Bryan Crum

Jun 17

9 min read ⭑

“When we love ourselves the way Jesus intended, we are empowered to love others. When we get that right, our families thrive, our churches grow and we live the lives God intended us to have.”

At heart, Bryan Crum is a storyteller. He takes that skill to the stage when he speaks, incorporating humor, sound and visual elements to captivate audiences of all ages. His prior work as a hospice chaplain taught him the value of listening to and sharing people’s life stories. Over the years, he’s seen how telling stories can lead us to confront our mortality, encounter the Savior and recognize his deep love for us — the goal of Bryan’s latest book, “Neighbor, Love Yourself.” Here at Rapt, he’s telling stories (no surprise) about his favorite activities and biggest struggles that make us laugh and reflect. Join us as he shares his love of nature, his current cravings and the books that have reshaped his mind and soul.

QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT

There’s much more to food than palate and preference. How does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind the web bio?

We live in a small town called Sunbury, Ohio, where everything is within walking distance. I walk to Starbucks rain or shine every morning for coffee. Last year, this equated to so many walks that I listened to over a hundred audiobooks while I walked. I walk to Kroger almost daily for lunch to the sound of more books, and my family and I often walk to dinner at one of Sunbury’s restaurants.

With all this walking, I’ve discovered that the journey is more important than the destination. I love the food, but I’m recharged by my family. I’m addicted to the caffeine, but I’m more dependent on the knowledge I’m consuming than I am on the coffee. I’ve also found that the Savior is waiting to connect with me during the quiet moments on these walks — when I actually turn off my AirPods.

QUESTION #2: REVEAL

We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activity (or activities) do you love engaging in, which also help you find essential spiritual renewal?

Nature may not be the answer to our problems, but I’ve found it to be the perfect prescription for finding the answers to our problems. My family loves hiking, being out in nature and connecting with all God has made. God is walking and talking in our world today, but with all the noise around us, it’s often hard to hear his footsteps or find his voice.

Getting out in nature reconnects the created with the Creator. To see God’s landscapes, his paintings of blues, greens and rugged browns. The crystal blue waters or endless expanse of blue sky. They can weave a magical spell on you till you promise yourself you’ll return to nature to be reminded of God’s power and majesty. There is no renewal equal to the one I find as I reconnect with the Creator in nature.

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 broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite, and how do you hide it?

In one of my performance reviews, one of my bosses once told me that I struggle with “doing the dishes.” Every job involves an ordinary task, like doing the dishes — an ordinary function that keeps the kitchen moving. I’m an Enneagram 7; I dream big, plan constantly and always envision how I can improve what I’m working on.

I’m a believer at heart, and that’s a good game-changer in most circles I sit in. But as James so aptly tells us, “Faith without works is dead” (see James 2:26). The mundane tasks I get bored with are often the ones that are vital to finishing the goal I’m going after.

The kryptonite I’m overcoming every day is “doing the dishes.” I’m trying to remember that people can’t eat the gourmet meal I’m cooking up unless they have clean plates and silverware.

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?

I just finished writing a book called “Neighbor, Love Yourself.” It’s a collection of stories. Some of them are funny, some are sad and some will make you think. But all of them together will help you feel good about yourself. I wanted to write a feel-good book that encouraged people. It’s an excellent gift for someone else, and many churches use this as a guide for their life groups because when we love ourselves the way Jesus intended, we are empowered to love others. When we get that right, our families thrive, our churches grow and we live the lives God intended us to have. It’s an entertaining read and an internal expedition of self that draws you in and reminds you of your value.

Since all the proceeds that would typically go to the author will help teens in the foster care system, it’s a book that will help you, help your neighbor and help teens in foster care.

QUESTION #5: BOOST

Cashiers, CEOs, contractors, or customer service reps, we all need grace 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’ve lived in different countries around the world, spoken to all kinds of church groups and audiences and earned an M.B.A. and certifications in bioethics and world health from Harvard University. Still, honestly, the most important things I’ve learned have come as I’ve sat at the bedside of dying people.

I worked for over a decade as a hospice chaplain. I’ve sat and listened to hundreds of life stories and discovered that too many of us end our stories with regret. It’s the things we wish we had done, the risks we wished we’d taken.

A pastor named Myles Munroe once said, “The wealthiest place on earth is the cemetery because it holds the treasures that people never served to humanity.” I’ve seen that firsthand. There are books that were never written and music people never got to hear or to sing because it was never composed. The graveyard is filled with businesses that were never opened and ideas and inventions that people never shared with the world because they never followed their dreams and took those treasures to the grave.

We all have something to share, talents and gifts to give, but too many of us never take the leap of faith required to chase those dreams. That’s a big reason I wrote “Neighbor, Love Yourself.” I wanted to write a book that helps people live their stories without regrets.

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 right now?

I’m getting in touch with my cravings. Did you ever wonder why God created us with a happy response to chocolate? We have a chocolate response, a chemical reaction set into motion by chocolate. Chocolate has intrinsic ingredients that trigger our neurotransmitters. We crave chocolate because when we eat it (especially Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, in my case), our bodies release serotonin and dopamine. Those neurotransmitters lower stress and create a pleasurable sensation in our brains. God created us with numerous response components, just like our chocolate response, designed for us to experience happiness.

One component, in particular, is essential for us to uncover and put into use today; it’s our quiet-response component. Quiet is the oil that keeps our equipment from overheating. You may not be a person who enjoys quiet; some of us don’t, but we have a component inside us that needs a dose of quiet now and then to keep our engines working correctly. I’m carving out a little quiet every day and every week.

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 the game and changed your heart? What radically altered your life? What changed your reality?

1. “Celebration of Discipline” by Richard Foster. This classic spiritual book is one I cannot outrun. It chases me down again and again, reminding me that there is life and freedom within the dedication of prayer and meditation. Foster’s words unfold familiar paths of spirituality, but walking them releases a realization that I have barely found my footing when it comes to these timeless practices.

2. “Star for Jesus and Other Jobs I Quit” by Kimberly Stuart. This book, written by a mentor of mine, was a recent discovery for me. In it, Kim completely dismantles our previous man-made understandings of grace. She’s held up a new lens with an old purview. It’s a way to see grace the way Jesus wants us to see it.

3. “David and Goliath” by Malcolm Gladwell shows us that even our timeless translations of age-old stories (like David and Goliath) are riddled with misunderstanding. Looking at David not as an underdog but as a boy with an advantage over giants is faith-fueling. We assume we are underdogs, but we aren’t. We don’t belong in that category, and it’s time we stopped making our homes there.

We all have things we cling to to survive (or even thrive) in tough times — times like these! Name one resource you’re savoring and/or finding indispensable in this current season, and tell us what it’s doing for you.

I have a copy of “Six Hours One Friday” by Max Lucado that’s completely falling apart. I’ve written in the margins, dog-eared the corners of pages, and bent back the binding in my quest to highlight everything. The book looks like I’ve been wrestling with it, and I guess that’s appropriate. I have been wrestling with it. As a reader, it continues to bring me back to the cross. As a writer, it motivates me to tell more stories about Jesus. I can think of worse obsessions.

I’m also currently hung up on the story of John Bonham, the drummer for Led Zeppelin. He died in 1980, and every year, fans pay tribute by placing drumsticks and cymbals atop his headstone. Looking at Bonham’s grave, I find symbolism in the cymbals. I wonder what people would leave on my headstone. I’ve decided to do more things God has given me the talent to do, and I have no regrets about that decision. I’m helping people who have trouble finding their purpose by asking what they would want people to leave at their graves. We need to ask ourselves what we want to be known for. Sometimes, to have a better life, we must start at the grave and work backward to where we are now. Maybe that sounds depressing, but I promise it can be a game-changer.

QUESTION #8: dream

God is 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’m on a mission to help people fall in love with God’s greatest creation: us. To our earthly ears, that sounds egotistical, but it’s not. Loving ourselves isn’t ego; it’s understanding. Jesus tells us to love others, but the standard he uses for that is how much we love ourselves. The problem is that many of us don’t love ourselves — at least not how Jesus envisioned.

I wrote a book to help people find the confidence Jesus intended us to have. To put self-doubt on a diet. Doubt is like a hungry goat in the basement of our minds. Doubt loves living down deep, attaching its stink to our memories, voraciously eating everything and causing us to question ourselves and our capabilities. Doubt loves to see us second-guess the decisions we’ve made or goals we’ve set. When we feel insecure about things we can’t control, it’s usually because doubt has escaped from the basement and is running free in our minds.

Doubt has a distinct voice. It’s the voice baying when we take on the big assignment from our boss, “You don’t have what it takes to deliver.” The voice says, “You’ll never save your marriage or get out of debt.” The voice whimpering about all the questions you answered weakly in the job interview after it’s over. We don’t have to live this way. We can stop feeding doubt our dreams. As we put doubt on a diet, I’m finding that there is more room to love ourselves.

Self-doubt, insecurity, comparison, envy — they’re exhausting emotions to deal with. When we focus on what we lack and where we fall short, we lose sight of truth. And we lose sight of God.

We forget that we didn’t create ourselves. God did. And he did it perfectly. As our Creator, he designed us with such care, tenderness and love — a bold, outrageous, all-in kind of love.

So let’s take a few minutes to reflect. What is it, exactly, that we think we lack? What lie is fueling that belief? And what is the truth we need to focus on instead?

Bryan Crum worked for over a decade as a hospice chaplain. If you sat down with him, he could tell you about his childhood, how he’s a military brat who has lived all over the world, how he spent years in a Christian band and how he loves to speak and entertain crowds. If you ask him about his daughter or wife, get comfy. He’s also a longtime listener, a forever storyteller and a writer shining a light on our internal design and worth. His newest book, Neighbor, Love Yourself, was released in June 2024.