Interview with Bryan Gill

Bryan Gill is a great writer and a good friend. We studied together at Beeson Divinity School. Here is the interview he conducted earlier this week. You can also find it at Bryan’s blog.

Named after the main character in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian George lives out his own perpetual pilgrimage with his Crocs and his Mac. Having not reached age thirty, Christian is as well traveled as a seasoned flight attendant. He usually treks to historic sites where monks, reformers, and martyrs trod. His Crocs have been filled with the same dirt that dusted the thonged sandals of Church icons such as the Apostle Paul, St. Augustine, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, and Dietrict Bonhoeffer—to name a few.

However, Christian doesn’t travel in vain. He wears out the keyboard of his Mac writing about his pilgrimage and has six books to his name. He said, “Every one of us is on a journey. We might not recognize it, but nothing in life is truly static.” In an rapidly-moving world the question echoes a Dave Matthew’s song, “Where are you going?” “So the question is not if we are traveling. The question becomes, what are we traveling towards?” George said. As a vital part of the Christian experience, he believes that the pilgrimage is “an outward practice that reflects an upward reality—that we are on a journey to God.”

Christian intertwines his writings with personal pilgrimage stories and powerful metaphors and then soaks them in a bucket of theology. He likes dancing the tightrope between edginess and Sunday morning church. For instance, his favorite book that he’s authored is entitled, Sex, Sushi, & Salvation. He added that explaining how these three things fit together wasn’t easy.

George’s most recent book, Godology: Because Knowing God Changes Everything (Moody Publications), is about getting to know God personally. “Each chapter contains an attribute of God, a spiritual discipline, and a practical way to express your faith,” said George. Godology is for people interested in diving in head first to explore a “bottomless God.” George said, “This book is about going deeper–exchanging a casual faith for a crucial one.”

I asked Christian, “What do you want people to say about Christian George after they read one of your books?” He quoted John the Baptist, “I must decrease, Christ must increase.” And then replied, “I would hope my readers get a bigger view of Christ when they put down my book instead of a bigger view of me.”

Christian and his wife, Rebecca, live in St. Andrews, Scotland where he adds that “it is quite a cold place to be in the winter, it turns out.” He is currently working on a dissertation on Charles Spurgeon, “And a few other things,” he adds. For Christian George to say, “and a few other things,” means that readers can be expecting some BIG “other things” in the future.

When he is finished with his PhD work, he plans to continue writing, preaching, and teaching. This guy is the real deal, folks. His writings will touch your heart and stimulate your brain. Check him out and buy one or six of his books. I’ve read two but he cranks them out so fast I can’t keep up.

Quick Hitters about Christian George:

1. What do most people not know about you?

You know that thing in the back of your throat that hangs down?  Yeah, so I don’t have one.

2. What is playing in your ipod right now?

Miles Davis, Jack Johnson, John Piper podcasts, Ingrid Michaelson, George Gershwin, Louis Armstrong.

3. How does Christian George relax?

With a playstation controller in my hand.

4. Favorite ice cream flavor?

Rocky Road.  More rocky than road, please.

5. Favorite Starbucks drink?

Anything tea.  Green, Passion, Chai.  Doesn’t matter.  Just as long as it has caffeine.

6. Favorite novel?

Currently enjoying John Grisham’s, The Firm.  Man, that guy can tell a story.

7. Who are your heroes?

My dad is my greatest hero.  Most kids grow up and see their fathers as equals or something.  Not me.  I still look at him through the eyes of a five year old who thinks his dad can take on the world.  Also my grandfather.  Against the odds, and against much criticism, he built an airplane from scratch and went on to win dozens of aerobatic competitions.

8. Favorite author/s?

I read a lot of dead people.  I guess that sounds kind of creepy, but they seem to have better things to say, and can say them better. Of course, my all time favorite Christian author is Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892, London Pastor).  Not to endorse public nudity or anything, but I’d trade the very clothes off my back for a good copy of “All of Grace.”

9. When was the last time you thought, “I’m living the dream”?

Blue Bayou Waterpark, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Going down a freakishly tall slide and falling off my raft half way down.

10. In the entire world, where is your favorite place to watch the sunset?

There’s a little restaurant in Assisi, Italy that has four or five tables spread out across a small balcony patio.  It overlooks the medieval part of the city, and from that view you can see that not much has changed in a thousand years.  From your table, your eyes can stretch all the way to the horizon without hindrance.  Across wheat-laced fields and flowers that in the summertime put off a soft yellow sheen.  And at sunset, everything just stops:  Clocks.  Deadlines.  Meetings.  There are no more hassles, train tickets, or writing projects to worry about.  No more rushing from one Italian city to the next.  No more subway systems or art museums.  All your activities of the day are over.  At last, you can finally stop doing and start being.  And then there’s the moment–that perfect, timeless, Italian moment when the sun disappears out of sight.  And whenever I sit there, I suppose it makes me think that humans were created for moments like that.

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