Remembering Rich Mullins

If my life is motivated by the power of God’s spirit in me and the awareness of the indwelling Christ, if I allow His presence to guide my motives, that’s the only time I think we really leave a great legacy.” Rich Mullins

There are at times people who you never met and have a profound influence on your life. Their legacy, their work, the example, their testimony has such an incredible and often visable influence on you that you cannot really explain it.

I have met a zillion artists and musicians. I have worked with the music field a lot and between Christian Music and other music that I promoted I have met thousands of muscians. I never met Rich Mullins. I never saw him in concert. He died in an accident on September 19, 1997. I can remember holding a magazine in a book store with him on the cover and my wife asking me why I was crying. Rich was on the cover and it was about his death.

I met Rich Mullins music in the strangest way. Prior to going into ministry and going into Christianity really I had a friend who I had worked in bars with. He had become a Christian, given up the bar life, and in a passion of conviction sat down and destroyed all of his rock records because he didn’t want to give them away. He wanted them dead.

I was working at a gas station and my old friend came by. He had this classic convertable and I reckognized him as soon as the car drove up. I got up and went and talk to him. I said something to him about the music he was playing. he told me what he had done. I said what about Van Halen? I asked. He smiled and said” Neil come on running with devil?” Which is one of their songs.

He was working for a Teen Challange and we would talk now and then. he lived where he worked helping drug addicts get their life together. One night I was near where he worked. It was Myrtle Beach’s infamous blvd. in the mid summer. I went with him to walk down the street. I told him I was going to a party. He asked if he could come. I told him sure but was a little confused. I mean this was mister anti rock and roll and drinking and messed up people?

The majority of the people were my age, young twenties, and most were drinking. Several of my friends, girl friends at that were there. Pat had brought an accoustic guitar. There were punks and dead heads there. One of my friends who had evolved from Punk to the Dead was there. She asked him if he could play something. He knew all of the classics from Led on but he wasn’t about to play it. Instead he started playing this difficult piece with an Irish hint to it. Years later I learn that it was an Scottish by Dougie MacLean that Rich Mullins had lifted and changed one line to make it into a Christian song. Below is the adaption by Rich. You will note the “and you loved me Lord” line. It makes the whole song become a Christian anthem.

The distance it is no real friend
And time will take its time
And you will find that in the end
It brings you me
This lonely sailor
And when You take me by the hand
And You love me, Lord, You love me
And I should have realized
I had no reasons to be frightened

One of my girl friends sat and cried. She was struck by the spirit of the song. I can remember it like it was yesterday. She made a comparision to a the Deads “Friend of the devil is a friend of mine” with Pat my friend who sang the song. He being who he was didn’t take it the wrong way. he listened to her and spoke about how he loved people and how his God did too.

Rich was born almost a perefect decade before me. he was born October 21, 1955. I was born October in 65.

In a bit of confusion and to some degree mistaken identity Rich is seen as an evangelical Christian or a Catholic Contemporary musician. For which it understandable he has been adopted by both movements. But he was born and in realty died in many senses of the word a faithful Quaker. To many the Quaker faith is outside of Christianity. Rich’s life appears to have been a great testimony about the faith. For he could give us the music of “Awesome God” to “Hold me Jesus” to a set of recording done at the famed Abbey Road Studios of Beatles fame after his life by some of the most influencial Christian artist of our times.

But what made Rich different for people like me was he was not holier than thou. When you step foot in some of the most fundementalist churches in the US today they will often stand up and sing the praises of “awesome God” and “step by step” knowing nothing of a man whose last days on this earth were devoted to giving away his money and living practically in poverty. Who was not impressed with the treatment of the poor and the hurt of this world.

He loved church, but hated those that abused their pulpits to bully whip others.

His ability to communicate his pain and love for others is remakable.

I find a lot in common with Rich. But at his age he was still able to grow his hair long and be somewhat a bum and look the part. I can grow bald and frankly I don’t look the part.

Here are two striking quotes by Rich. Remember this when you stand up and sing “awesome God” next time. Remember how much a person can love people, care about people, and fight to get people into the Kingdom of God regardless of who they are. I think the quotes are something we should remember about Rich. His life was devoted to being a legacy for Christ.

“Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in a beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you,” he said.

“Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved. And Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken. He was radical and his followers should be, too.”