Brad Stine, Interviewed (PART DEUX)

"I am a follower of Jesus. I never catch Him. I just follow Him."

www.BradStine.com

by Ryan Richardson

"The U.S. was formed by Christians. It was our lineage. Well, not yours, because you're Canadian. You had nothing to do with it. I don't know how you guys got started, or how you accomplished anything."

I am a huge fan of standup comedy - I was weaned on Saturday Night Live and Comedy Central. And I am a harsh critic, preferring edgy humour from people like George Carlin, David Cross, Steve Martin - stuff that forces me to think. When I first saw Brad Stine last year, I did not know who he was, but watched him sprint out of the blocks, taking on topics like smoking and general stupidity in society. He had me at hello. Turns out Promise Keepers thought so too, bringing him on to host each of its' Uprising events this year. When this interview was arranged, we thought we'd just have a half hour to meet with this wild man, which would give him some time to rest and prepare for his show. Instead, he cleared the night for Modern Disciple, and as soon as he was done speaking with us, he walked right out on stage and did a 90-minute set. A true professional, but it is obvious that years of working comedy clubs prepared him for what he does now.

The following is part two of our 90 minute interview with "Conservative Comedian" Brad Stine. Read the first part in the December Issue.

Brad Stine:I am in the middle of working with Warner Brothers for mainstream distribution. For crying out loud, "Put A Helmet On" has the Gospel on it, and Warner Brothers is saying, "how can we get this out to the mainstream"? Who does that but God?

What is interesting to me is that, I felt like I was being asked by God to relinquish my mainstream ties, and I was like, "OK then, fine". By doing that, by leaving Southern California and moving to Nashville, and committing to the "Christian world", all of a sudden, I've got Hollywood asking, hey can you do this over here? When I was there and trying to do that, it wasn't happening as quickly. When I gave it away, and said to God, you gave me the gift, it's yours. He gave it back and showed me where to go with it. Until you do that, I don't care how gifted you are, how successful you are, you will know intrinsically that something is missing. All He is saying is, "Ask me where the gift goes." All the things I thought I gave to God, He has given back more than I gave.

God said to me, "You can't do anything for me - I don't need you, I don't need anybody. What I want is your life. I want you to get out of the way, and let me inhabit it. You're dead. Shut up, go where I send you." What I wound up being is along for the ride. I knew the prayer was real, because I felt that He was going to take me up on it. I told the New Yorker, it was like Abraham and Isaac. Only when he raised the knife over his head, that God said, "now we can do some business".

I thought, "He's going to take away my comedy and make me go into plumbing." The moment you wrap your hands around it, you lose your perspective. I was raised in the church, I got saved in the fourth grade. From that point on, I was to spend my life working out my faith.

MD: How did you begin to work with Promise Keepers?

Brad: Quite simply, God gave me Promise Keepers. It is an incredible opportunity to speak to thousands of men who feel that they have no place in the world, and be a part of helping them find that place.

MD: What led you to write Being A Christian Without Being An Idiot?

Brad: The cool thing about comedy it gets away with murder. I can say things as a comedian that people would not listen to otherwise. I wrote the book, because the biggest problem with Christianity in this country is that we aren't real. We're not authentic. We hide our sins, we pretend like we're better than we are and feel like we have to create this image. Like we're unable to say, I struggle with that, I don't have it together - I am a follower of Jesus. I never catch Him. I just follow Him.

What I've found is that we allow traditions to trump truth. And truth is the only thing that matters. If the truth will set you free then the false must be your prison.

MD: What do you want people to take away from reading your book?

Read Brad's response on ---> PAGE 2