Gary Thomas

Gary Thomas Answers The Faithful Fifteen

November 2007

In this Faithful Fifteen interview, Gary Thomas --- the author of SACRED MARRIAGE, SACRED PATHWAYS, SACRED PARENTING and SACRED INFLUENCE --- explains that his calling as a writer is to help his readers use their relationships as an aid to personal and spiritual growth. He discusses how some of his fears about Christianity today can be remedied, as described in his latest book, THE BEAUTIFUL FIGHT, recounts his own faith journey and shares a touching experience with a reader whose marriage was saved with the help of his writing.

Writing

FaithfulReader.com: Could you give a brief summary of your latest book?

Gary Thomas: I believe God wants to raise the level of expectation for his presence and activity in the life of every believer. Today’s Christianity is in danger of making Jesus merely a memory --- the “what would Jesus do?” line of thinking --- rather than experiencing his continued reign and activity in our lives. THE BEAUTIFUL FIGHT explores the struggle behind surrendering to a life of true transformation, in which we learn to see with Christ’s eyes, hear with Christ’s ears, think with Christ’s mind and feel with Christ’s heart.

FR: What role does faith have in the book? What inspired you to write it?

GT: With this book, I believe God gave me a calling and a mission --- that he really is calling the church to a new level of expectation for his life and activity. We have become so passive, and we dishonor Christ when we talk about him as a “memory” instead of a living reality who reigns and who transforms us, moves us and works through us.

FR: What do you feel your calling is as a writer?

GT: On the technical end, my calling is to make myself available to be God’s tool; to weave the unique experiences he’s given me and allow him to create a message to the particular circle of influence that he has opened up for me. I try to write as the apostle Paul lived: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20) and “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” Colossians 1:29

On the substantive end, I believe God has called me to make spiritual formation practical and applicable; how does God use the most common relationships (marriage, parenting, friendship) and situations to shape our souls, reveal himself to us and accomplish his work in us? I’m not a systematic theologian who debates intricate points of doctrine, nor am I a revolutionary who wants to lead a movement. I see myself more as a Christian brother who is sharing his own journey in Christ in the hopes that others may gain some insight for their own journey.

FR: Who are your favorite authors and mentors? How have they influenced your work?

GT: For fiction, I like so many authors: Susan Howatch, Pat Conroy, Josephine Humphreys, Ken Follett, John Grisham, John Updike, Tom Wolfe, Anthony Trollope and many, many others. Ask me on another day, and I might give you an entirely different list (though Howatch would make it on every one).

For nonfiction, I’m almost always reading through a Christian “classic.” I can’t really pick among them, as they all speak so differently to different parts of my life in different seasons of my life. More recent writers include C. S. Lewis, with whom I’ll never grow bored, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Elton Trueblood.

FR: Do you have any favorite stories of encounters with readers?

GT: Too many to count! At a Sacred Marriage seminar, a young man came up and told me I had no idea how much God had used me in his life; he then recounted how his marriage was all but over, with his wife packing her things to move out the next day, when she stumbled across his copy of SACRED MARRIAGE and, after reading through it for a couple of hours, decided to give their marriage another try. As he told me this, his four-year-old son clung to his leg and his 18-month-old daughter stuffed Cheerios into her face. When you see God preserve a home for two vulnerable children, there’s nothing like it.

Many readers have responded how SACRED PATHWAYS revolutionized their times of devotion, or how AUTHENTIC FAITH helped them face some really difficult times. These stories are always enormously gratifying to hear.

Spirituality

FR: Tell us about your personal faith journey.

GT: I was blessed to be raised in a wonderful Baptist church; my earliest memory is running up the stairs at the back end of the church. I was baptized when I was eight, but really have no memory of life apart from God. I helped found a Christian students group in junior high, then helped start a before-school prayer meeting in high school, after “rededicating” my life before my senior year. I strayed a bit in my mid-high school years, and realized I was either going to be faithful in Christ and live a life of joy, or be miserable in my rebellion. I chose the joy and am so glad I did. In college, I was heavily involved in campus ministry and then went to seminary. I fall more in love with God every day; he is a bigger part of my life now than ever before, my very reason for being, so in many ways I believe the journey has just started.

FR: Who are your spiritual mentors?

GT: My mentors started early. An elementary school teacher named Mark Rorem turned me on to C. S. Lewis in the fifth grade. A wonderful pastor named Eugene Boggess baptized me and then officiated at my wedding, providing some wonderful counsel in the intervening years. In college, I was blessed to be discipled by Brady Bobbink, a gifted campus pastor. In seminary, I feasted on the teaching and relationships provided by Dr. Klaus Bockmuehl and Dr. J. I. Packer, among others. Today, I’ll go out of my way to hear a sermon by C. J. Mahaney. I’ve met him face to face just a couple of times, but am challenged by his teaching on a regular basis.

FR: What is your current church community involvement?

GT: I have been attending (and am a long-standing member of) Hillcrest Chapel in Bellingham, Washington for 18 years. About a year ago, I took a leave from the board, after a rather eventful four-year term in leadership. My wife and I enjoy being a part of a small group, and I’m occasionally asked to preach on Sunday mornings when I’m in town. There are inherent difficulties in staying connected when I travel so much, but long-standing relationships mitigate against many of these. That’s why I plan to stay where we are as long as we’re in Bellingham.

FR: What are your Scripture reading habits? Prayer habits?

GT: Growing up, I read Scripture first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Now, it’s every morning. I’ll read through a book of the Old Testament (not in one sitting), and then usually go through a book in the New Testament. How much I read depends on the day; sometimes, God will knock me out with a sentence and I’ll spend that morning thinking on the implications of eight words; other days, I may read several pages. It just depends.

I’ll then usually read a portion of a Christian classic, and then spend some quiet time in prayer --- but I strive to be praying throughout the day. I want to live in prayer, not just “do” prayer.

FR: If you had one message for Christians today, what would it be?

GT: The one that has gained the most traction is this: “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?” But I don’t think that’s the first word God spoke through me, nor do I believe it’s the last.

Life

FR: Tell us about your family. Spouse? Kids?

GT: My wife and I have been married for 23 years and are exact opposites in so many things: She’s a classic extrovert; I’m the introvert. She’s “organic”; I’m anything but. She likes to do as much as possible on vacations; I like to lie around. I like to run marathons; she thinks that’s crazy. But our love for each other is deeper than ever and still continues to grow as we share Christ together. I don’t say that as a cliché --- I really mean it. The more we share Christ together, the deeper our love gets.

We have three children: Allison is 20, Graham is 17 and Kelsey is 15.

FR: Do you and your family have any special traditions?

GT: We’ve had “routines” more than traditions. About 10 years ago, we started taking Lent more seriously, even though we’re evangelical, and then try to spend from Good Friday to Easter Sunday on a media fast (which I’ve been known, shamefully, to break, as a golf major is frequently played on that weekend).

FR: What are some of your favorite hobbies and activities?

GT: I love to run and try to do a marathon a year, unless I’m injured (which it seems like I am, half the time). I love to read and hang out with my kids whenever they’re available (they’re teens --- so you take what you can get). I’m also a huge sports fan, particularly on the weekends (thank God for TiVo).

FR: What are your media habits? Television? Movies? Music? Etc.

GT: I’m more of a talk radio guy than a music-listening guy. I love it now that “Mike and Mike in the Morning” are on ESPN2 instead of just the radio, so that I can get them on the road, and I really enjoy (people, prepare to groan) Rush Limbaugh. Since I travel so much, I watch a good number of DVDs --- that’s better for me than channel surfing in a hotel room, which can leave me even more tired and decidedly uninspired. I do own an iPod, however, and my family laughs at the eclectic mix --- I still have a lot of Keith Green and John Michael Talbot on there, along with U2 and a ton of ’70s music. The Bee Gees disco era is great music to listen to before a 20-mile run.

FR: What excites you about life?

GT: Knowing God, loving my family, doing what I believe God created me to do and an 18- to 22-mile run on the weekends.