Rich Mullins

I have just been watching a special on the HD network concerning the mismanagement of proceeds from Native American-owned oil wells by the United States government. The extent to which Native American peoples are still treated unjustly by the United States government, as well as the extent of the ignorance of the rest of the nation concerning this, are simply unbelievable. Among other things, this brings the late Rich Mullins to mind. Rich Mullins was a musician and a Christian who was killed in an automobile crash 10 years ago this September. I am careful to not call him a Christian musician. I think it would be unfair to in any way place him under the label of Contemporary Christian Music. Certainly, most of his music was undeniably confessional in content. It was a bit different than most Christian music of his time however in that it was not necessarily evangelistic. I don't think proselytizing was Mullins' goal. Rather, his music was full of heart felt reflections about the tangible realities of the teachings of Christ. Mullins took very seriously the concern that Christ demonstrated for the oppressed and the less fortunate. Despite great fame, Mullins took a modest salary from his church and gave the rest of his money away. He had a particular heart for Native Americans. Prior to his death, he moved to the Navajo Nation, where he taught music to students who had no music programs in their schools. Much of the proceeds from his album sales went to Native American charities. Rich Mullins gave everything he had (material, physical, and spiritual) to others. He seemed to be convinced that God was real, and that he wasn't God. His faith defied the dogmatic nature so many give to religion. He had been touched existentially, and he did something about it. I am including a link to him speaking at a concert in Lufkin, Texas shortly before he died. The speech truly encapsulates what he had become at the time of his death. His words could probably be offensive to both Christians and non-Christians alike. I think Christ was offensive in the same way. In it he says "if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ... the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor. This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong...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. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken." The clip is just under 10 minutes, and is well worth the time. I think it would be short-sighted to just memorialize him though. He presents me with several questions I cannot help but ask myself. 1. What is keeping me from giving everything I have away and serving others? 2. If God's people (including me)would put into practice his teachings, what would that look like? 3. Where are the opportunities around me to put them into practice?