Between Heaven and the Real World by Steven Curtis Chapman

Author:Steven Curtis Chapman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Steven Curtis Chapman;Contemporary Christian musicians—United States—Biography;Christian biography—United States;BIO018000;BIO005000
ISBN: 9781493405213
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2017-01-17T16:00:00+00:00

Jamming with my boys on the back porch.

For me, interviews are one of the most stressful things I do because I never know what questions are coming. But I’ve always believed that part of why God has given me the platform I have is so I can try in some small way to bring the light of Jesus into these places with me. The Scripture passage 1 Peter 3:15 has always been a great reminder to me whenever I’m in such situations: to always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in me, and to do it with gentleness and respect. That’s what I’ve tried to do.

I had done an interview with all the major networks, including CNN, E! Entertainment Television, FOX, and a host of others, when a disheveled guy who looked like he’d just walked in off the street approached me with a camera and a microphone. His camera looked like a home video camera. Mr. Disheveled stuck the microphone in front of my face. “So what’s your name?”

“Steven Curtis Chapman.”

“And you were nominated for a Grammy today?”

“Yeah, I was.”

“What’s your category?”

“Gospel music,” I said. “Best pop gospel male performance.”

“Oh, okay.” He looked as if the wheels in his mind were turning, as though he knew he was on to something. “So what do you think about Howard Stern?”

Suddenly, it was as if fireworks began going off in my brain. My heart started racing, and my mouth got as dry as cotton. With the cameras rolling and the microphone in my face, I knew there was no good answer, and I suddenly realized, This is Stuttering John, and I’m on The Howard Stern Show right now! Although I hadn’t noticed a logo on the microphone, there was no doubt in my mind.

A few weeks earlier, while channel surfing on our television at home, I had run across the Stern spectacle. The “show” featured little more than the host, Howard Stern, and his cohorts making degrading comments about the physical anatomies of various strippers—not exactly the kind of fare you would want your kids to watch, or yourself for that matter. I could hardly believe that such a thing would even be on television. I changed the channel but had seen enough to know that The Howard Stern Show was bad news. Before seeing that clip of his show, I hadn’t known much about Stern other than the fact that he was quite successful and had been around a long time in New York as a shock jock radio broadcaster before moving to television.

So when the disheveled interviewer asked for my opinion of Howard Stern, I wanted to say something bright and clever, something that would give an account for the hope I have, something that would speak the truth in love . . . all those things I had prayed about ahead of time for moments like this. What I really wanted to do at that moment was to take the easy road and say, “I don’t watch the guy and don’t know enough about him to make an informed comment.

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