When we look back on 2022, we’ll remember a year that challenged our resourcefulness, emotions, unity, and finances. In the face of these obstacles, we learned the infinite value of togetherness. In THIS INTERVIEW we revisit the last 12 months from the perspective of multi award-winning, multi-platinum-selling Pop music duo FOR KING + COUNTRY.
Fronted by brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone, these incredible, must-see live performers have amassed a catalog of unforgettable, emotionally stirring, masterfully written and produced #1 hits.
So far to their chart-topping credit, songs “Fix My Eyes”, “Shoulders”, “Priceless”, “Joy”, “God Only Knows”, “Burn The Ships”, “Together” (featuring Tori Kelly and Kirk Franklin), “O Come O Come Emmanuel” (featuring Needtobreathe), “Amen”, “Relate”, “For God is With Us”, and “Love Me Like I Am” (featuring Jordin Sparks) – that’s 12 – have all worn the crown. The love they share with their fans is as real, and their pair makes certain their admirers get the royal treatment.
With FOR KING + COUNTRY in high demand for concert dates and in-person appearances, Luke took time out of their busy schedule to share some of his thoughts with us, answering THIS questionnaire about his life in 2022 and what to expect from them in 2023. THIS is for YOU!
How would you summarize 2022?
I think I would summarize 2022 as a year that there was a lot of transition taking place. To come from the pandemic, I think earlier in 2022 there was still a little bit of that mindset in life. We as a world are coming to grips with economics that are shifting. There’s a lot happening.
We are transitioning out of a very unique 2-3 years. So, I think that’s how I would summarize [the] year. We are in a very, very interesting situation. We are here for a purpose, we are here for a reason, and I’m excited to see what takes place as we come out of and what we learn coming out of 2022.
What was the best song, album, television show, movie, and podcast of last year?
Well, I don’t have something for everything but there’s a podcast I love by a pastor. His name is Tim Keller and it’s called Gospel in Life. To be honest I don’t know if I listen to any other podcasts. That’s how much I like it.
When it comes to television shows my favorite show is one that’s weird. Basically, once again the only one that we really watch is Alaska: The Last Frontier. It’s about a family that lives in Alaska homesteading. We love it for whatever reason. We don’t live up north as cold as it is up there, but we live a lifestyle that isn’t really that similar…but maybe we like to think it is. For that reason, it is one of our favorite shows.
Did you read anything inspiring or influential that you would recommend to others?
Yes, there’s a book about the life of John Newton. For those of you who don’t know who John Newton is, he is the man who wrote the song “Amazing Grace”. He also was an abolitionist and lived a very, very, very fascinating life. I think of all the books I’ve read over the last little while it was the one that impacted me the most.
He lived a life that could be a movie and not one that just has highs and lows, but one that has great meaning and purpose behind it. So, it was a fascinating book to read.
What’s something you did to help someone in need, whether you knew them or not?
Look, it’s interesting. I think we all try to be people that are continually helping others and that has taken place with me and my family. I don’t think there are always things we should be shouting from the rooftops. We forget the importance of simply living a life of kindness; living a life that means something in how you go about getting your gas or going to the grocery store.
That little flicker of a smile could mean something to the person at the receiving end. We forget that helping someone shouldn’t just be an isolated situation, it should be a way of life. We shouldn’t just be, “Oh, it’s the end of the year, it’s time for us to give” or because it’s tax deductible. We should be sacrificially kind. We should be sacrificially giving to anyone in need that we come across.
Sometimes the challenge is to be willing to hear what other people need. That is a challenge that I have for myself in 2023. Making sure I’m aware of other people’s needs and thinking through what it would look like if I actually did something to actually help those people.
How did you celebrate your birthday?
We were in the middle of making a film called Unsung Hero which is about my parents’ migration from Australia to America. My birthday was on a Saturday, so we came home and just had a birthday at home. In some cases, I almost prefer those. It was just a wonderful day with my family. Those are my favorites, I think, where sometimes a simple happy birthday from the kids means a whole lot more than a gift you receive. That was my birthday.
Why is it important to live every moment of your life to the fullest?
Look, we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. I think so often people are waiting for something to indicate that they’ve made it, or I can be happy now, or I can be joyful or whatever it might be. We are waiting for something. A lightbulb to go off for us to do the things. We are waiting for an indicator to say, well, now’s the time to do it.
You know, in my mind, we are given now we are given today. It’s important for us to truly live. I think it’s one of the things young people struggle with. Death is a certainty in this life. For some people, we get the gift of living into our 80s and 90s. And some people don’t.
I’ve heard remarkable stories about people and how they lived in their 80s and 90s, and I’ve heard remarkable stories about people who lived their life to the fullest and died young. One of the commonalities, I think, is that both groups of people lived with the understanding that life isn’t guaranteed, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, and we are here for a reason. We are here for a purpose. We should be living that life, that reason, and that purpose out today.
Were you able to achieve the goals you set?
Maybe this is piggybacking off of the previous question a little bit but I’ve never found myself to be a big goal-setter.
I probably just try to with the next decision I make in front of myself. I give myself to it. I try to work hard at it. I try to put all my efforts behind the decisions that I’ve made to do it. But when it comes to this is the year I’m going to do or accomplish “XYZ”, I’m not one of those guys that really does that.
Maybe I’m confessing at the same time as I’m saying that. Maybe it’s because I feel like those things shift. Yes, if you feel called to make a decision, then go after it and achieve it. I think I’m probably more into a man who was in scripture [last] year.
Would I consider myself to be a praying man [last] year? To be totally honest, if I was to say specifically to the ladder, “Have I achieved that?” I think I may have done it a little more than the previous year but still not to the point to where I would genuinely call myself having a successful prayer life [last] year.
Prayer is the first thing to go, sadly. Mark Luthers has a great quote that he says, “I’ve got a busy day today, so I must get up earlier and pray a little longer.” And that’s what I hope for 2023. That 2023 is the year that I really declare myself as a truly praying man.
Which of your blessings would you say was the biggest?
I think for me, to be hand in hand with my wife. To go and see and experience these kids grow a little older, hopefully grow a little wiser, and for us to be a part of their development in life, I would probably call [that] one of my great blessings. That doesn’t mean that it’s smooth. It doesn’t mean that it’s easy. But it’s a great life.
To be able to journey together as a family, journey together as husband and wife, journey together as mother and father; the good times become that much “gooder” and the bad times that much lower, in some cases, because we love each other. For you to understand goodness, you also have to understand what isn’t. I think that is probably the greatest blessing is to be able to do that as a family.
Tell us how you evolved over the last 12 months.
I think 12 months is a difficult one to see how you’ve evolved. I think actually taking a few more years than that is how you see how much you’ve changed. Twelve months isn’t actually that long. It is and it isn’t, if that makes sense.
It’s difficult because you’re so close to it, to actually assess how much you’ve evolved. I think in some cases the best question we can ask is of the other people in our lives that we love, “Has so and so evolved?” Have they changed for the better? I’m not sure I have enough perspective to actually answer that question.
I hope so. I hope I’ve evolved for the better. I hope that I’ve become a better leader. I hope that I’ve become a better husband. I hope that I’ve become more considerate and compassionate. But at the end of the day, it’s difficult to self-evaluate those things.
Did you experience a defining moment?
Well, I think that working on this movie that we are working on, I think will be a defining moment in our life. A lot of people ask about why we are making this movie. It’s essentially about my parents and I say this because I think it’s important to put on display what family looks like in an immense struggle.
My family is not a perfect family. We’ve gone through some really difficult things. I think it’s important to show people that. I think that family is the healthiest foundation you can put forward in life. Mother Teresa this great quote: “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” Maybe the defining moment for me is my attempt to do just that. That’s where I think there is an awful lot of power and an awful lot of purpose in that.
What can we expect from you in 2023?
Hopefully, one of the biggest challenges in my life is always this continuing theory: To navigate this pacing of life. Knowing the moments to work hard, the moments to be home. Knowing the projects to do, the projects to say no to. So, I expect 2023 to be a little more of that. We are going out on tour and then releasing this film in the fall. Those are the big focuses – tour and Christmas and, obviously, this movie. Those are what are ahead of me right now. | THIS ENT
[By Mr. Joe Walker]
