Contemporary Christian band For King & Country is made up of brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone. Though the pair has achieved a lot — a movie based on their lives, Grammy and Billboard Music Awards, No. 1 songs and albums, sold-out shows worldwide and appearances on shows like “The Tonight Show” and the “Today” show — they are more concerned with the eternal than with worldly accolades.
“Those things aren’t eternal things, right? But hopefully those awards or a movie or something has eternal consequences because of the art impacting a soul,” Luke Smallbone said. “But I never set out to do any of this because I thought I could win an award.
“Doing a job or a ministry is because you feel called to it or you feel that it’s your passion or you love it. Well, we’re no different,” he continued. “I don’t do what we do for any acclaim. I hope it’s for somebody, that it encourages somebody. Hopefully any award or any success that the world wants to point to us instead sees the souls and hearts behind it. That’s my motivation.”
Even having numerous accomplishments doesn’t mean Smallbone is confident 100% of the time. He still has “imposter syndrome” — feeling like a fraud and doubting one’s abilities no matter the amount of success one has.
He says that they aren’t the most gifted, but they work hard and keep refining their craft. It’s not raw talent that has gotten them where they are.
“At the end of the day with most things — when you’re getting up and accepting an award or you have to go do that speech or you have to sing that song — you just have to do it.
“Most of life takes courage. If you’re going to do something in front of people it takes risk, takes courage. I would venture to say that doing what we do day in and day out, there’s going to be a moment where you’re like, I don’t care.
“But I have to just go and do it,” he said.
New ground
This year’s tour is one example.
“It’s the biggest production I’ve ever done for a non-Christmas show and it’s the most unique. In some cases, you get excited for something new. But then anytime you’re doing something new, it’s a little scary. There’s a lot we’re trying to achieve. There’s a lot we’re trying to do, and hopefully we can pull it off.”
Smallbone hopes the shows are “wildly entertaining,” but not just for entertainment’s sake. Using Jesus’ way of communicating as the example, he knows it gets people’s attention and helps them listen.
“I think Jesus was wildly entertaining in the stories that He told and in those stories, there were fascinating truths revealed. We hope to do something similar, so this tour is definitely treading new ground. It’s a totally new production, a totally new set list and so yeah, there’s a lot of new — the most daring thing that we’ve probably ever done,” Smallbone said.
Smallbone was raised in a religious family and was rewarded for doing the right thing, making him a “good boy.”
“The problem is that just makes me god of my life. That doesn’t make me rely on grace,” Smallbone said, pointing out that despite his conclusions, he was not taught this way of thinking explicitly.
His wife, Courtney, once asked him why he sounded like a pastor or priest when he prayed. His response was that he guessed that was how he was supposed to pray, that it was how he was trained growing up.
She encouraged him to “pray in normal words; pray as you are.”
Simple prayers
He now encourages others to discover that truth.
“Learn to pray. Learn to pray just simple prayers. So to someone out there who says, ‘I don’t feel loved. I don’t feel cared for,’ pray this prayer: ‘God, I don’t feel loved. I don’t feel cared for, but I want to see what happens,’” he said.
Even with all the fame, Smallbone sometimes feels this way. The past year has been a real struggle for him. The movie about their family’s hardships growing up was released, and there was a lot of promotion involved. It took a huge emotional toll and an unbelievable amount of energy to simply keep going.
He said that although it’s a great honor to do those kinds of things, it’s scary. Sometimes they are booked a year and a half in advance. They have to say yes far before the event — and then they have to show up whether they feel it or not.
“It’s trusting the God who sustains you, trusting that we’ll have enough in the tank. I don’t ever want to do things just fully in my strength because that’s limiting. I have to be someone who’s leaning on Someone far greater.”
Learn more
The “Unsung Hero Tour” starts in Evansville, Indiana, on Sept. 19, and makes a stop in Birmingham on Oct. 12. The last concert is scheduled for Nov. 10 in Dallas before beginning a Christmas-themed “A Drummer Boy Christmas” during the month of December. To find out more go to www.ForKingandCountry.com.
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