Stephen McWhirter
14 min read ⭑
“My favorite songwrites are not the ones where we sit down and try to make a song work. It’s where we sit down and talk about what God is doing. The conversation ends up feeding the lyrics. The moment ends up being the song.”
A Dove Award-winning songwriter, Stephen McWhirter delights worship enthusiasts with anthems like the Grammy-winning “Come Jesus Come,” performed by CeCe Winans and the Tabernacle Choir. But he wasn’t always a worshipper. Although he grew up the son of an evangelist, trauma and abuse led him down a dark path of meth addiction until reading a book by Lee Strobel forced him to come face to face with Jesus — an encounter that forever changed him. Since then, Stephen has published his own book, Radically Restored (with a foreword by Lee Strobel), which digs deeper into his testimony and helps others find healing through Christ. Today, he’s opening up about how writing the book has brought healing to his family and what not winning a Grammy for his hit song taught him about gratitude.
The following is a transcript of a live interview. Responses have been edited and condensed for brevity and clarity.
QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT
Food is always about more than food; it’s also about home and people and love. So how does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind your web bio?
Food is such a strange and beautiful thing, especially when it comes to comfort food. I’ve traveled a lot and can feel lonely when I’m away, but when I sit down at a restaurant and have that experience with the food and the waiter, it creates a comforting moment of normalcy. When I’m home in Louisville, Kentucky, my favorite meal is chicken tikka masala, local Indian food. It’s funny because you’d think I’d say my favorite meal is fried chicken or something, but we have some incredible Indian restaurants here. I have good memories sitting there eating.
Lee Cartledge; Unsplash
QUESTION #2: REVEAL
What “nonspiritual” activity have you found to be quite spiritual, after all? What quirky proclivity, out-of-the-way interest or unexpected pursuit refreshes your soul?
Traveling a lot, I find myself in restaurants often. I try to get away to eat and refresh or reset, and that’s where I usually end up seeing the Lord moving on a waiter, and I think, Who is this person? What has God done with them? What’s he doing with them now? It’s not a church. It’s not a moment where I’m ministering per se to anyone or anything, but it causes me to remember that people matter. That can be hard to remember when you’re caught up in the day-to-day routine.
Going out to eat sounds so mundane and silly, but you go out to eat and you just pay attention to the people — not just what they’re doing, like serving you, but that they’re people. The Lord is wildly in love with them and desires to care for them and to see them come into who they’re meant to be. Whenever I’m in those situations, I really do think about the C.S. Lewis quote that says, “You have never talked to a mere mortal.” Everyone is forever. Something about being at a restaurant draws that into perspective, even more than when I’m in a worship service.
One day, I was at a steakhouse, and I could tell my waiter was a drug addict. I have an addiction background, so I can see the signs pretty quickly. I said, “Hey, don’t freak out. I’m not about to tell your manager or do anything, but I know you’re struggling. The likelihood of you being on meth right now is probably pretty high, right?”
He looked at me, white as a ghost, like he was caught. I said, “I can’t stress this enough — you’re not in trouble. I’m not telling anybody. I just want you to know that you matter. This isn’t the real you, and you know that. The real you is the fully-alive you in Jesus. You might not remember what you look like before all this or who you were ever meant to really be, but you matter.”
I also said, “Often, the size of your destiny is seen by the size of the attack on your life.” It was a really special moment. My kids were with me, too. They were like, What is my father doing? I ended up praying for that guy, so that was one moment specifically that felt real and restful.
QUESTION #3: CONFESS
Every superhero has a weakness; every human, too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re all broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite, and how do you confront its power?
I think my kryptonite is contentment. I would love to tell you that I’ve overcome this issue, but that wouldn’t be true. A great example would be two nights ago, when CeCe Winans won a Grammy for performing a song I wrote titled “Come Jesus Come.” The songwriters did not win a Grammy, so I didn’t win one. The Brooklyn Tabernacle also won an award for Best Roots Gospel Album, the same album on which I sing “Come Jesus Come,” but I don’t get a Grammy for that either.
Statistically speaking, it’s very hard to win a Grammy, but it’s astronomically unlikely for your song to win twice without you winning. So I said, “God, what are you up to? This is you. You’re in this, and this is such a rare gift to be given. Jesus, I want you more than an award, and I’m content with you. You’re enough.” Not many people get that kind of opportunity. I can think of three other occasions in the history of the Grammys where this has happened, and that’s it. The odds are astronomical.
I do not think I’m being punished, though. I think I’m being given a gift to mean it. Often, I say I’m content, but really, there’s something I really wanted to work out, and it didn’t. Those are moments of kryptonite, but the Lord is always preparing our character for our destiny. If this had happened in my 20s, I would have fallen apart. Thankfully, he loves us too much to let us go there until we’re ready.
QUESTION #4: FIRE UP
Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?
One of the most underestimated tools is being a lifelong learner — learning when to pivot, still doing the thing you’re called to, but finding new ways to do it. The goal is to think ahead and come up with solutions that others haven’t already come up with. I think we’re not very good at that. In Exodus 17, Moses tells the Lord that everybody’s complaining, saying they need water. And the Lord says, “Moses, strike the rock with the staff I’ve given you. Water will come out.” He does, and all these people get water. Then in Numbers 20, Moses goes to God again about the people complaining for water. God says, “This time, do not strike the rock, but speak to it. This is different from before.” What does Moses do? He goes and strikes the rock — not once but twice. It’s easy for us to do the same. Metaphorically, we strike a rock and expect water to come out because it’s worked before. We’ll keep doing it. But God says, “No, I have a new way that’s wild that nobody would think of doing. Just speak to a rock, and water will come out.” Sadly, Moses’ disobedience kept him from going into the promised land — his inability to pivot with God’s lead or to stop and say, “God, do you want to do this differently? Am I missing what I need to do going forward?”
I’ve applied this concept to music and everything else I do because I am a son of the living God. Yes, I am called to advance his kingdom, but I’m also a small-business owner. God’s called me to steward that well. To steward that with excellence and to be wise. That means I have to stay on top of things. I have to learn new technologies. I have to be a lifelong learner. I have to be ready for what’s coming and consider what other people aren’t thinking about so that I can utilize my ideas for the kingdom and be ready. I must be willing to stretch myself and to keep finding new ways to do what it is that I do.
Recently, I wrote a book about my testimony called “Radically Restored: How Knowing Jesus Heals Our Brokenness.” In many ways, this book is my way of learning something new. It was an act of obedience and has been a long time coming. I think the only reason I hadn’t written it yet was that I was waiting for some of the people in the book to be OK with it, specifically my mom. My mom’s still with me, and she went through much of the trauma I share in the book. She was a victim, so I wanted to write the book in a way that allowed her to feel honored and loved and championed — and not just thrown into a book for a book’s sake. After all, God is already using me through music, so I didn’t have to write a book. In fact, I started out making a small 30-page version of the book that I would’ve given to my followers. I reached out to Lee Strobel, whose book I read when I gave my life to Jesus, and asked if he would write a foreword for the booklet. He and my friend, Mark Middleburg, insisted that I write a full-length book. So that was the beginning of this project. I did not seek to do this. When it came, though, I knew it was the Lord, and I knew it was time, so I pressed myself to learn how to do it.
It’s been a special experience — especially now that it’s been released and I’ve finished the audiobook. It took a couple of years to write it and get it right. It was a whole process, a very fragile and interesting one. I’m so grateful to be here because it’s a story I’ve carried my whole life — it is my story. With this book, I tried not to simply share all the negative things that have happened to me. I wanted it to be half sharing my story and then half helping people walk through their own stories, helping them discover what they look like fully alive. In that process, the Lord stretched me and gave me special moments with my mom in which she experienced real freedom. I remember being outside the door when she read it, feeling anxious and excited. After she read it, she apologized to me and told me she wished she had done things differently, like in leaving my dad. I thought she was going to be upset with me for sharing certain things in the book, but instead, there was freedom. I felt a weight lifted, knowing this story wasn’t going to haunt us anymore and that God was going to use it for good. Nothing good has ever come from hiding something that hurts us or fills us with darkness or fear. It’s been a beautiful process to work through that.
Many people today need to go through the process of repenting and finding healing, but many are afraid to do it. Look at some of these pastors and other people getting caught doing terrible things and getting canceled or disfellowshipped. My own dad was an evangelist, yet he was abusive at home. Many of these people have a fear of repentance — or don’t understand what repentance truly is. They have a fear of people, of their reputation falling apart. In the Bible, repentance equals blessing. Every time somebody repented, something good happened. God was always calling people to repent. He said that if his people repented and turned from their wicked ways, then he would hear their prayers and heal their land. Repentance is a good thing. He’s trying to turn them away from death to life. Later, in Acts 3:19,20, Peter said to repent so that times of refreshment will come from the Lord. God doesn’t want us to repent so that he can ruin our lives. It’s true that you might be canceled, loathed and hated. You may end up in prison. I don’t know what it is you’re repenting of, but it’s going to be better than the alternative. That may be hard to imagine, but it’s true. It’ll be better than the alternative because there’s something good God’s trying to do through your repentance.
QUESTION #5: BOOST
Whether we’re cashiers or CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need God’s love flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?
I know it’s him through the lack of striving. I’m not saying we don’t work to make things. I’m not saying we don’t need to be excellent at a craft. But in songwriting and even in this book, there’s a lightness to the yoke, and the fruit comes naturally. You can tell from the fruit whether something is of the Lord. I was talking about this with Rita Springer, a great songwriter who’s written some amazing worship songs. I said my favorite songwrites are not the ones where we sit down and try to make a song work. It’s where we sit down and talk about what God is doing. The conversation ends up feeding the lyrics. The moment ends up being the song. We’re not sitting and striving to craft the perfect song. That, to me, is when I know it’s the Lord. There’s an ease, a lightness to it. It’s letting him do it with you and you with him. It’s building something with God. It’s the difference between God telling us what to do and him saying, “Hand me a nail.”
QUESTION #6: inspire
Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you in this season?
I’ve read a lot of Dallas Willard and James Bryan Smith, who wrote “The Good and Beautiful God” books. At one point in my life, I even did a 48-hour fast where I didn’t speak — and if you know me, you know that was an absolute work of the Lord. For 48 hours, I didn’t speak. All I did was read the Gospel of John over and over until, when I finally spoke, what I spoke were the things that I had consolidated down into a prayer, the things the Lord had been churning in me as I read John over and over again and walked with him. That was special.
I wish I could say I still do that often. But lately, for me, it’s as simple as studying in my studio, opening this window, having coffee, opening my Bible and being with him. Off and on, I like to do a speaking fast. There’s something about not saying anything — taking 48 hours or 24 hours to craft with the Lord what you’re going to say to him when you do speak. The first thing out of your mouth isn’t, “Oh, I’m glad it’s over.” It’s, “God, you’re everlasting life. To know you is to know everlasting life.” There’s something about the weight of your words in that moment that feel “other,” weighty and important. It doesn’t have to be 24 to 48 hours. It could be the day. All day until 8 o’clock or 7 o’clock. No speaking, just reading and being with him while crafting what you want to say to him.
QUESTION #7: FOCUS
Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what top three resources stand out to you? What changed reality and changed your heart?
I have to say “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel because I hated Jesus. Somebody gave me that book, and when I read it, I had a radical encounter with the Lord after years of crystal meth addiction. I gave my life to Jesus, and now I have a book with the foreword written by Lee Strobel. That’s just the Lord, right?
Lee and I talk on the phone a lot. Yesterday, I was driving in my car while on the phone with him, and we talked for a while. He was talking about life and some of the things God’s been teaching him. It was like I was on the phone with my uncle. I had this moment when I thought, I can’t believe I’m on the phone with this guy. We talk because we’re friends and he cares about me — this guy, whose book I read at 3 o’clock in the morning, who inspired me to give my life to Jesus over 20 years ago, when I simply hoped to be sober and not burn everything down around me. God’s like, “No, you’re going to write a book and the guy whose book you read, he’s going to write your foreword.” That’s pretty huge.
There are so many moments and so many resources that seem to all connect, so to narrow it down to one is difficult. Recently, there was a songwriters retreat in Florida. Well-known worship people attended. We were all sitting around tables and everybody had to name their top four albums that affected their lives the most. I wanted to skip my answer because I knew I would have a hard time narrowing it down. Our lives are a culmination of moments. Some are big, like my salvation moment and the moment I wrote “Come, Jesus, Come.” But in general, it’s a lot of little moments that all accumulate. Like hearing the Beatles for the first time, hearing a worship song like “Great Are You Lord” or watching a movie that made me think about life. All these things accumulate, so it’s hard for me to nail them down.
Certain things can be godsends, helping us survive, even thrive, in our fast-paced world. Does technology ever help you this way? Has an app ever boosted your spiritual growth? If so, how?
I’d be lying if I said I never used ChatGPT and walked away amazed. I’ll give you a great example. I was reading a book called “The Science of Scaling” by Benjamin Hardy. As I read, I thought about what God’s doing with me and took lots of notes. I decided to try something crazy and put everything about my ministry and my business into ChatGPT. I told it to help me apply every chapter of this book to my business, and it did. It was like a book written straight to me, and it was phenomenal. Sometimes, AI isn’t so great, but in that instance, it was.
Then I tried a new direction. I prayed about it, then I wrote, “OK, that’s great for the business, but in my ministry, I have seen many people come to Christ. I would like to see maybe a million people get saved in two years. What are some ideas?” It was pretty helpful. You look at it like a tool. Not the creative force, the tool. Like a thesaurus or something similar. I never tell it to write a song and slap a title on it. That’s stupid.
QUESTION #8: dream
God’s continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?
I don’t know what’s coming. I know we have music always coming out. “Radically Restored” is out. Quarterly, we are trying to host addiction recovery prison ministry events that are free in certain states and areas we’re trying to work in. We don’t charge anything. I’ll actually pay for it, and we’re going to get people saved and connected to ministries. I do events now where prisons will bring inmates in. We’re also trying to reach people in addiction recovery houses, homeless ministries and so on.
I’m not opposed to putting on Christian concerts, but I want to see as many people get saved and really put my heart into it. How do I get to the least of these? I’m not saying inmates, drug addicts and homeless people are the least; they’re not. They’re important to God. They’re wildly important. But if we charge $300 for a ticket, the chances of somebody in that scenario coming are pretty small. That’s why we’re working on doing those events quarterly and making them as big as we can. I’m excited about that.
Earlier, Stephen McWhirter shared his goal of being a lifelong learner, whether that means trying new songwriting ideas, writing a book or reaching new groups of people.
There are many benefits to pursuing such a path. Forward thinkers who make culture-changing discoveries or break records in their field have often credited their success to the discipline of constant learning. Science, too, has long hailed lifelong learning as an effective way to protect brain health and guard against illnesses like dementia.
But ultimately, the best reason to be a lifelong learner is that it’s how God created us. We were designed to continually grow in knowledge and connection with an infinite God — because his love, ingenuity and wisdom have no bounds.
Stephen McWhirter is a Dove Award-winning and Grammy-nominated worship recording artist, songwriter, speaker and author whose story and music testify to the redemptive power of Jesus to radically restore even the most broken of lives. Stephen shares his story of redemption from addiction in his book, Radically Restored: How Knowing Jesus Heals Our Brokenness. His breakout worship anthem, Come Jesus Come, has become a global prayer of longing and revival, reaching millions and earning him his first Grammy nomination with CeCe Winans and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Stephen lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife, Tara, and their three sons.