We are made for pleasure, you know. Blaise Pascal even said that everything that a man does is motivated by his desire for joy. Even a man who kills himself does so because he thinks that’s going to give him freedom. To quote C.S. Lewis, “It’s not that our desires are too strong; they are too weak, for we are far too easily pleased.”

Wow, you love to talk about the Word, don’t you?

Oh, come on.

That’s a beautiful thing. I know you’re doing some writing now, too. I guess it’s the overflow of your heart to teach.

And here’s the temptation: why do I write? Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are thirsty, out of you will flow rivers of living water.” Is my writing, my song-playing, a grateful reaction to the mercy I’ve been given in Christ? Is Christ using me, or am I using Christ? As we get more attention, I’ve found that is the temptation. Now I can put it on cruise control, and I can use Christ to write songs and get popular and make everybody love me. One of the songs on the record is called “Satisfy,” and it says, “Satisfy me in the morning with Your unfailing love.” Otherwise I’m going to look elsewhere to get my validation and satisfaction.

I know exactly what you’re saying, and I think we all struggle with that question to some degree. I can become tricked or lured into spending so much time checking my own heart, that without realizing it, my attention can become completely focused on myself. I finally had to come to the point of trust, of trusting the Lord Himself to keep me in check.

The point of the gospel is not to think higher or lower of yourself. The point of the gospel is to think of yourself less.

Exactly. That’s real humility, focusing more on Jesus than ourselves.

My friend always says the world is like a magnet, pulling you away from God and on to yourself, but Christ frees us finally from that constant struggle.

I wanted to close, Mike, by congratulating you on your engagement. That was a beautiful story that you shared online about your proposal, and I hope it’s OK to ask you this, but did you really wash her feet in the course of the evening that you proposed? I was really moved that you recognized the spirituality of that moment.

Yes, I did because it says, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church.” Christ washed the disciples’ feet, so if I’m going to love my wife the way that Christ loves me, then I need to out-serve her.

That’s the right attitude to go in with. When are you getting married?

May 4.

Oh, awesome, congratulations!

Thank you, I’m very excited.

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**This interview first published on Crosswalk.com on May 14, 2008.