The guys in Jars of Clay mix it up with new friends on a recent missions trip to Africa.

Jars of Clay is thrilled that critics and fans have taken a strong liking to Good Monsters, which won the 2007 Dove Award for Rock/Contemporary Album. But the band is especially passionate about missions and outreach, especially through their Blood:Water Mission charity. BWM's vision includes, among other things, a future for Africa with clean blood (free of the HIV virus) and clean water; the organization is already providing much of the latter by digging wells throughout the continent. And Jars is doing more than simply raising awareness about the issues and BWM; they're rolling up their sleeves to experience the mission field first hand. Guitarist Steve Mason and keyboardist Charlie Lowell talk about their recent trips, the growth of BWM, and the importance of breaking beyond church walls and cultural stereotypes to do the Lord's work.

You started Blood:Water Mission a few years ago and have been promoting it heavily at shows. How is it going?

Steve Mason: It's a slow growth. When we started, a really wise man encouraged us that we didn't want to be a speedboat rather than a sailboat. A speedboat is full of gas, very fast, makes a lot of noise, and has a nice paint job. A sailboat uses effects of the wind and the environment to get where it's going. It sets a course and ends up heading that direction a little slower and more methodically. Blood:Water Mission needs to ebb and flow at its own pace, sustained as a small organization that continues to be in a place of connectivity and donorship.

Why was it so important for you to go on the front lines and actually see the well situation first hand?

Mason: We went to South Africa a few years ago to put a face on AIDS, and we also went on a trip in January. To learn about it can be really messy and requires a lot of elements put together that we weren't necessarily experts at. We had to go and drink from a well and sit with the people whose lives had just changed. We wanted to—needed to—and it was really mind blowing to hear stories about how their lives have changed. There seemed to be this mile marker of "pre-well" and "post-well." They're not spending four or five hours every morning walking miles to a dirty water hole. They can pump it right there, plus they're given sanitation and hygiene training before it's installed.

Did the depth of the purification process surprise you, especially considering filtered and bottled water is taken for granted in America?

Mason: Even before a well goes in, the community has to show that it can sustain it. In the '80s, when Africa came on the map with Live Aid, there was this sort of knee-jerk reaction to put wells everywhere. There was no hygiene training and no community supporting it, so they fell into disrepair. One of our sailboat ideas is that we really want to make sure communities can sustain themselves. Women's groups do it a lot—they pool together shillings and raise what little they have for maintenance and other things. It's not like bottling Dasani!

You mentioned Live Aid. Jars participated in Live 8, which had a different goal but put Live Aid back in the news. Did it help bring awareness back?

Charlie Lowell: I was fairly young when Live Aid happened, and to me it was just a cool music event on MTV. I didn't understand or connect with the real reason behind it, but Live 8 certainly helped put it back in headlines. Bono (of U2) also continues to remind the media about AIDS and clean water in Africa while the country is obsessing over how Anna Nicole Smith died or obsessing over Alec Baldwin's angry voice mail to his daughter.

Did Live 8 raise the awareness of Blood:Water Mission in the mainstream world?

Lowell: I'm not sure. The interesting thing we experienced at Live 8 was that the artists who played weren't necessarily debriefed when they got there. It's funny, but we ended up being the experts to the media among all the artists—they were taken aback that we'd actually been there and could speak intelligently and personally on the subject. We knew more about it than even some of the MTV VJs who were saying, "What's going on is really bad. It's all about awareness." Awareness of what?

How does that knowledge continue to get refined, especially in light of the changes and challenges in Africa?

Mason: There are growing pains within an organization, and we don't want to reinvent the wheel or be Compassion International or World Vision. But I think we have to continue to develop slowly and methodically. We have really talented people surrounding us, and the board is composed of amazing people who are really overqualified, but believe in what we're doing.

Lowell and Mason hold hope for the future of Africa and its people.

What is the spirit of the people in Africa you're serving?

Mason: It's a spirit of gratitude and joyfulness, but they're also broken. They're losing family members. You can't go without hearing wailing because someone probably just passed away—probably from AIDS, but no one is saying that because there's such a stigma around it. Yet despite the suffering, the hospitality and the joy is so tangible and so challenging. It's an embodiment of their passion in the midst of their circumstances.

We don't really have a handle on that here in America. Africans value human life and live so close to the edge in terms of God's providence. They have more spiritual knowledge than I will probably ever have, just because in my world here in America, we're so satiated and immersed in ourselves. It's really fascinating to look at the suicide rates in America vs. Africa. They really value human life in these villages and understand their time is short and of great value.

Even though AIDS is now less of a taboo topic in Christian circles, there's still some stigma. What would you like American Christians to know about the pandemic?

Lowell: Christianity is about imitating Jesus, and he didn't give his love according to people's behavior, sin, or religious affiliation. There's no reserving of his love based on what you've done, and that's the ultimate measure of what we should be striving for. I'm not saying it's easy, but I don't understand how people can't treat others any other way. I feel like maybe there's been some sight lost of that standard Christ called us to.

Why do you think Christians have strayed from that calling?

Mason: Probably cutting Jesus' hair, making him look pretty, and having him speak English. He doesn't hang out with the prostitutes anymore, and he's not with the poor. Now he resides in the suburbs and big churches. Which is not to say out of spite that those big churches are bad, but I think the notion of Jesus' calling is so much more radical than what can be contained in a political party or a certain framework of understanding of what's Christian and what isn't. Following Christ is a call to a much grayer life than the black-and-white one we seem to want to live, especially in regards to those who we extend love to and who we can vote for.

It's also contained in a new paradigm of Western Christianity where we don't want to engage relationally, because that's scary and part of the AIDS situation—engaging with people we don't understand or who are ill. It's much easier to say "safe for the whole family." I don't know if those things are truly representative of what God calls us to. Yes, you certainly have to discern what children are exposed to, but it's a continuous conversation that pushes against the idea of moving into a space and having the right answer. Especially in the evangelical community, there seems to be a sense of assuming that everything already known is what's right, even what's right for other people. That really dismantles any opportunity for God to break through and teach me something.

Maybe we confuse the truth—that Jesus is the truth—with being right. There seems to be this thinking, "Because I'm with Jesus, I'm always right, so I have to go out and tell all people they are wrong." There's a little thicker line than that!

Jars has been outspoken in mainstream interviews in expressing your opinions, but less so in the Christian market. How do you hope to open people's minds, but at the same time, not alienate or offend your longstanding fan base?

Mason: You have to move slowly. In regards to mainstream interviews, [frontman] Dan [Haseltine] is pretty brash sometimes, laying it out there. It's more to the idea that we're really passionate these days, especially in regards to Good Monsters, which is about moving from isolation into community. Our stories have been trying to figure out this Christian life between God and me. If we had put a political message on the album, it would've overridden other things that are really crucial to building community and a sense of a diverse body needing to work together. [Editor's note: Haseltine addressed many of these issues in this interview.]

[One topic covered on the record] isn't really much of a rant beyond talking about how we give so much power away to people who say they are Christians. Even looking at George W. Bush, we should continue to be suspect of everyone, to understand we are all human and not above reproach—rather than blindly accept someone just because they are Christian.

It goes back to the absence of discernment. No matter where anyone sits on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's crucial to understand Jesus is the only absolute truth. Beyond that, all humans are going to fail, and that includes our leaders. So we need to continue to be wise as serpents in terms of how we blindly go along and not question, assuming everything is in hand because a man of faith happens to be in office.

Given all of this, what's the band's next step?

Mason: In terms of making art, it should challenge people's thoughts and our own thoughts. We look at this really like this whole Blood:Water Mission model we've been talking about. We're furthering a conversation—a 13-year conversation—that may have been a little inclusive at times, but in general the goal is to continue to be a part of that and continue to make good art that asks good questions.

Lowell: We haven't arrived by any means. We'll continue to change and grow and get to know others that influence us. This call and response type of thing keeps it interesting.

You can learn more about Blood:Water Mission by visiting the official website. Visit our site's artist page to read the latest interviews and reviews concerning Jars of Clay, including a review of their Good Monsters album. Visit Christianbook.com to listen to song clips and purchase their music.

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