Mike Donehey – Hope is alive

CCM: “It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle…”
MD: It’s just a matter of intention. I got the greatest comment on my Instagram a couple of months ago. I was a direct message from this guy and he said, “Hey man, I just wanted you to know… When I look at your Instagram, I feel like I’m following a real person. Thanks.” That was it. I was like, “Yes!”

CCM: One guy gets it!
MD: I worry. I don’t ever want to make my life look inaccessible. “Oh, once I get to ‘that’ level, once I get ‘there,’ then…” At the end of the day, being in a band isn’t very glorious. It’s really not. I remember watching one of the New Years Eve shows, you know the ones Ryan Seacrest does? Pitbull comes on. He’s out there and he’s dancing, and all of his scantily clad women come dancing all around…they’re going crazy. I looked at my wife and I go, “You know what’s funny? I’ve been in that arena he’s in. I know he’s going to walk off that stage, and backstage there is a big, dark, concrete tunnel. He’s going to go through it. He’s going to go sit on his bus by himself, or surrounded by a couple ‘yes men’ who don’t really know or love him, and he’s going to feel utterly alone tonight.”

You try to tell people that and they’re like, “Yeah, you just say that. Your life is so hard.” It’s true. At the end of the day, my vocation is quite easy. I get applauded for showing up to work. That’s a terribly disorienting experience. Also understanding that it’s just not as glorious. I kind of wish Christian artists at least understood that the more they make themselves out to be “perfect.” They can claim that they’re inspiring people to what they could be, but often I’ve found that that actually makes people hopeless that they can’t achieve to the levels of where we are.

CCM: Looking ahead to 20-30 years from now, you’re probably never going to be not “cool enough” to be fronting a rock band, and you may decide not to do that at some point down the road. At that point, do you think you might want to reach down to the artists of that day and help to instill those truths into their lives, hearts, and experiences?
MD: Oh, yeah. Everyone is wanting to know what their calling is, especially younger guys. It’s funny, that’s the question I get so much, “How did you know this was God’s calling?” I go, “It’s not.” They’re like, “What are you talking about?” A lot of people want to know what’s God call on their life to just justify not having to listen to the spirit anymore. Just like the Israelites, “Give us a new law. Bring us some tablets. Don’t make me have to listen to the Spirit. Just tell me what to do.”

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