Richard Wayne Mullins October 21, 1955 - September 19, 1997
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"I think a great songwriter is someone who is able to take a very meaningful piece
of wisdom--or of folly or whatever--and say it in a way that is most likely to make people respond.
But, what you want them to respond to is not how cleverly you did that; what you want them to
respond to is your message." * -Rich Mullins, 1996 ____________________
Rich Mullins is now singing praises to our Awesome God, face to face. I never will forget the legacy that he left, not only through his music, but through
his outreach to people, his genuineness and down to earth nature. Never something he wasn't.. he reached people by being himself. That self, to me, was cut-off shorts and sandals, a diet coke, a golden retriever and a message. Below is a letter I wrote to a friend of mine, the day after I learned of Rich's accident and death. It expresses to the best of my ability what Rich's life, and death..have meant to me.
September 21, 1997
"Today's been a bittersweet day. I cried more tears than I had, lastnight,
after hearing the news about Rich Mullins. Death hits me really hard, it
always has....The times I got to hang out with Rich, take care of his
dogs, have supper w/ him, I really found someone I could relate with. He
dared to do things a little differently from the norm, and that made
such a difference. He reminded me of all the good stuff I saw in my dad
(he looked like him, and our families were distantly related).. and I
always loved the approach to things he took. Down to earth and yet so
profound. Even though his music was what you'd call mild compared to a
lot of what I listen to, somehow it always touched me. He could weave
good ol boy and literary masters into something people could relate to.
When he left touring to work with the native Americans, my heart
rejoiced. He was doing what he wanted, reaching people. I'd hoped to
talk to him more when I was out west, but then, I have an eternity to do
that.
"Three people who
dared to make a difference by stepping out of the norm, and reaching out
to people, hurting and where they are, have died recently (Rich, Diana, and mother Teresa). I say today
was bittersweet, because while I'm pretty much greiving, and yet
rejoicing at Rich's being able to praise our awesome God face to face,
I'm also compelled beyond what I can describe to carry on what he's
started. Daring to be different from the norm, daring to reach out to
people where they are, by being who you are. His song "I'll carry on"
keeps ringing in my head. I don't want anyone to lose what he's left
behind.
"..... Actually, he was the first
concert I went to in 1991 and that was a big part of when I got serious
for God again, and later rededicated my life to Christ. He's always had
a special place in my heart. He's always been that person I respect and
admire most for who he was. Well, I hadn't listened to his music for
several years, when I started listening to his songs again [last year] and fell in love with
them. His approach to things just blew me away, anew. I went back and
have been listening to all his old stuff too, that I dug out. Late last
year, I realize, some of his music impacted a big chunk of my life. A
few weeks ago, a song from his 87 album brought me to tears about what
I'm feeling called to do in ministry ("Steal at any Price"... it's a song
about Christ being a thief in the night, saving the "untouchables")...
In fact that song, years after I'd first listened to it, called me back
to a truer vision of what I'd felt called to do. I've been listening to
his music in my car lately, when normally I'll listen to heavier stuff. Ask my
mom about that. We've spent hours on a couple of long drives listening
to it, and she and I were talking not two weeks ago, about how much God
had touched us through his music, and how I loved his approach to
things. I've been listening to his tape in my busted cassette player.
That's the only tape it'll play.
When I was in Indiana in June,
he was in my mind the whole time, as he'd grown up there. I've been
playing his songs on the piano for no particular reason. I thought it
was so strange.. I hadn't even noticed though until now. What makes my
heart break is....month after month of his being on my heart,
and I don't think I ever stopped to pray for him :`( It's just so
weird. I'm continually reminded of the seriousness of prayer, and still
I wonder. Why would God pick me, to remind to pray. Especially if I
could be so oblivious to something that obvious. Sometimes I wonder, why
God would choose me for ministry. He seems to keep doing that, though. I
love Him so much..."
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"If we can reach.. beyond the wisdom of this age..into the foolishness of God.. that foolishness will save...those who belive..though their foolish hearts may break, they will find peace... and I'll meet you in that place where mercy leads."
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I am compelled now more than ever to the ministry which is so much on my heart.... if I cannot serve God, through serving others, through reaching others.. I will die. Because that to which I'm called is making me into who I am, who Christ is defining me as. I praise God for the legacy of servitude Rich
so unselfishly proclaimed, and I praise God that his music provokes me yet, to take this message burning as a fire in my bones to those that are for sale, but no one will buy. Rich embodied, in many ways, what I strove to be, what I wanted to do. Not the spotlight, and really, I don't think Rich ever liked that much. But he was like a soul brother, if you will.. I saw his heart beat as mine does.But I don't think I'm alone in finding what Rich did as what I truly wished I could. So why do we not do that? What is to truly stop us?
Rich said before his ministry grew as it did, that he was ready to go. "It won't break my heart to say goodbye." .. we remember our loss, but oh, think of Rich's gain. Perhaps in his death we will finally stop to look.. not at the man... for he was only a man doing his awkward (and yet masterful) best to draw pictures in our minds and hearts of our Saviour. We must remember...more than ever... the mission of Christ still remains. Should his death not further compel us to grab hold of the flame for ministry which was Rich Mullins heartbeat...and carry it to those he sought to reach for Christ? That is what he would want. He wouldn't want to be remembered. Not to remember a man... He would want his awesome God and the mission to be remembered. Let's honor that. Praise our awesome God for Rich Mullins life.. and praise Him even now in his death. People tend to sing the praises of someone after their death. No...no....his life! It is crying out his mission. Let us remember that. Instead of grieving and mourning for his death... let us learn from that life. He was trying to share with us that mission. Let us carry on... and tell this world of the Thief in the Night who wants to steal them from their captivity.. let us all be shaken forward, and shaken free, to run wild with the hope of our awesome Saviour.. and someday, we'll meet Rich again, in the place where mercy leads.
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""I have to laugh sometimes when
people refer to this music thing as my 'ministry.' I don't consider it a ministry; I consider it my
tent-making." *
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Please...continue Rich's mission.. donations can be made in his name to the Compassion International Native American ministry:
**For more from the interview these qoutes came from, click here. Rich shares quite a bit of his mission in this. Also....his views on what ministry truly is: here.
