He's Arrived
Chris Tomlin's worship songs are sung 'round the world. We recently chatted with Tomlin about his success, his tour with SCC, and his new CD, Arriving.
by Andy Argyrakis | posted 12/06/2004
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Chances are you've sung praise anthems like "Forever," "We Fall Down," "Famous One," and maybe even the new "Holy Is the Lord"—all testament to the songwriting prowess of Chris Tomlin. His music is instantly recognizable, but the worship leader keeps a pretty low profile, refusing to get distracted by stardom while remaining committed to his home church when not touring. Time off the road has been scarce since joining Steven Curtis Chapman's All Things New tour, but Tomlin says he's been encouraged by seeing so many singing his songs, reaffirming his music ministry calling. In a phone call from the road, Tomlin talked about the tour, the inspiration behind his new album Arriving, and his beginnings in the Passion movement
What's it been like on one of this year's biggest tours?
Chris Tomlin I've been more excited than nervous and each night has been spent making a very strong connection with people. I'm finding that a lot of people are familiar with my music, just that they didn't necessarily know I was the one who sang it. Working with Steven is just awesome too. I'm really impressed with him; there's absolutely no ego whatsoever. He's wholeheartedly committed to doing God's work.
What's a typical show like on this tour?
Tomlin Steven opens up the night on guitar and prays for the night. Then Casting Crowns plays its set, and Steven plays with them for one final song. Then Steven plays a big medley of acoustic songs that are a bit older, but all really big hits. Then it goes right into our set, and we play most of Arriving with Steven coming in for the ending of "How Great Is Our God" and a message about adoption. There's an intermission, then Steven's set and all of us at the end come in when he starts "All Things New" on acoustic guitar, which fades into "Forever."
How does it feel to have one of your musical heroes wrapping up the show with one of your songs?
Tomlin The ending of it is just bizarre, but shows his humility and how he's a person who understands his position and what God's given him. He's not stingy with the spotlight at all. He wants to raise up other artists, but most importantly Jesus throughout the entire concert.
How does it make you feel when people are familiar with your songs, but not necessarily with you?
Tomlin It's more about the songs anyway. I enjoy that the songs precede me because they're God's songs and he uses them to bring about his glory. I feel like in the cases of "The Wonderful Cross," "We Fall Down" and "Forever," people especially feel like these are all their songs. They feel ownership and can therefore sing and worship God as a whole even louder than we can send off from stage.
How do you stay so humble knowing that you're still the mouthpiece for that reaction?
Tomlin Honestly, I haven't given it all that much thought. I'm just being me and I'm the same person on stage as I am off the stage. My job is to prepare the way for God, not prepare the way for me. I just want to be faithful to continue to write songs that build up the body of Christ and I'm humble when it comes to the reaction.
These songs are all over radio and racking up Dove Award nominations. Is that distracting at all?
Tomlin It's all part of it and it can consume you if you let it. But I understand its role and that there are certain elements that make the industry side go round. I'm just thankful that I have people on my team who want to support what I'm doing and get me out there as much as possible, but they're not going to push me farther than is appropriate. I know my limits and I seek to stay in good balance.
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