God in my life but that’s partly true. It was also true that I wanted to have impressive record of myself,” Green said in one of the reunion gatherings hosted by Gaithers Vocal Band in the 80’s.

Many years later, he found that he had only ONE person in all his songs and accomplishments.

“There is only one hero in my story. If there is any shred of faithfulness in my life, it’s only one faithful One -- not me but Jesus alone.”

The Christian music singer was in Kuching at the invitation of Kuching Ministers’ Fellowship and the Full Gospel Christian Businessmen’s Fellowship on his world tour in conjunction with the release of his latest record -- Rest in His Wonders -- on March 6.

The organisers readily accepted a press interview with thesundaypost but it did not materialise as Steve “lost his voice” due to flu on his arrival in Kuching.

However, he sent an audio record of the questions posed by thesundaypost. It came in late as he had been featured in a writeup of the concert. But on an Easter Sunday, what can be more appropriate than to share Green’s message?

Here is the Q & A with the Christian gospel singer.

Q: What was it like being raised by missionaries in Argentina?

A: As with anything, there are positives -- and some challenges. The great things are that my parents are sincere in their devotion to Jesus, their desire to serve as missionaries and they were good missionaries.

I was raised in a Christian home. I heard the gospel from my infancy and it was also great being raised in a foreign country. That’s a blessing in itself -- getting a sense of how international the body of Christ is.

It makes me feel at home later in other parts of the world. I have a greater sense of being a citizen of the world. Those are the good things.

The difficult part is that I spent a lot of time in boarding school from the time I was eight and that had some difficulties.

You can imagine for children to be away from their parents during their crucial stages of their lives is not quite easy. Children who grow up in foreign cultures sometimes have a difficult time finding where they belong -- and we are called ‘third culture kids’

We know we don’t really necessarily belong where we are. We are different and we look different. I know I was an Argentine. When I come back to the States, I don’t feel I’m at home too.

It can be a difficulty but it’s a good thing we are reminded that we are aliens and strangers in this world and home is not here. Home is yet to come when we are in Heaven.

Q: What do you hope God will do through your songs? How do you want your songs to inspire worship?

A: I want to do two things. I want to encourage people with a rehearsal of what is true, thus reminding those who are listening to things which are true of God’s words. I want also to have songs which will be a vehicle of worship so that the songs can give melodies and words to people to help them express praise and adoration of God.

Both things, worship, instruction and also encouragement.

Q: What message will you have for others who are grieving, struggling or questioning God?

A: That’s a very natural part of life. If you don’t struggle, if you don’t question God, I wonder if you have real faith.

God’s ways are certainly not our way. We are small and finite and so limited in our perspective and we live in poor fallen world and God hasn’t told us about everything about all that is going on.

He told us enough to trust Him to know His character. He gave us enough of the beginning of the story in Genesis, so we know where we come from. We know what’s wrong with the world. He gives us enough to cling to this world for promises and assurances in this life and the life to come.

So grieving and struggling and questioning are part of this life. God is not offended by our questioning. He can handle any question we can throw at him. But in the end, there’s a greater level of trust and confidence in what we do know about Him. Sufficient for us to go through any difficulty with.

We learn on the way that we presume a lot of things. Sometimes, we think God in His words has said something because we take it out of context, thus, believing something really isn’t true which will hurt us. But there is enough in God’s words to give us the assurance, confidence and comfort in anything that we experience in this life. Hold this steady to the very end.

Q: You established Steve Green Ministries in 1984, 26 years ago. Since then, you have been honoured with four Grammy nominations, 13 No. 1 songs and seven Dove Awards. You have, through your songs and life, cheered on the faithful and encouraged the weary, how do you account for the longevity of your music and the success you have found in the field?

A: I have no idea. Perhaps, no way to account other than just very simply it was God’s design. It was His purpose for my life. It was something that he made me and gave me to do and it’s really His doing.

As it’s with our salvation as we look back and ask the hard question -- how did you come to believe --and you will finally come to a part that it was God who really did it.

God revealed this to me -- working and preparing me for circumstances and bringing me to Him in the same way. The whole of our life are lived in God’s grace.

He has held me. He has kept me. He has opened doors for me. He has even pushed me through doors that I was hesitant to go through. I was an introvert -- I prefer to be in a small group and stay home. And God has seen fit to push me well out of my comfort zone and put me on a platform that I never wanted. It’s His doing. So I have no other explanation.

Q: You put together Hide them In Your Heart and Prayer Bear movies which teach children important truths from the Bible. What do you think of children’s ministry?

A: It’s very important. Most people come to faith at an early age. If kids can be exposed to the Words of God, God uses those tools to draw them to Himself even as they grow older.

There are letters that I received from youths and even young adults who had said I was away from the Lord and I remember some of your songs. Anything we do in the area to children ministry is very important.

Q:  The song People need the Lord was a turn- around for you in your Christian life. How does it resonate with you and for other needy people?

A: The song actually came after a life turn-around. It was God who has brought me to Himself and rescued me and I was beginning to have a sense of what I was supposed to do in this world. And then Gleg Nelson brought me the song, among others, to record. It struck a chord.

Honestly, I was partially thinking about evangelism and that people who have never heard of Jesus, need Him but equally, I was thinking of people who know Him and still need the Lord. I was thinking of all the people whom I bumped into and even myself who grew up in a Christian home but have a partial understanding of the Gospel.

I was thinking that all of us and all of our lives are in desperate need of Jesus, not only for those who never heard of Him, those who know Him, still need Him every moment of their lives and so it was a really a two-way message for me.

Q: Would you like to share your thoughts after the Kuching concert?

A: I have been to Kuching and Kuala Lumpur. It was wonderful to visit a new part of the world. I’m so grateful for the opportunity, grateful for the privilege to sing and share with so many people from various part of the world.

I find that the common denomination -- the one thing that brings us together is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. It transcends culture -- all of us are foreigners. There is no one person who naturally belongs to God. In the Old Testament, God did choose Israel but as you know as the Old Testament progressed to New Testament where Christ came to Earth as a saviour, his own people rejected him.

We are all foreigners and alienated from God. He is the one who made peace with us through Jesus’ message that binds us together and my goal is to stick to that and cling to proclaim wherever I am and it is a privilege to be in Malaysia.

Blessed Easter to one and all.