Beholding the Lamb and Interviewing Andrew Peterson

“No man, when he comes to die, will ever say, ‘I spoke too much of the grace of God.’ Let Satan accuse me of that. I welcome it.” -Andrew Peterson, foreword, Behold the Lamb of God

I’m just so thankful for Andrew Peterson’s life and ministry.

It was February when we set down with Andrew Peterson in Franklin, Tenn., to interview him for the cover story of the current RTM Magazine. My vocabulary is too weak to string together a sentence that would fully convey how much I learned from him that day.

We laughed, we (I) cried, we talked about how much we love the Gospel.

It was my favorite interview.

Andrew posted about the interview here.

As my Christmas present, on Monday night my coworker took me to see Andrew’s Behold the Lamb of God tour in Nashville and was once again mesmerized by the Gospel that shattered my heart and gave me a new one.

Three hours of wonder, worship, goosebumps and tears. That’s what the night was.

It was my favorite “show.”

Everyone I know is going with me next year. So just go ahead and reserve a night in December to meet me at the Ryman. I’ll bring the Kleenexes.

Singing with (part of) his family. From left: Andrew’s wife Jamie, their daughter Skye, and Andrew.

What follows is a snippet of the interview with AP that we had to cut from the main article for spacial reasons. (Check out his cover story here.) 

Consider this one of the deleted scenes from his article.

In this little blurb, AP talks about community and how it nourishes art, which I thought fitting to share while he’s sharing the stage with so many beautiful artists on this Christmas tour.

Next week I’ll post another deleted scene where he answers the question, “How do you make non-cheesy Christian art?” Stay tuned for that gem.

And, if you’re in a city close to a Behold the Lamb of God tour stop, go. Drive six hours if you have to. Just go. You’ll love God more because of it.

THE CYCLE OF ART & COMMUNITY NOURISHING

“There’s this picture in people’s minds of this artist who is always off by himself and he’s creating his thing, his masterpiece in isolation or whatever and I’ve just found that art nourishes community and that community nourishes art,” Andrew said. “Art has a way of drawing people to itself. Art made in community is better than art made in isolation. You end up learning from the people around you.

“It’s nice to live in Nashville where every songwriter I know is better than I am. Community has a way of nourishing art in a really important way. I think that’s the thing. More than ever I’m learning that I need people. And I need to invite other people, don’t be precious about what it is you’re trying to make. But at the same time realizing the more beautiful thing than the song you’re writing is the friendship that you’re a part of or the people you’re going to church with. The story that is unfolding is much better than the works of art it is giving birth to.”

At the end of the day, it’s seeing the Gospel—in God’s artwork, His creation, His people—that makes the difference.

“The songs are going to all go away but I hope I’m still friends with some of these guys and girls when I’m 80. That’s far more important than the songs,” he said. “The songs are almost a good excuse for you to build your friendships with these people. That’s one of the big things I’ve learned over the years.”

Read the main article, Breadcrumbs of Grace: Seeing the Gospel in Art, here.