INTERVIEW
Artist tobyMac Studies Faith
and Patriotism in Latest Book
By Scott
Ross with Barbara Cornick
The 700 Club
CBN.com –
Millions of fans know tobyMac as part of the hugely successful
Christian rap/rock group DC Talk. Since going solo in 2001, Toby
has had two top-selling records, Momentum
and Grammy-nominated Welcome
to Diverse City. Now Toby shares with 700 Club
Producer Scott Ross about his latest effort, a book called Under
God.
tobyMac: I have a platform. I take the stage
and the spotlight comes down, and I can either talk about myself
all night, or I can talk about things that matter. For once, I
can step out of the spotlight and put the spotlight on some people
that made a difference, people that have given us the freedoms
we have today.
SCOTT ROSS (reporting): These people that made
a difference are in Toby’s latest project, a book he co-wrote
with former DC Talk member Michael Tait called Under God. Toby’s
passions for a deeper relationship with God and racial reconciliation,
especially among Christians, drive the stories in this book –
stories that talk about Christians of all colors who made this
country great.
(to Toby): When you read about some of these
men and women who laid down their lives, what did it do to you?
tobyMac: It moved me to a new appreciation
level for our country. It moved me to say, I’m an American.
I’m proud of America. We’ve made mistakes, but we
are one nation under God.
SCOTT ROSS: Are you saying it’s a Christian
nation?
tobyMac: I’m saying it’s a Christian
nation.
SCOTT ROSS: Look at some of the history. What
about the Native American Indians. What about Black people? Is
that Christian the way they were treated?
tobyMac: Of course not.
SCOTT ROSS: What do we do with that?
tobyMac: Well, we have to deal with it.
SCOTT ROSS: How do we deal with it?
tobyMac: We can’t just sweep it under
the carpet. We have to, first of all, put it out in the forefront
and make it up for conversation. That’s what we want this
book to do. We want dialogue to come out of this book. We don’t
want just warm fuzzies to come out of this book.
SCOTT ROSS: Where does repentance fit into this?
tobyMac: I think it’s what the book is
all about. I think for us to begin to move forward, there has
to be repentance for offenses that were made. The very end of
the book, it’s like, actually my letter and Michael’s
letter is as white Americans I believe we need to recognize the
past. We need to seek forgiveness for it. And Michael’s
like, 'As a Black American, I believe we need to forgive.' That’s
repentance. But truly at the end of the day, some of these stories
were meant to just strictly inspire, inspire people to say I’m
proud of my nation.
SCOTT ROSS: This is more than a rhetorical question;
this is biblical. All right?
tobyMac: I’m ready.
SCOTT ROSS: If the foundations are destroyed,
what will the righteous do?
tobyMac: The righteous will hold fast to everything
they believe in. And if it gets demolished, destroyed, whatever
you say, I don’t think you can demolish or destroy it. I
think if people could demolish or destroy the values in God’s
Word, it would have been destroyed a long time ago. Many leaders
have tried to destroy God’s Word, but believers find a way
to meet. They find a way to believe. They find a way to place
their faith in God, whatever the country is. They continue to
believe.
SCOTT ROSS: Maybe that’s why you wrote
this?
tobyMac: Maybe that’s why we wrote that.
Scott Ross welcomes your feedback.
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