The Man Who Never Saw His Royalty Checks

Rich Mullins wrote one of the most recognizable worship songs in modern Christianity. "Awesome God" filled arenas and sold millions of albums through the 1990s. The royalties alone could have made him wealthy.

He never touched the money.

Mullins arranged for all his income to flow directly to his church. The church paid him whatever the average annual salary was for a worker in his county. Everything else went to charity. He did not know how much he earned. He refused to find out. When asked why, he said he was afraid that if he knew, it would change him.

While other Christian artists built homes and platforms, Mullins moved to a Navajo reservation in New Mexico. He lived in a hogan without running water and taught music to children. He drove an old Jeep. He owned almost nothing.

He once told an interviewer that the Gospel was not about what you could get but about what you were willing to release.

In 1997, Mullins died in a car accident at forty-one. He left behind some of the most beloved songs in the church and almost no possessions.

Scripture tells us that Christ, though He was rich, for our sake became poor, so that through His poverty we might become rich. Mullins understood that sacrifice is not a single dramatic moment. It is a daily decision to hold loosely what the world grips tightly.

What would change in your life if you stopped counting what you were owed?