As my brother guided me through the dark scaffolding behind the American Idol stage for the last time and my white cane tapped against a metal fixture, I heard Kara DioGuardi’s voice say, “All of this – it doesn’t matter, because you inspire people.” Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell had all spoken words of encouragement to me that I would never forget, but it was Kara who understood the calling on my life, better than I understood it myself.
Over the years that followed, I had the opportunity to share large stages with musicians I grew up listening to, singing and speaking to thousands, but all the while I had a sense deep down that God’s purpose for me was something very different than just getting a hit song on Christian radio. I heard that my music and story were inspiring people, but every once in a while, I saw the tangible difference God would make in someone’s life when I left the stage behind and got up close and personal to listen to and pray with those who looked up to me.
In 2017, following one of my concerts on an In Touch Ministries cruise in Alaska, God called me out of the music business and into full-time ministry when a lady came up to my book table and said she wanted to give a monthly gift. Neither my wife Christina nor I realized at the time what God was about to do, but we were willing to listen. After all, God had given us a story of deep dependence on Him which He was using to change lives, and we knew there were so many more lives that could be changed if God made a way. We eventually joined up with the missions sending organization Artists in Christian Testimony Intl and I thought maybe over time God would prompt a person here or there, as we ministered, to give financially. Wow, did God have other plans!
As soon as I started to read The God Ask, my mind exploded with visions of how God might use me and Christina to impact the world for Christ in ways we had previously only dreamed about. Though I was familiar with the world of non-profits, I was completely naïve to the world of ministry and support-raising. I had no concept of personally sitting down with individuals and couples to ask for support in order to do things for God’s Kingdom that would otherwise not be possible. In the book, Steve Shadrach brings up the fact that most people have never had the opportunity of being invited to sit down with a Christian worker and personally partner in God’s work. I was one of those people.
The Currency of Ministry Is Relationship
Today, Christina and I are leveraging the reach of American Idol to share the gospel through the arts with those who are hurting around the world. God has allowed us to help students and families overcome depression, addiction, and thoughts of suicide, and he’s led us to launch television and radio ministries, encouraging people with whom we can’t be in person.
You’d think after being on American Idol I could just post on my social media and quickly fund our next ministry project. In fact, some ministry partners have said to me and Christina, “If I were you, I’d be posting a Go-Fund-Me campaign for every school and church event you do!” But I can tell you having learned through experience, echoing the sentiments expressed in The God Ask, it doesn’t work that way. The support we have raised has almost entirely come out of setting up face-to-face appointments, casting the vision, making a clear and specific ask, and letting the other person answer.
Steve Shadrach uses the example of a wedding proposal – when we are asking for a serious, Lord-willing, life-long commitment, we need to take our “ask” seriously. For all the talk about how times have changed when it comes to how people communicate, I actually believe that placing a phone call to someone whom we think is used to texting may in fact set our invitation apart from all the other communication that person receives and position us right from the outset to convey the significance of our missional purpose. We cannot afford to cut corners when it comes to spreading the gospel and making disciples of all nations, and no matter how technologically advanced the world becomes, some things never change.
For me, ministry flows out of my relationship with God, my relationship with Christina and our children, my relationship with those who support and pray for us, and my relationship with the people who come into contact with our music and words – whether that be through media, at an event, or just in daily life. God calls some of us to physically go to serve, and he calls others of us to provide the means to do so. Remember, asking for support is not about a transaction between you and the person God has brought to sit across the table from you. It is about relationships and a joint commitment to serve God together.
