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Eli
The Second Hand Keeps Turning In His Life
"It's been an incredibly intense year or so, but things are
going good now. I'm in a good place."
by Michael Herman
I recently had a chance
to talk with Eli on the phone. I was me, and he was pretending to be a telemarketer
from a bean sprout publication confirming my subscription order.
The element of surprise
was on Eli's side as I fumbled through my words to try to understand who was
calling me. Then I heard a laugh on the other end of the line. The next words
that came out of my mouth were, "You got me again, Eli." He started off a previous
interview in this manner. I can't believe I fell for it, twice!
A few days later, I was
sitting in a conversion van behind a small church with Eli after a concert.
The van is home to him and his road family who makes sure he gets to the places
they're supposed to be at. They also make sure he enjoys his birthday (which
was that day), by doing their best to embarrass him onstage with a cake, candles,
and a rendition of "Happy Birthday" from them and the crowd that will mercifully
not make it onto his next album.
We talked in the van about
human stuff, my new guitar, his love for kids, what he's been up to since the
last time we talked, and other topics discussed between friends, not media person
to artist. These moments are the essence of Eli and his magnetism to people.
Now here are his words,
thoughts, and self-proclaimed "ramblings" about his new album, Second Hand
Clothing, where he's at in his life, and where he hopes to go from here.
 "The
Scripture that pretty much says everything about where I'm at is where John
the Baptist says to his disciples, 'I must become less and he must become more.'
As I look back on this last year, this last album, and everything I've gone
through, I think that even the music used to be more for me. Now it's turning
around. I feel like I'm seeing more of Christ's perspective on servanthood.
I mean really knowing what it's like and not just saying or writing the words,
but living them in my day-to-day life.
"I think I'm coming to
the revelation that when Christ said go to all the nations, he may never have
intended any of us to be 'superstars' for God. But, instead, to be servants
speaking in and out of season. So for me, he has been confirming my ministry
in music. The fact that I get to reach such a large audience hits me a little
bit at times, but God has wonderfully blinded me to everything that's going
on around me except for what's right in front of me.
"Basically, he's showing
me that I'm not important, that I'm loved and cherished, and that I have a place
right next to him in ministry. In a sense he's saying, 'My Yoke is easy and
my burden is light.' He comes alongside me and shows me and teaches me. But
it's not about me getting out in front. I've learned over the past year that
God is able to restore us and renew us. He believes in us, even when we don't
believe in ourselves.
"Now I don't care a whole
lot about self-promotion, or even about self-agendas. Now it's like, 'Okay,
God, I've done everything I've wanted to do,' and anything that hasn't been
Christ-focused is just meaningless. 'Help me not to try to stick up for myself.
Help me not to try to promote myself but to promote You.' But even in that,
to make sure that I'm not really promoting myself through that effort. There
are just so many dimensions to it.
"The fact is, we've been
seeing God do so many cool things, it's just blowing my mind. I'm so grateful
that he's using me at all, and allowing me to be there for it. It's cool that
it's not up to me. You know what I mean? I've been worried at times thinking,
'What if I go left here, God?' I know this is just simple theology, but God
is always there for me saying, 'I'm faithful. You're not, but I will be.'
"It's hard not to sound
cliché-ish, so I'll try to say this another way, but I just keep hoping on Jesus.
I keep pressing into him. I keep looking to him saying, 'I know that if you
don't do it, it's not gonna work.' Like with this newest album, I'm anxious
in some ways about it because I want people to hear and see what these songs
have to say to them. And I get fearful at times when I see all the politics
and the wheel spinning in the industry. I have to keep myself removed from it.
I don't look at the charts, I don't know how I'm doing, and I don't want to
know how many albums I'm selling.
"It's a hard place to be,
because I don't want to become bitter or self-righteous. I don't want to think
I'm better than anybody either. There are so many wonderful brothers and sisters
out there who are helping us do what we're doing. Let's be honest. Without radio,
retail, and the press, we wouldn't have the platform to minister like we do.
No one has asked me to be anyone but who I am, and they've respected that and
they've believed and they've seen my heart even through some tough situations.
"I guess my whole thing
now is saying, 'God I don't have a clue as to what's gonna happen, but I want
to be in the center of your will because I know things happen there that are
lasting.'
 "This
past fall we did a tour. It was something I really didn't want to do, but I
did it anyway. Working with the bands Satellite Soul and The Jason Ingram Band
was incredible. Let me tell you, these are some humble, godly people. It just
convicted me.
"Anyway, seeing how
this whole machine works, the tour and all, I just thought, 'What a horrible
thing.' Halfway through the tour I was thinking, 'Lord, if I didn't know any
better, if I didn't know there was a better way for me, I'd quit and never pick
up a guitar again.' But I stuck it out, and I can see how blessed I am to be
able to do the dates that I've been doing [outside of the tour].
"Lately when we work
with event promoters, we gel with them. They're doing outreach. A lot of these
guys have never promoted concerts before, and they work out fantastically for
everyone because we all work together. What a concept, huh? We work together
for the common good of proclaiming the Gospel to unsaved people and encouraging
Christians. So we do a concert, everybody gives a little, everybody takes a
little, and we all walk away blessed.
"People in the congregations
are buying tickets for their unsaved friends. Husbands are having a night out
with their wives, spending time with their families. And people are walking
out discussing the Gospel. I think so many times we bring someone to a concert
thinking that we'll bring them and they'll get saved, like we're taking them
for a haircut. But Christ wants us to invest our lives into other people's lives.
I'm not the guy who's gonna blow into town and everybody will get saved. We
do reap a harvest, but the fact is that Christians are taking an active part
in discipling and evangelizing their friends because they love them and they
want them to go to heaven. That's when I think that this is what [my ministry]
is supposed to be all about."
Read
ChristianityToday.com's other interview with Eli here
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